Introduction:
While this was a solid choice for the off-season, we would not necessarily come back when it's very busy.
Click here to read about our criteria for campground reviews.
The Basics:
Overall Rating: 3.1/5
Price per night / Discounts: $36.9 / We visited in their off-season, so rates were lower than high season. They also offer Good Sam, AAA, and several other discount programs.
Campground website: Happy Holiday RV Resort
Our Site #: 38B
Privacy Rating (how spacious and private do the sites feel):
2/5: Not only is this a typical commercial park with sites lined up right next to one other in long rows, but the sites are designed so that neighbors face the opposite way - meaning, you share a patio and pavilion with your next door neighbor. We lucked out because we were there during their low season so we didn't have to deal with this, but it would really suck to have to share a common space with random strangers. The reality is, you just wouldn't use your outdoor space. The sites are also lined up so that your view out your front window is the rear of someone else's rig. It's just not a great design.
Location Rating (accessibility to points of interest or to major highways):
3.5/5: The location is pretty good. You're about 20 minutes from Mount Rushmore and about 30 minutes from the visitor's center at Custer State Park. Rapid City is a decent sized city where you can get just about anything you need, and all of that is within a 20 minute drive. For exploring this area, the campground has a decent location. However, if we were here during the summer, we likely would have stayed at one of the campgrounds inside Custer State Park. Those are even more convenient for getting to the other big sites in the area (Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, etc.)
Site Quality and Big Rig Accessibility Rating (utilities and accessibility of campground hook ups):
2/5: This was only so-so. We were able to get in and out of our site pretty easily only because there were very few other RVs parked there. Had the place been full, we would have had a much harder time. The site quality, as I mentioned above, was just ok. There was little privacy, a shared pavilion, beat up picnic tables, etc. The utilities were fine.
Technology and Customer Service Rating (online resources, reservations, and staff):
4/5: They do have a basic online request form, but I believe I called to make our reservation. Customer service was friendly and helpful. They guided us to our spot to make sure we wouldn't have any issues getting in.
Internet Availability Rating (Verizon coverage or campground wifi):
4/5: Wifi was decent and AT&T hotspot worked fine.
Summary:
While we didn't dislike this place, we were happy to be there in their offseason instead of their high season. The way this campground is set up, if it's busy, you're stuck facing your neighbor and sharing a common space, and it will likely be tough to get in and out of your space if you're in a big rig. I cannot imagine why they designed it this way, but it really takes away from the overall feel. Additionally, the spaces are lined up right in front of one another, so your view out your front window is going to be another rig. There were a lot of seasonal winter campers and some of the rigs were pretty worn down. While the common grassy areas on the perimeter were pretty nice, we just weren't that impressed with this place. Fortunately, the price was reasonable which helped a lot.
Planning our trip to the Custer SD area now. Not the best time of season for it as we are leaving Missouri around 7/18 on a two month tour through Nebraska and South Dakota. That would put us in the area of Custer around 8/23 and then Fort Robinson in Nebraska around 9/6. But we have only started to plan and will book the major stops before we leave; which could change our dates based on availability at parks. Some are saying they are seeing less crowds in popular areas due to no international travelers.
Really appreciate being able to look back on other’s trips to include your travel maps. Makes one of the worst parts of fulltiming, that being trip/route planning, a little easier especially for big rigs.
Hope all is going as planned for you guys!
Hey Mark!
We actually just did our first major move in many months and are about to visit some national parks (Yellowstone and Glacier), so we’re wondering the same thing. On the one hand, there won’t be any international tourists this year, but on the other, everyone who would usually go on a cruise or a a flight is suddenly interested in RV travel! We just have no idea what to expect. So far, the campgrounds we’ve been at have had plenty of space, so we’ll just have to see how things go. This whole summer/fall is going to require a lot of flexibility.
SD and NE sound great. If you are able to get into any of the campgrounds in Custer State Park, they are supposed to be wonderful. We had reservations at Game Lodge Campground, but ended up canceling them because of bad weather, and ended up at this place instead – which was pretty meh. But there’s a lot of great stuff to see in that region. I think you guys will enjoy it!
And I’m happy to hear the maps and campground info are useful. I have been using other people’s blogs for years to steal ideas and shortcut our planning!
Stay well!