Bearlodge Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $18From, per site
- Sites
- 8All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Bearlodge Campground is situated in a forested area adjacent to Wyoming Highway 24, offering easy access for those seeking relaxation on the Black Hills National Forest in Wyoming. This campground accommodates tents, trailers, and small RVS. Devils Tower National Monument and the Historic town of Aladdin are just a short drive away from this campground. Keep reading
Recreation
The Black Hills National Forest offers accessible recreation for all ages. Visitors can take advantage of opportunities for hiking, fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking, and riding off-highway vehicles (OHVs) on moderate terrain. Cook Lake Recreation Area, just a 25-minute drive away, has ample opportunity for hiking, picnicking, and water activities. Please note, there is a $5 day use fee at Cook Lake. Nearly 55-miles of non-motorized trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding can be accessed just outside of the town of Sundance and 70 miles of motorized trails for 55-inch OHV use can be found throughout the Bearlodge. Please visit the Black Hills National Forest website to learn more about the recreation opportunities on the Bearlodge Ranger District.
Facilities
Bearlodge Campground has sites available to accommodate tents, trailers, and small RVs, each site is equipped with a picnic table and a fire ring. There is a vault toilet and trash receptacles available in the center of the campground. Electrical hook-ups and water are not available.
Natural Features
Located in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, Black Hills National Forest encompasses nearly 1.25 million acres of rugged rock formations, canyons and gulches, open grassland parks, tumbling streams, deep blue lakes, and unique caves. Derived from the Lakota language, the words "Paha Sapa," meaning "hills that are black," honor the dark, pine-covered hills rising several thousand feet above the surrounding prairie. Wildlife in the area abounds. Bighorn sheep navigate mountainous terrain, while elk, deer and pronghorn gather in forests and prairies. Bald eagles, hawks, osprey, peregrine falcon, and hundreds of other bird species can be found in the forest, especially along streams, lakes and rivers. Mountain lions, although rarely seen, also call this area home. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Nearby Attractions
The historic town of Aladdin, Wyoming is about 7 miles to the east on State Highway 24. Devil's Tower National Monument is located about 25 miles to the West of Bearlodge Campground on State Highway 24.
What the agency tells you
FYI: During the off season (from 10/01 until 12/15) the USFS operates this campground. Their information is listed below: Late September – Mid May Black Hills National Forest / Bearlodge Ranger District 101 S. 21st Street, Sundance, WY 82729 Phone (307) 283-1361 www.fs.usda.gov/r02/blackhills Daily Fee is $15.00 per First Come First Served campsite of which there are 8 available. Self-Pay at all open campgrounds. The stay limit is 14 days in a 28 day period. Sites are located outside of campground gate. Parking Spur Length is 25 ft. Drinking water is NOT available. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. Vault toilets are also available. Garbage and Trash "Pack It In Pack It Out" at all times. Please note that roads are not maintained during the off-season. Sites are open until weather prohibits access or closed on the date noted above. (12/15/2026 is when the campground closes this year) The information listed below is pertinent during the open season from May 15th to September 30th.
Potable water is available at this site. Water is turned off from about Oct. 1 through May 15. In spring and fall, water availability can change depending on the weather because cold temperatures may freeze the water lines.
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. This fee is collected by the camp host upon arrival.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…picnic table and a fire ring. There is a vault toilet and trash receptacles available in the center of…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 8th darkest of 52 in SD
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 4 days ago, 34 km away
- Patchy 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.
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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $18 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
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 · 6
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites
All 8 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. 8 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Beaver Creek Campground0.0 miBlack Fox Campground0.0 mi
Black Hills Off-Season Campgrounds0.0 mi
Castle Peak Campground0.0 mi
Custer Trail Campground0.0 mi
Ditch Creek Campground0.0 miBearlodge Campground is about 7 miles west of Aladdin, Wyoming, along Wyoming State Highway 24
The agency publishes this point for 13 campgrounds; it’s likely a district office, not the campground. Use the agency’s own page for directions.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lead, SD
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 50°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 15°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
Bearlodge Campground 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 →