Dalton Lake Campground
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $24From, per site
- Sites
- 1210 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Dalton Lake Campground sits next to the 2.8 acre Dalton Lake and offers nearby access to fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding and a variety of motorized recreation opportunities. Explore the dozens of miles of nearby trails or simply relax and enjoy the lake and nearby Little Elk Creek. The campground offers 11 sites and a picnic area nestled into the Ponderosa Pines of the Northern Black Hills. Whether you are looking to take some time to relax or looking for an adventure, the seclusion of Dalton Lake Campground offers an ideal experience for almost any explorer. Keep reading
Recreation
Dalton Lake Campground provides extensive opportunities for access to outdoor recreation. Try fishing from the several piers surrounding Dalton lake, explore a portion of the 111 mile Centennial trail that runs adjacent to the campground or hop on your dirt bike, ATV or side by side to adventure through the dozens of nearby OHV trails. Facilities • Standard Nonelectric Campsites • Restrooms • Group Picnic Shelter Natural Features Dalton Lake Campground sits at just under 4,400 feet elevation and is surrounded by tall peaks and beautiful Ponderosa Pine forest. Little Elk Creek feeds into Dalton lake and continues it’s meandering journey through large boulders and winding canyons east toward Piedmont, South Dakota. The lake is stocked with Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout, managed by South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (661) 702-1420.
What the agency tells you
This campground is NOT OPEN during the Off Season. It closes at noon on October 1st.
There is no water available at this campground.
These campsites are non-electric sites. Generators may run from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. only.
Everything else this campground posts · 3
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.
The Senior and Access discounts are only honored for the site that houses the card holder.
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 payable to the camp host upon arrival
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 12
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 55 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Night sky · 45th darkest of 52 in SD
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 28 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 10 of the 12 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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 · 14
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, $24 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
12 sites
All 12 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. 10 of the 12 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| 1 | type not stated | ||
| 10 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $24 |
| 11 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $24 |
| 2 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $24 |
| 3 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | $24 |
| 4 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $24 |
| 5 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $24 |
| 6 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | $24 |
| 7 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $24 |
| 8 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $24 |
| 9 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $24 |
| Standard S&P | type not stated |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Boxelder Forks CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 3.8 mi
Roubaix LakeBlack Hills National Forest · 9.9 miAlkali Creek CampgroundSouth Dakota Field Office · 10 miAlkali Creek HorsecampSouth Dakota Field Office · 10 mi
Bear GulchBlack Hills National Forest · 11 mi
Pactola Reservoir CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 11 miFrom Sturgis, I-90 exit 32 take Vanocker Canyon Hwy south for approximately 12.5 miles to Dalton Lake Road. Dalton lake is a gravel road. Take Dalton Lake Road east for 3.7 miles to Dalton Lake Campground. The Campground and lake will be on the left-hand side of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Piedmont, SD
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 12°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Dalton Lake 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 →