Overview
About Center Lake Campground
Why stop
- Tree shade beside Center Lake swimming and fishing.
Heads up
- No electrical hookups, and some sites feel close together.
Map
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Custer Tour Guide
Your drive to Center Lake Campground, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Custer State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Custer audio tourRecorded for this place
Center Lake: A Lake Day and Lost Stone Paths“You're nearing Center Lake, a good place to spend an afternoon swimming or fishing beside the pines. Boats run at no-wake speed, and the swimming beach has no lifeguard.”
Plays as you drive up to Center Lake Campground in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Seven Centuries in a Pine
- Black Hills Playhouse: A Summer Show
- The Tunnels Beneath Pine Bark
- Ice in the Granite Cracks
- 82 audio storiesacross Custer’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bison, Wapiti, Bighorn Sheep, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 40 trails, 49 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“We recently toured Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore and more! We learned so much from this app as we toured each of these sites. The audio tours are worth the money.”
Guide
More about Center Lake Campground
A pine-shaded base by the lakeCenter Lake Campground is a 71-site campground just above Center Lake in Custer State Park.
Center Lake Campground is a 71-site campground just above Center Lake in Custer State Park. Its upper and lower loops sit under ponderosa pines; it fits tents and smaller RVs, and every site is non-electric. The lake and shade make the setup appealing, though some sites feel close together when the campground is busy.
Book on arrival morningThese are same-day reservations. Online or phone booking opens at 6 a.m.
These are same-day reservations. Online or phone booking opens at 6 a.m. Mountain time on arrival day, so be ready then. The operating season listed by the park runs from Open House Weekend through September 30. Reach the campground on Playhouse Road off SD 87 North, about three miles north of US 16A. Stays are capped at 14 nights, and you must occupy the site by 10 p.m. on the first night.
Spend the day at Center LakeThe lake has a swimming beach and boat dock, with fishing and a no-wake rule for boats.
The lake has a swimming beach and boat dock, with fishing and a no-wake rule for boats. At camp you get vault toilets, showers and drinking water; the park lists sites 33 and 56 as accessible. Food service isn't listed for this campground. The nearby option named by the park is a limited-service restaurant at Legion Lake Lodge, five miles southwest.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Custer
993 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
91 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
260 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
85 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
259 sightingsBurroMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
711 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Custer. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
