Cook Lake Rec Area
A public campground shut with nobody having to say why isn’t good enough.Ask why it’s closed →
- Right now
- ClosedThe agency’s own sentence, quoted below
- A night
- $28When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 33In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Situated in a heavily forested area adjacent to Cook Lake, this campground is a peaceful setting for guests seeking recreation and relaxation in the Black Hills National Forest in Wyoming. Some sites in the campground are widely spaced and open up to views overlooking the lake, and others sit snugly along a hillside. Separation, rather than vegetation, provide visitors with a sense of privacy. Tall mature trees and grass underbrush give the campground a groomed character. Keep reading
Recreation
The 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. Approximately 4 miles of hiking and bicycling trails are available at the recreation area. Adjacent to the campground is Cook Lake, an ideal spot for fishing and boating. The lake supports populations of rainbow and brown trout, a variety of sunfish, and catfish. The Cook Lake Trail, along with Loop A, has been closed due to a recent landslide. However there are still plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation of all types in the area.
Facilities
The Cook Lake Recreation Area has sites able to accommodate tents, trailers, and RVs. The campground is equipped with picnic tables, campfire rings, vault toilets, and drinking water; however, electrical hook-ups are not available. There is also an accessible pier and picnic area as well as walk in access to the lake for small boats (non motorized).
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.
Nearby Attractions
A hike to Warren Peak Lookout Tower makes a scenic day trip for guests. Devils Tower National Monument is also a great location to visit. Established as the first United States National Monument on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt, this unique geological formation is valued for its natural, cultural, and recreational significance. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
Charges & Cancellations
No refunds will be given for weather or related events.
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 15 available. There is a $5.00 Day Use Fee. Self-Pay at all open campgrounds. The stay limit is 14 days in a 28 day period. B Loop is open. All other loops are Closed! Parking Spur Length is 45 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. (This campground closes on 12/15/2026 this year) The information listed below is pertinent during the open season from May 15th to September 30th.
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.
These campsites are non-electric sites. Generators may run from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. only.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Non-reservable sites may be available on a first come, first served basis
A pet fee of $2 per pet per night is required upon check in. Pets must be leashed, under control and attended at all times.
- The Senior and Access discounts are only honored for the site that houses the card holder. - If multiple sites are reserved on one card, the rest of the camping fee will be collected upon arrival unless another card holder occupies the site!
Open fires allowed if contained and attended to; be sure that fire is completely extinguished before leaving; check with the local Forest Service Office for fire restrictions
Prevent the spread of invasive species by inspecting and cleaning packs, equipment, and tires before using lake or trails
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 33
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…with picnic tables, campfire rings, vault toilets, and drinking water; however, electrical hook-ups…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…campfire rings, vault toilets, and drinking water; however, electrical hook-ups are not available.…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 207th darkest of 248 in WY
- Bortle 2
Nothing to book until it reopens
Order 172 - Cook Lake Closure Order.
The closure above is the reading. We hold no availability snapshot for this campground, so there’s no thirty-night strip to draw under it.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 11
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 will 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 · 6
What the agency said · 1
Order 172 - Cook Lake Closure Order. Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50 (a) and (b), the following are prohibited on the National Forest System (NFS) lands and trails in the Bearlodge Ranger District, Black Hills National Forest, described below and shown on the attached map incorporated into this Order as Exhibit A (the “Described Area and Trail”): .
U.S. Forest Service · posted Aug 1, 2023
Open within 150 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
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- Cow Creek Campground And Picnic AreaCuster National Forest · 103 mi · walk-up
- Holiday Spring CampgroundCuster National Forest · 105 mi · walk-up
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
35 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 15 mapped sitesAll 35 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 33 of the 35 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.
| COOK | 019 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 118 ft | 268 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 020 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 81 ft | 215 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 021 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 81 ft | 288 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 022 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 103 ft | 203 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 023 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 72 ft | 257 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 024 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 72 ft | 312 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 025 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 127 ft | 370 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 026 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 72 ft | 383 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 027 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 78 ft | 461 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 028 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 102 ft | 535 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 029 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 126 ft | 452 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 030 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 90 ft | 583 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 031 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 89 ft | 544 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 032 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 89 ft | 479 ft | $28 |
| COOK | 033 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 99 ft | 359 ft | $28 |
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 01 | type not stated | 529 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 010 | type not stated | 148 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 011 | type not stated | 493 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 012 | type not stated | 470 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 013 | type not stated | 572 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 014 | type not stated | 674 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 015 | type not stated | 771 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 016 | type not stated | 678 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 017 | type not stated | 613 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 018 | type not stated | 574 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 02 | type not stated | 357 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 03 | type not stated | 293 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 04 | type not stated | 278 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 05 | type not stated | 334 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 06 | type not stated | 446 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 07 | type not stated | 178 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 08 | type not stated | 366 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 09 | type not stated | 70 ftBeaver Creek | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX | unnamed record | 99 ft | $28 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX19 | unnamed record | $28 |
The agency files 2 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It types every one of them MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 35 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sundance11 mi
Reuter CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 12 mi
Belle Fourche River CampgroundDevils Tower National Monument · 15 miTimon CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 28 miRod & Gun CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 28 miInterstate I-90 to exit 199 (Aladdin). North on Rt 111 for 4 miles, left on Farrall Road (Rt 843) for 10 miles to Cook Lake.
