Reviews for Mount Rushmore KOA at Palmer Gulch

| Amazing and fun resort

By user-4598532... on 2017-10-23.

We loved this place! It might have more fun amenities than any other campground in the US. We have a 3 year old that was always busy and having fun. We stayed for a week and loved it.

By user-5294504... on 2017-10-23.

Sites flood out when it rains, not able to get to ours when we pulled in, they are aware of this and never told us. It was muddy and needs gravel. No wifi, sites are crowded together. They would not give us another site even when others were open and available, we got our money back and found another place to stay in the area. There is a lot to do here it looks like it could be a fun place on dry conditions but still seems packed and overcrowded. Staff was helpful in finding us another place to go. Wish they would have told us up front that they were flooded.

| Aug 3 2014

By user-5194349... on 2017-10-23.

We stayed there this year great people. Very nice place .

By user-6353083... on 2017-10-23.

Every site is right on top of the other, it was muddy, needed to be gravled. The staff where rude. No WiFi and the water was orange. Way over priced for what you get

| Mt Rushmore Trip

By user-5743465... on 2017-10-23. Stayed 2014-05-11 to 2014-05-14

Temps were below freezing every night, but it was the best KOA we've ever stayed at. Staff was very friendly, property is amazing, loved that it backed to National Forest with great hiking trails, quick drive to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Water nozzle leaked upon arrival and in less than 2 minutes it was repaired. Restrooms/showers were amazing with high pressure, hot water and clean. If I were a kid in the summer here, I'd never want to go home. Wifi is spotty so if you need to work, be sure to get a spot by the pool or the office. Not a lot of cable hook ups and tv antenna didn't bring in anything, nor did the Verizon cell work. Other than that, if you are there to vacation, it's a 10+.

By user-5238078... on 2017-10-23.

Lovely setting, very clean and well maintained. Cable tv is only available on "limited" sites. Could not use wifi.

| Amazing!

By user-5836769... on 2017-10-23.

You could make an entire vacation out of this KOA. There is so much to do here. I loved it. You will not run out of things to do. K9 park. Pull throughs. Nice restrooms.

| Lots for kids to do

By user-6626806... on 2017-10-23.

Massive campground with lots for kids to do. The dirt/mud roads are in terrible condition and very muddy. Kids loved it though.

| Very conflicting review

By user-5827154... on 2017-10-23.

This was the nicest KOA we ever stayed at. We had reserved and paid for 6 days and were excited when we arrived. I had requested a concrete pull through for my 40' class A motorhome and was told my site was paved. Within 3 hours, we got a refund for 5 days and went elsewhere. First our spot was gravel and there is not a cement pad in the entire park. There is zero cellular service from any provider. There are 615 sites in the park, but only 36 have cable TV. There are zero TV channels via your TV antenna. Satellite is hit or miss because of all the trees. So if you want TV during your stay you are out of luck. WiFi was horrible and if you could even get on, they locked you off in 10-15 minutes. Worse, the have a $3/day dog fee that they charged me and never told me of the charge when making my reservations norcwhen I was paying the bill. Sites are very tight and jammed together. All in all, we left after one night and would never come back. Wonderful park but they need to get into the 21st century with their technology.

| Cramped at best.

By user-5229262... on 2017-10-23.

Paid for two nights left after one. Sites are so small I had to unhook my truck to fit in my back in spot and I took up half the sight to my right and left. I only have a 27ft travel trailer or it was difficult. Staff we're all nice, nice place for my kids to play but extremely busy. So we moved on early. I'm sure people love all the KOA activitys not us. Cant say i hated it but we will not be back. No cell or Wi-Fi at my spot or anywhere close.

| Don't go by GPS

By user-5862460... on 2017-10-23. Stayed 2016-09-21 to 2016-09-25

Don't go by GPS we ended up at the service Rd a mile though the woods on a dirt path. We felt like Robin Williams in RV movie. No cell service to call for directions or help. We did not know our Tiffin class A was a 4x4 RV no place to turn around upset husband !!!!! We were told we had cable but only around 30 sites with cable out of over 600 sites Staff knew how upset we were so they did help us for another site. The store & restaurant was great. If they would do more telling customers how to get there than selling the campground they would have more satisfied customers at the start

By user-6173347... on 2017-10-23.

