Pactola Reservoir Campground

The map for this campground is not accurate. The spots are not in a row, but rather grouped together where you have to actually walk through other campsites to get to yours. Parking is directly off the road, a strip of spots, 2 spots per camp site, not designated parking. The campground says tent or 20' camper friendly, what they don't tell you is the camper has to stay in that strip of parking lot, so your camper is squeezed between other campers cars (you might get lucky and get your car and camper in a spot next to each other), then you have to walk to your fire ring/picnic table, potentially cutting through other peoples camp sites if you aren't in front to get to it. Next to spot 069 shows a bathroom on the map, its not. Its a well pump. There is no direct access to a beach from the camp ground, there is a spot you can walk through the trees and get down to the water, but the "beach" is nothing but super sharp rocks. The water is ice cold, and very deep almost instantly. If you have kids bring their life jackets and water shoes. There is a spot nearby you can drive to that has a sandy beach, good luck finding a spot with everyone else in the area there.
Trees were pretty, campground was clean, bathrooms were clean, close to Mount Rushmore.

The map for this campground is not accurate. The spots are not in a row, but rather grouped together where you have to actually walk through other campsites to get to yours. Parking is directly off the road, a strip of spots, 2 spots per camp site, not designated parking. The campground says tent or 20' camper friendly, what they don't tell you is the camper has to stay in that strip of parking lot, so your camper is squeezed between other campers cars (you might get lucky and get your car and camper in a spot next to each other), then you have to walk to your fire ring/picnic table, potentially cutting through other peoples camp sites if you aren't in front to get to it. Next to spot 069 shows a bathroom on the map, its not. Its a well pump. There is no direct access to a beach from the camp ground, there is a spot you can walk through the trees and get down to the water, but the "beach" is nothing but super sharp rocks. The water is ice cold, and very deep almost instantly. If you have kids bring their life jackets and water shoes. There is a spot nearby you can drive to that has a sandy beach, good luck finding a spot with everyone else in the area there.
Trees were pretty, campground was clean, bathrooms were clean, close to Mount Rushmore.

Lake Pactola never lets us down. Love the boat house down the road. Their chicken is the best!

Lake Pactola never lets us down. Love the boat house down the road. Their chicken is the best!

Lake Pactola never lets us down. Love the boat house down the road. Their chicken is the best!

The camp hosts were very nice and very helpful. The camp was clean. Sites were mostly shady. We stayed in loop A, sites 25 and 26. The sites on the outside of the loop were bigger and more flat than sites on the inside of the loop. Some days were quite windy, but with the campground being in somewhat of a bowl, the campsites were fairly calm. There is an RV dump station and water refill at Three Forks Campground about 8 mi away ($10 to dump, $5 for water), and a gas station across from that.

The camp hosts were very nice and very helpful. The camp was clean. Sites were mostly shady. We stayed in loop A, sites 25 and 26. The sites on the outside of the loop were bigger and more flat than sites on the inside of the loop. Some days were quite windy, but with the campground being in somewhat of a bowl, the campsites were fairly calm. There is an RV dump station and water refill at Three Forks Campground about 8 mi away ($10 to dump, $5 for water), and a gas station across from that.

The camp hosts were very nice and very helpful. The camp was clean. Sites were mostly shady. We stayed in loop A, sites 25 and 26. The sites on the outside of the loop were bigger and more flat than sites on the inside of the loop. Some days were quite windy, but with the campground being in somewhat of a bowl, the campsites were fairly calm. There is an RV dump station and water refill at Three Forks Campground about 8 mi away ($10 to dump, $5 for water), and a gas station across from that.

Bathrooms were very clean! The campground clean and friendly. One night could hear some unruly campers across the way until past midnight.

We arrived after darkness to set up our tent in spot 29 and couldn’t believe the view when we woke up the next morning! The reservoir was vivid through the trees and offered serenity for our three day stay. The campsite was fabulous, and the camp host Gerald was outstanding! He was friendly and accommodating and offered many great local activities and. Sites to visit. The restrooms were cleaned daily and firewood was plentiful. Such a great family getaway!