$28
Pactola Reservoir
Total sites: 53
Available Today: 24 FF*
Available this Weekend: 5 FF*
Booking Window: 6 months
Available Today: 24 FF*
Available this Weekend: 5 FF*
Booking Window: 6 months
4,692 ft
78°F
60°F
60°F
weak
Black Hills National Forest › Mystic Ranger District › South Dakota
› Custer County
› Custer
› Pactola Reservoir Campground
Pactola Reservoir Campground, SD - Latest Reviews, Photos & Campground Map
Pactola Reservoir Campground is located in the Mystic Ranger District, Black Hills National Forest (54 min west of Rapid City, SD) with an elevation of 4,692 feet. There are a total of 53 campsites. The campground is normally open from mid May to the beginning of September. Sites can accommodate RVs and trailers between 18 and 82 feet. All sites are currently reservable. Reservations can be booked up to 6 months in advance. Prices start at $28.00 per night. Some amenities include boat ramp, swimming, marina, flush toilets. Activities include biking, boating, fishing, hiking trails, floating sports.
Campground Capacity (Next 30 Days)
Campsite Reviews (132)
4.4 out of 5
| 5 star | 63% | |
| 4 star | 20% | |
| 3 star | 5% | |
| 2 star | 6% | |
| 1 star | 3% |
@NeenaS7A34A121 · Camped on Jul 17, 2025 at Campsite #2
Fun day kayaking!
@NicoleR9416181 · Camped on Jul 11, 2025 at Campsite #51
Amazing location. Nice camping with access to the reservoir.
@VICTORIAM23153 · Camped on Jul 11, 2025 at Campsite #26
Pactola Reservoir is beautiful and the campground adjacent to it makes for a very fun experience! The facilities are very clean as well.
@RichardM509620 · Camped on Jul 11, 2025 at Campsite #44
Beautiful campground with spacious sites and plenty of trees for shade. Campground and bathrooms very clean and well maintained.
@AbigailSC2B8B1 · Camped on Jul 11, 2025 at Campsite #43
Beautiful campground, great facilities, right on the water. We've camped here multiple times and look forward to coming back.
@JenniferS83796 · Camped on Jul 11, 2025 at Campsite #46
We come every year for Pure Pactola and the campsites are awesome the hosts are helpful and the bathrooms clean. Love this place. Absolutely perfect
@KayB8142962 · Camped on Jul 8, 2025 at Campsite #65
Lovely place to camp. Beautiful lake with access to renting boats at the marina. Campgrounds hosts were friendly and helpful.
@DAVIDJ6790409 · Camped on Jun 29, 2025 at Campsite #10
Thank you for the clean and quiet camp. Camp Host ("Beau") was very nice and professional. Camp site #8 has extensive growth of poison ivy next to the camp road. In my opinion, this should be removed.
@MelanieM6190DE · Camped on Jun 24, 2025 at Campsite #40
Pactola Lake is beautiful. The campground is a little hilly but really just fine. Campground was quiet when we were there at the end of June. Loved the swimming area near the boat launch. I would recommend this campground .
@JenniferA28334 · Camped on Jun 24, 2025 at Campsite #18
excellent national forest campground. Views are beautiful. Camp Host are very accommodating and friendly
@JennyFE24AB1BA · Camped on Jun 23, 2025 at Campsite #28
Very beautiful campground but sites are sloped and close together, no electric or water at sites. Loose dogs. I witnessed hosts smile and wave at campers whose dogs were loose and never say anything about loose dogs. Quiet
@AmyR5823789 · Camped on Jun 22, 2025 at Campsite #10
Clean, well maintained and close to the lake. It was quiet most of the time and the scenery was beautiful. The restrooms were very well maintained. Would recommend!
@MikeM9721189 · Camped on Jun 12, 2025 at Campsite #34
Great time and gorgeous views! Grandkids loved it! Camp host's were super!
@DelmarH146DC22 · Camped on Jun 8, 2025 at Campsite #42
We had camped at Pactola 20+ years ago and wanted to return. The campground was just as i remembered. It is a very quiet rustic campground. The hosts were helpful and knowledgeable. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here. We used the campground as a home base to sight see the sites.
@LindseyT6CC9A9 · Camped on Jun 7, 2025 at Campsite #37
We love camping at Pactola! The reservoir is severely down right now, so getting in the water felt a little more treacherous as the gradual slope was not even in the water, and most parts had a steep drop off. The camp hosts were awesome and bathrooms always clean!
@JeffD9403272 · Camped on May 23, 2025 at Campsite #8
Campground host was helpful!
@ROBM7319577 · Camped on May 21, 2025 at Campsite #53
The campground was beautiful and quiet and the camp host Mike was excellent. He was very helpful even helping me cut some wood when I forgot an axe. He was a highlight of the trip and youd be lucky to have him as your host.
@PingCCCABD47E3 · Camped on Sep 6, 2024 at Campsite #44
Good facilities!
@RandyG6320371 · Camped on Aug 20, 2024 at Campsite #33
We love Pactola Resevoir.
@KathleenK13494 · Camped on Aug 19, 2024 at Campsite #23
I have camped at Pactola on a few occasions and all were good experiences. This year, I happened to book site 23 and bring my adult daughter along for the nature experience. I couldnt believe that it was an option to set up camp at site 23 as our camper was next to the restroom, but what made it even worse was that the picnic table and fire pit were 15 yds or less behind the toilet. To make matters worse, people walked (on a path) through our campsite to go to the restroom. Poor design. My recommendation is to steer clear of sites 23 and 22. Like I stated; should not be offered as a camp site. The lake itself was nice to boat on, and a beautiful area in general.
@JamesH5225020 · Camped on Jul 28, 2024 at Campsite #45
scenic and quiet campground with great views of the lake at a lot of the sites.
@DavidML26BED26 · Camped on Jul 21, 2024 at Campsite #12
once again, did not disappoint!
@ColleenZB926DA · Camped on Jul 20, 2024 at Campsite #46
It started out great but when there was a mix up in reservation night the camp host was very rude and demanding. I thought maybe it was just the mix up but one of them was never very nice to us. Due the mix up we had to move. The camp site we moved to was nice but the camp sites are on top of each other. I would not recommend these spots if you have pets. The other downside was most of the quite places to shore fish had steep hills. Other then that very very clean water. Our golden loved the water as we did too.
@TammyK9690800 · Camped on Jul 13, 2024 at Campsite #17
The site was beautiful with lots of real estate for each site. We really enjoyed that, enjoyed the beautiful view, and enjoyed swimming in the reservoir each evening. We were well informed that the sites did not have water or electric hookups, so we were prepared for that. However, we saw no mention that the campground has no dump station. The dump station in the Badlands did not have a set-up with water that allowed us to completely empty our blackwater tank, so we needed to complete that before setting up at Pactola. If the reservation site or our reminder email had let us know that there was no dump station at Pactola we would have looked for a place (perhaps at a Flying J?) where we could have taken care of that before arrival. Instead, we had to leave, go pay a fee at a private campground in a neighboring town, and then come back to set up. It is really disappointing that this information is not out there for people who plan to come to this campground. Otherwise we had a very nice stay. We were able to visit Spearfish Canyon, hike to the Devil's Bathtub, tour the Wild West town of Deadwood, and visit Bear Butte State Park easily from this location.
@LauraC7322672 · Camped on Jul 12, 2024 at Campsite #24
Beautiful campground. Our site was level, spacious and near very clean toilet. Did find that water in loop B was brown one day, though.
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