Spent three nights here and had a wonderful time. Sites have nice grass area and a good variety of sites to choose from. Location is centralized. Would definitely stay here again. Lack of wifi and cell service were not a big deal. Could get cell service when we were touring the area. Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park were easily accessible. Lots of fun things to do.

| Perfect Family Black Hills location

By user-5256252... on 2018-03-14.

Our family spent 7 days at the KOA Palmer Gulch campground. Upon arriving we were not pleased with our site as it was on a steep hill area. The staff kindly accommodated us and moved us to an area that we picked out. There is so much going on here with pools, a water slide, neon light dance parties for the kids, movies, fishing, horse back riding, and so much more. They even have great restaurants and a wine cafe! We couldn't have been more happy with the amenities and will absolutely go here again in the future.

| Lots to do

By user-4817166... on 2018-03-14.

We stayed here summer of 2017 for three nights to explore the surrounding area. We wished we stayed here longer. So many things to do. Water slide. Pool. Kids activities and horse back riding. I’d definitely book again when my kids are older tondo some of the other activities in the area.

| A Destination! **Don't use GPS...get directions**

By user-6604159... on 2019-08-09. Stayed 2019-06-07 to 2019-06-10

This KOA is a true resort! There are scheduled, free activities for the kids every day and extra activities one can pay a little extra for, as well. Besides playground and pool and bounce pillow, my kids did rock wall climbing, a wagon ride and watched a movie in the activities pavilion. They even had a free rodeo during our stay. This like horseback riding, pancake breakfast, chuckwagon dinner, gold panning, etc, cost extra but it's great that they have those available! The restaurants on site are great and affordable, and all the facilities are nice. Plus the area is scenic and beautiful! The only negatives I can think of is that there is so much to offer that everything is really spread out, so I've gotten my exercise! Also the WiFi is quite weak in certain areas. No cell service. Oh, and you can't use Google maps to get here, as it takes you to the middle of nowhere.

| Great family place

By user-6493699... on 2019-08-09. Stayed 2019-06-17 to 2019-06-20

We absolutely love this place. Absolutely beautiful location in the hills. Very close to Mt Rushmore. Tons of stuff to entertain the kids. Staff was very friendly. The horseback riding on site was fantastic as well. Will definitely stay again.

| Nice but too crowded

By user-6180340... on 2019-08-09. Stayed 2019-07-03 to 2019-07-07

This place takes campsite campers as well as has numerous cabins so when they are full this place is way too crowded. With all of the campers the bathrooms were always filthy and even driving around is hard. This property has great amenities but they all get overrun when the place is busy.

| Loud and crowded

By user-6270441... on 2019-08-09.

We stayed three nights in a hybrid trailer. Our site wasn't very big, and we were packed in like sardines. The roads are dirt and gravel, so it was very messy while we were there due to the ongoing rain. Our neighbors (all adults) were very loud until midnight the first night. My husband called the after hours number and left a message, but nothing ever happened. The second night, the neighbors were outside and were really loud past the quiet time...again. We had closed our bunk end in order to get some sleep. The final night, the neighbors were at it again. My husband called the after hours number again and was able to speak to someone. A security guard was sent to tell the neighbors to quiet down. Finally. We really didn't enjoy our stay. Also, we had to pay $10/night in resort fees even though we never used their resort amenities and were only there to sleep. Would we stay at this KOA again? No. Are there a lot of amenities? Yes. If you don't mind the noise and crowds and really want all the activities and amenities, this might be the place for you. If you prefer a more peaceful camping experience, go elsewhere.

| Great location to see it all

By user-4830813... on 2019-08-09. Stayed 2019-07-03 to 2019-07-06

Close to Rushmore, Custer state park, crazy Horse and Needles Highway. Easy car ride to Deadwood, Sturgis, wind and Jewel cave. Lots of free activities for the kids including water slide, pool, putt putt, movie nights. Atv Riding and Horseback riding available at the campgrounds. Rock climbing and bouldering park Wrinkled Rock is 2 miles towards Rushmore. Had a few fun stops their. The reason for the three rating was water flood issues in the back camping area. They have experienced unprecedented rain fall this season but a few trenches could dry things up. I stood in ankle deep water to Acess anything at the tail of the motor home. A few of us used shovels to trench which did drain water quicker.

| In the midst of Sturgis

By user-4643485... on 2019-08-09. Stayed 2019-08-03 to 2019-08-04

This was a nice RV spot,very clean restrooms and showers. Scenic and clear se to Mt Rushmore andHill City.