Fort Pierre National Grassland

The Fort Pierre National Grassland offers a wide variety of recreation opportunities from dispersed camping to hunting and fishing.  With the north boundary of the Grassland being located approximately 8 miles south of Pierre, South Dakota; vistors have the choice of camping or sleeping in hotel accommodations. All camping experiences on the Fort Pierre National Grassland will be despersed, as there are no developed campgrounds.  Visitors will have the opportunity to hike into areas without road access to pitch tents and those that prefer to sleep in their campers will be allowed to park up to 30 feet off any desiganted road on the Grassland.  All camping visitors are prohibited from using charcoal grills, having open camp fires, smoking outside of their vehicles, and operating engines without a spark arresting device installed.  Commercial petroleum fueled stoves and lanterns are permitted. All visitors are asked take their garbage home with them, as there is no garbage service avaiable on the Grassland. Ice fishing is a great past time during the winter months for locals and visitors.  Fishermen can try their luck on several panfish species including: bluegill, large-mouth bass, yellow perch, black crappie, white crappie, bullhead, and catfish.  There are a few ponds that are known to have walleye and pike as well. Under the new Travel Management rules, several roads were created for seasonal access to ponds for ice fishing.  These designated roads are open from December 1 through August 31. Snowmobiliing to the ponds for ice fishing is prohibited, as snowmobiles are only allowed in the Highway 83 right-of-way.