Dutchman
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $26–$52Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 4434 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Dutchman Campground, located in a shady Ponderosa pine forested area on the northeast edge of Deerfield Reservoir at 5,000 feet. This camp is an ideal setting for guests seeking recreation and relaxation in Black Hills National Forest. Sites in the campground are widely spaced, and a few offer wide views of the lake. Of the 3 campgrounds in the Deerfield Recreation Area, this one is the most RV-friendly. Keep reading
Recreation
Black Hills National Forest offers recreational opportunities for all ages. Guests can take advantage of opportunities for hiking, fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking, and riding off-highway vehicles (OHVs) on moderate terrain. Open to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders, the 10-mile Deerfield Lake Loop Trail encircles Deerfield Lake, traversing the forested shoreline. It offers fantastic views and opportunities for birding and picnicking. Across the lake, Deerfield Trail connects Deerfield Lake with Rapid Creek and Pactola Reservoir. Sites including a log flume, cabins, mines, tunnels and railroad grades provide visitors with a glimpse into the area's history. Deerfield Reservoir is an ideal spot for fishing and boating. The lake supports populations of stocked rainbow and native brown trout.
Facilities
Dutchman Campground has sites able to accommodate tents, trailers, and RVs. The campground has picnic tables, campfire rings, vault toilets, and drinking water; however, electrical hook-ups are not available. Lake access is within walking distance. Deerfield Lake is a no wake lake.
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.
Nearby Attractions
Possible day trips include Custer State Park with its many buffalo and other wildlife, Crazy Horse Monument and Wind Cave National Park as well as Jewel Cave which is the second longest cave in the world at 159.29 miles. It features sparkling calcite crystals and other rare formations, as well as some of the largest concentrations of passageways in the world 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 starting 10/01 the USFS operates this campground. Please note that the Top Loop is OPEN during the Off Season. All other loops are CLOSED. October 1st to May 15th Their information is listed below: Black Hills National Forest / Hell Canyon Ranger District 1019 North 5th Street, Custer, SD 57730 Phone 605.673.9200 www.fs.usda.gov/r02/blackhills0 Daily Fee is $0 per First Come First Served campsite of which there are 9 available. The stay limit is 14 days in a 28 day period. Parking Spur Length is 50 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. The information listed below is pertinent during the open season from May 15th to September 30th.
These campsites are non-electric sites. Generators may run from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. only.
Non-reservable sites may be available on a first come-first served basis
Everything else this campground posts · 8
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.
Drinking water is available but you CANNOT hook up for filling.
- 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.
Sites 9,10, 23 & 37 are double sites for up to 2 rigs and up to 16 people. The fee is double ($48) if the site is used in this manner. The camp host will collect any additional fees warranted upon arrival.
During the off season, fewer sites may be available.
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.
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
- 44
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 99 ft
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…has 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
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 26th darkest of 52 in SD
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 34 of the 44 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.
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 · 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 rates for this season, $26–$52 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.
“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 · 7
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
45 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 33 mapped sitesAll 45 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. 44 of the 45 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.
| DUTC | 001 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 83 ft | 841 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 002 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 83 ft | 820 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 003 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 101 ft | 748 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 004 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 52 ft | 667 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 007 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 88 ft | 777 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 009 | standard nonelectric | 99 ft | 88 ft | 748 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 010 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | yes | 52 ft | 616 ft | $26–$52 |
| DUTC | 011 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 62 ft | 915 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 012 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 77 ft | 828 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 013 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 62 ft | 883 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 014 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 109 ft | 775 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 015 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 21 ft | 675 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 016 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 21 ft | 655 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 017 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 63 ft | 614 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 018 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 117 ft | 578 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 023 | standard nonelectric | 99 ft | yes | 255 ft | 459 ft | $26–$52 |
| DUTC | 025 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 76 ft | 634 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 026 | standard nonelectric | 61 ft | 76 ft | 710 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 027 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 146 ft | 744 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 028 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 122 ft | 735 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 029 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 122 ft | 733 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 032 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 68 ft | 1,086 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 033 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 68 ft | 1,019 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 034 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 146 ft | 1,096 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 035 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 71 ft | 1,039 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 036 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 71 ft | 979 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 037 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | yes | 78 ft | 926 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 |
| DUTC | 038 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 60 ft | 961 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 039 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 60 ft | 968 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 041 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 21 ft | 1,175 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 042 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 21 ft | 1,193 ftDeerfield Lake | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 043 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 93 ft | 1,260 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTC | 044 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 153 ft | 1,118 ft | $26–$52 | |
| DUTCHMAN | XXX | unnamed record | 99 ft | $26–$52 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 006 | type not stated | 598 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 008 | type not stated | 789 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 019 | type not stated | 589 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 020 | type not stated | 520 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 021 | type not stated | 449 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 022 | type not stated | 439 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 024 | type not stated | 607 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 030 | type not stated | 782 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 031 | type not stated | 861 ft | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 040 | type not stated | 1,016 ftDeerfield Lake | $26 | |||
| MANAGEMENT | 045 | type not stated | 1,106 ft | $26 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It filed it without a site name, and nothing in its own record decides what it is. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t 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 45 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
WhitetailBlack Hills National Forest · 1.3 miCastle Peak CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 4.7 miDitch Creek CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 5.3 miBlack Fox CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 8.9 miRedbank Springs CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 10 mi
Pactola Reservoir CampgroundBlack Hills National Forest · 13 miTake Forest Highway 17 (Deerfield Road) for 16 miles northwest of Hill City, South Dakota.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hill City, SD
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 55°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 18°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
Dutchman 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 →