Horsethief Lake Campground

The night we camped here there was a huge storm and in the morning everything was still in tact and the campground really held up! Super friendly host, very helpful and cute dogs 🙂 My family and I will definitely be back!

Amazing place to camp. Camp host was really nice and helpful

Horsethief Lake campground is located in the Black Hills National Forest and is the closest campground to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The campground is located at 5,000 feet and is very popular and offers many outdoor activities including hiking, climbing, biking, fishing, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing.

We arrived late in the day yet were lucky enough to get one of the last remaining sites. The campground is the closest campground to Mt. Rushmore and has some sites right on a lake. Most of the campsites on the the lake are tent sites only. The campground was clean and well kept.

We absolutely loved it here!! The site hostess, Gloria, was great and very helpful!! The views are great and so are the sites! Our site was right at the water and across from the bathroom and drinking water. The vault toilet was very clean and surprisingly didn’t stink at all!! They do a great job maintaining this campground and we were very happy. I wished we would have spent more time there but we’ll be back for sure.

The directions that the rescue ration site give you were very unclear and our maps tried to take us to another campground. I am glad we stuck with finding this place though because it was worth it. Our site was the perfect spot that gave us tons of privacy even when the park was full. This does have one trailer campground and two other campgrounds for tent. Some are reservation only while others are non reservation. Few spots have cement pad, and all have fire ring and picnic table. No hookups. There is a bathroom with no showers and water. Campground is right alongside the lake with access to great hikes. Also very close to keystone and hill city.

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Very clean, well kept National Forest campground including bathrooms and fire pits. Site host Roger was very hospitable. Did I mention how stunning this place is? Nothing negative at all to report.

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Very clean, well kept National Forest campground including bathrooms and fire pits. Site host Roger was very hospitable. Did I mention how stunning this place is? Nothing negative at all to report.

What a great spot to stay. We were here June 1st, 2020 and had a wonderful 4 days and 3 nights at the lake. Spots 17, 16, 15 and 18 are the tops in the area bc they are all right by the lake and in some shade. The lake is perfect for swimming, paddle board, kayak, canoe or fishing. Kids had a blast and the views are top notch. Super close to Rushmore and town of Keystone which is cute and fun for kids. The pit toilets were clean and always stocked. Felt like we had the place to just a few of us which was nice too. Cell reception was non-existent for us (Verizon) when in the campground - a blessing really. Will be back for sure. Loved it here.

Stayed here 3 nights and thought it was a great base location. Just outside Keystone and a few miles from Mt Rushmore it’s a great place for the mid to southern SD attractions.