OR
From Sundance, WY, take US 14 west or exit 185 off Interstate 90 to US 14 west, for 1.4 miles to Cook Lake Recreation Area sign at Forest Route 838. Turn right onto FR 838 and go 12.9 miles to FR 843. Turn right and go 5.4 miles to another Cook Lake Recreation Area sign on FR 842. Turn left and go 1.1 miles to campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hulett, WY
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January 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
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Cook Lake Rec Area is in Wyoming’s at-large congressional district. Its representative, Harriet Hageman (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
We read the agency’s notice and couldn’t get a reason out of it, so it’s filed as no reason we could read. That reading is ours. The draft to the agency asks what closed Cook Lake Rec Area, what reopening it would cost and what date they’re working towards. The draft to Congress asks them to put the same question in writing and to fund the answer.
- The member who votes the moneyHarriet M. HagemanU.S. Representative · Wyoming, at-large
- Your senator, on the same appropriationCynthia M. LummisU.S. Senator · Wyoming
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJohn BarrassoU.S. Senator · Wyoming
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who found out at the gate, or a week before the trip. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to find out what reopening Cook Lake Rec Area would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Cook Lake Rec Area is closed (Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming)
Dear Harriet M. Hageman, I’m a constituent in Wyoming, at-large. I went to camp at Cook Lake Rec Area, Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming and found it closed. The notice says: "Order 172 - Cook Lake Closure Order. Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50 (a) and (b), the following are prohibited on the National Forest System (NFS) lands and trails in the Bearlodge Ranger District, Black Hills National Forest, described below and shown on the attached map incorporated into this Order as Exhibit A (the “Described Area and Trail”): ." (https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/blackhills/alerts/order-172-cook-lake-closure-order, read Oct 17, 2026) The notice doesn’t say what closed it, which is worth asking about on its own. A campground on public land going dark with no stated reason and no reopening date isn’t something the public should have to guess at. Please ask the U.S. Forest Service, in writing, what reopening Cook Lake Rec Area would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 33 campsites are open next season. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Cook Lake Rec Area (Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Cook Lake Rec Area would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Cook Lake Rec Area is closed (Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming)
Dear Cynthia M. Lummis, I’m a constituent in Wyoming. I went to camp at Cook Lake Rec Area, Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming and found it closed. The notice says: "Order 172 - Cook Lake Closure Order. Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50 (a) and (b), the following are prohibited on the National Forest System (NFS) lands and trails in the Bearlodge Ranger District, Black Hills National Forest, described below and shown on the attached map incorporated into this Order as Exhibit A (the “Described Area and Trail”): ." (https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/blackhills/alerts/order-172-cook-lake-closure-order, read Oct 17, 2026) The notice doesn’t say what closed it, which is worth asking about on its own. A campground on public land going dark with no stated reason and no reopening date isn’t something the public should have to guess at. Please ask the U.S. Forest Service, in writing, what reopening Cook Lake Rec Area would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 33 campsites are open next season. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Cook Lake Rec Area (Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Cook Lake Rec Area would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Cook Lake Rec Area is closed (Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming)
Dear John Barrasso, I’m a constituent in Wyoming. I went to camp at Cook Lake Rec Area, Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming and found it closed. The notice says: "Order 172 - Cook Lake Closure Order. Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50 (a) and (b), the following are prohibited on the National Forest System (NFS) lands and trails in the Bearlodge Ranger District, Black Hills National Forest, described below and shown on the attached map incorporated into this Order as Exhibit A (the “Described Area and Trail”): ." (https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/blackhills/alerts/order-172-cook-lake-closure-order, read Oct 17, 2026) The notice doesn’t say what closed it, which is worth asking about on its own. A campground on public land going dark with no stated reason and no reopening date isn’t something the public should have to guess at. Please ask the U.S. Forest Service, in writing, what reopening Cook Lake Rec Area would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 33 campsites are open next season. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Cook Lake Rec Area (Black Hills National Forest, Wyoming) via campanac.com