Campground Review - Shadehill Recreation Area, Shadehill, South Dakota

Description

The Shadehill Recreation Area is a lovely forested state park and campground nestled on the shores of Shadehill Reservoir, one of the few large lakes in western South Dakota. A wide range of outdoor activities, including hiking, hunting, fishing, kayaking and other water sports are available here.

Shadehill is best-known as the site of the 1823 grizzly bear mauling of adventurer Hugh Glass – abandoned to die by his companions, Glass survived and crawled 200 miles to safety at Fort Kiowa. A marker overlooking the reservoir commemorates the event and the story was recently dramatized in the DiCaprio film, “The Revenant”.

Location

Shadehill Recreation Area
19150 Summerville Road
Shadehill, SD 57638
Park: (605) 374-5114
Latitude: 45.761754 N, Longitude: -102.231644 W, Elevation: ~2,287 ft (697 m)

Details

We stayed for four nights at the Shadehill Recreation Area campground in early September of 2017. This is a basic, clean, and very well maintained campground with lovely, shady, park-like grounds nestled on the shores of Shadehill Reservoir.

Cost

For four nights at a 50 amp electric-only back-in site, we paid about $22 per night, including taxes. The park also has a $6/vehicle daily use fee ($48 total) – with our extra vehicle, it was slightly cheaper to pay for two annual state park vehicle passes ($45 total). Counting the vehicle fees, we paid about $33.25/night. The annual passes also made sense to us since we planned to visit other state parks in South Dakota during our trip.

Amenities On Site or Nearby

The campground offers few amenities other than electric-only sites, rental cabins, RV dump station, fish cleaning station, lodge, playground, potable water hydrants, restrooms and showers. A convenience store is nearby in Shadehill. A grocery store, gas stations, and some services are available nearby in Lemmon, SD (17 miles). A larger choice of services and shopping are available in Bismark, North Dakota (140 miles) or Rapid City, South Dakota (183 miles).

Ratings (1-5)

Accessibility – 4/5

The campground is remote, but easily accessible via well maintained roads from highway SD-73. Lanes in the park are well-maintained asphalt. The park has both pull-thru and back-in sites and can accommodate large rigs. The campground facilities have provisions for Universal access and some ADA sites.

Facilities/Amenities – 3/5

The campground offers basic amenities including electric-only hookup sites, rental cabins, RV dump station, fish cleaning station, playground, hydrants for potable water, restrooms and showers. The campground has a bathhouse with flush toilets and showers, as well as vault toilets elsewhere in the park. Facilities are clean and well maintained. The recreation area also has a lodge, boat ramp, swimming beaches and picnic areas.

Site quality – 4/5

Sites are very basic, including electric-only hookup with 50/30/20 amp electric, fire-ring and a picnic table. Sites surfaces are gravel and grass. Sites are quite spacious, with large separation between sites. Trees throughout the campground provide welcome shade.

Scenic Value – 4/5

Nestled on the shores of Shadehill Reservoir, with scattered trees, shrubbery and wide swaths of grass throughout, this campground has an open park-like atmosphere and is quite scenic.

Location/Isolation – 4/5

The campground is quite isolated as it is far from any major town or highway. Sites are spacious and there is large separation between sites. Trees and shrubbery between sites add to privacy and the feeling of isolation. The campground is generally quiet, but receives some noise from watercraft on the reservoir.

Paws Friendliness – 4/5

The park is pet friendly, but does not have any enclosed pet run or cleanup bag stations. The campground is large enough for a decent walk with your pet. You can take your pet for longer walks on trails around the campground or for swims at the lake-shore.

Overall Rating – 4/5

Overall, the Shadehill Recreation Area campground is a peaceful and lovely place to stay. We enjoyed our stay and would certainly stay here on another visit.

Additional info

Internet access

We received a weak to moderate 4G Verizon signal at this campground. We deployed our cellular antenna and booster to improve MiFi hot spot internet access. The campground does not offer WiFi.