Bear Gulch
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
This private access group campsite is isolated among the forested Black Hills of South Dakota, overlooking a private bay on the Pactola Reservoir. Great for group events with up to 40 people, there are eight individual tent sites around a central parking area. The summers are pleasant, and the bay provides a great way to cool off on sunny days (summer temperatures range from highs in the mid-80s, to lows in the mid-50s). It can be reserved from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Keep reading
Recreation
Pactola Reservoir is an 800-acre lake, great for water skiing, swimming, fishing and even scuba diving. There is no boat ramp at the campground, but there is a separate marina where you can rent a boat and two boat ramps nearby on the main reservoir. Pactola Point Swim Beach, the Osprey Trail trailhead and a visitor center are within a short drive of the site. Fishing for such sought-after species as brown, rainbow and record lake trout is popular at the reservoir. There is also fishing in nearby Rapid Creek.
Facilities
Bear Gulch was formerly an eight-site single family campground, but has been converted into a group campground available for one group reservation at a time. It is primitive, but comfortable. There is a brand new accessible toilet. A hand pump for drinking water is available. Six of eight sites within the facility were originally designated for tent-only camping and still serve that purpose with a flat area, picnic table and fire ring at each site. There are a few places to park an RV around the central parking lot, however turning is very tight. There is no electrical hookup. Vehicles must travel down nine miles of dirt roads to reach the facility. Hill City is the nearest town for additional amenities, and Rapid City is 20 miles away. There is currently decent cell service at Bear Gulch.
Natural Features
The campground is in a small canyon surrounded by large Ponderosa pine trees on the southern side of the Pactola Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the Black Hills. This canyon was cut from years of water drainage from the surrounding mountains, forming steep slopes on either side of the road leading to the camping area. A variety of wildlife call the Black Hills home, including mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk and wild turkey. Osprey, also known as fish hawks, are a bird of prey that feed on the abundant fish in the lake.
Nearby Attractions
Bear Gulch is centrally located within the Black Hills and its many forests, lakes, mountains and rivers and sightseeing destinations. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial and Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway are all under an hour away. Mount Rushmore National Memorial Custer State Park Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Charges & Cancellations
No refunds wll be given for weather or related events
What the agency tells you
This campground is not open during the offseason. Closes on 10/01/2026.
These campsites are non-electric sites. Generators may run from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. only. Handpump for drinking water does not allow for filling of your rig.
The campground has a gate that is locked. Reservation holders must to go to Pactola Campground Main Booth to secure instructions for entry into Bear Gulch. There may be a $20.00 refundable lock charge.
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Pets are allowed, but there is a $2 per pet per night fee payable upon check-in. Pets should be leashed, under control and attended at all times.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing organisms by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org. Seasoned wrapped firewood is available from the host at Pactola main campground..
In accordance with standard industry practices, ExplorUS will be assessing an additional vehicle fee of $5.00 per night on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered to be one vehicle and the third and fourth are also considered to be one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…is a brand new accessible toilet. A hand pump for drinking water is available. Six of eight sites…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Night sky · 42nd darkest of 52 in SD
- Bortle 4
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- Yes
- Fall color · reported 2 days ago, 24 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, ExplorUS will be assessing an additional vehicle fee of $5.00 per night on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
“No refunds wll be given for weather or related events” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 7
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| BEAR | 001 | group standard area nonelectric | 40 ft | 52 ft | $216 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Pactola Reservoir CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 0.4 mi
Pactola CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 1.1 mi
Sheridan North Cove Grp CGBlack Hills National Forest · 6.7 mi
Sheridan LakeBlack Hills National Forest · 7.0 mi
Sheridan Lake South CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 7.8 mi
Boxelder Forks CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 8.5 miFrom Highway 385 take Custer Gulch Road to Forest Service Road 251. Travel six miles to Forest Service Road 253 (Bear Gulch Road). Go three miles to the end of the road and campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Johnson Siding, SD
Typical weather
Typical October night 29°F, day 55°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 11°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Bear Gulch is in South Dakota’s at-large congressional district. Its representative, Dusty Johnson (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…Rapid City is 20 miles away. There is currently decent cell service at Bear Gulch. Natural Features The campground is in a small…”