About Horsethief Lake Campground
Number of accommodations: 22
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Sites & Availability
22 Sites Available
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22 Sites Available
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Reviews (217)
What Guests Are Saying
Horsethief Lake Campground is a charming and well-maintained site near Mount Rushmore, praised for its clean facilities, beautiful lake views, and helpful camp host. Campers enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, hiking trails, and the opportunity to see wildlife, making it a favorite spot in the Black Hills. While some sites may be close together and noise from other campers can be an issue, the overall experience remains positive with many expressing a desire to return.
What Guests Are Saying
Horsethief Lake Campground is a charming and well-maintained site near Mount Rushmore, praised for its clean facilities, beautiful lake views, and helpful camp host. Campers enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, hiking trails, and the opportunity to see wildlife, making it a favorite spot in the Black Hills. While some sites may be close together and noise from other campers can be an issue, the overall experience remains positive with many expressing a desire to return.
Review Summary
Robert A
VerifiedJuly 20, 2022 • Stayed at: 010, Loop: HORS
The gentleman who checked me in was a real grump. He acted like he was doing me a favor for him doing his job. I was a inconvenience for him.
The rest rooms were not. The cleaniest.
Tim T
VerifiedJuly 20, 2022 • Stayed at: 025, Loop: LKSD
Great campground! Excellent lake to swim/kayak/paddle board.
Robert F
VerifiedJuly 16, 2022 • Stayed at: 008, Loop: HORS
We loved camping at Horse Thief Lake. The campground was clean and quite with very nice hosts. My only complaint was the large steel campfire ring. It was way too tall and had a built in grill that is not useful at all. Campfire rings should be simple round steel rings that allows access from all sides. I use a tripod to cook over the fire and this fire pit made it very difficult to enjoy our campfire.
Roger G
VerifiedJuly 6, 2022 • Stayed at: 018, Loop: LKSD
Campsites were nice, we liked the ones near the lake. Lots of tents at up out in the woods. Close to Mt Rushmore.
Sandra K
VerifiedJuly 4, 2022 • Stayed at: 028, Loop: LKSD
Beautiful small campground. The sites are all private. The lake is beautiful.
We enjoyed hiking to Mount Rushmore.
Heather V
VerifiedJuly 1, 2022 • Stayed at: 014, Loop: HORS
Beautiful campground and beautiful lake. So private and serene. Will definitely go back. Loved it and the camp hosts were wonderful!
Jessica B
VerifiedJuly 1, 2022 • Stayed at: 007, Loop: HORS
The campground and lake are beautiful. The sites are spacious with wonderful shade trees. The fishing was great! The park ranger was very kind and helpful. The only negative was that the camp hosts were rather overbearing and kept looking for things to harass us and fellow campers about. It is definitely a place I would like to stay again but hopefully with a different camp host.
Karen B
VerifiedJune 30, 2022 • Stayed at: 030, Loop: WALK
I have been camping at Horse Thief Lake personally and with groups of students on mission trips since 1994. Just finished a six day run in the Hills at Horse Thief Lake campground with 16 students and three chaperones. I cannot imagine a more beautiful place to rest my head in these magical Black Hills. Lee and Helen, the campground hosts are amazing. The camp ground is beautifully maintained, they can answer every question, they are very vigilant and consider protocol, behavior, and safety among all campers a priority. When I am in the Black Hills, I cannot imagine any other place that I would rather stay personally or with my family or with groups. Highly recommended!
Deborah M
VerifiedJune 25, 2022 • Stayed at: 012, Loop: HORS
This is a beautiful campground and a nice lake. However the website is misleading about how big your site is. Be aware that the size of your RV and your vehicle need to be measured to fit into the site. . Our site we reserved was too Small but the Camp host did find a site to accommodate us in a first come first serve site. There were too many dogs that were not leashed. The bathrooms were dirty and at times ran out of toilet paper.
Adrianus t
VerifiedJune 20, 2022 • Stayed at: 018, Loop: LKSD
we had spot 18 and had a great view at the lake. We even saw an eagle.
Location Horsethief Lake Campground
Address:
Forest Recreation Management, Inc
Hill City, SD, 57745
United States
From Hill City, take U.S. Rt. 16/385 south 3 miles to State Rt. 244. Turn left onto Rt. 244. Travel 5.9 miles to campground sign. Turn right at sign into campground.
Latitude & Longitude: 43.8951 / -103.484
Elevation: 1509 feet
