Campground · Custer State Park
A central base near Wildlife Loop Road and State Game Lodge.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Custer Tour Guide
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 area
Custer Visitor Center: A Useful Pause“Custer State Park Visitor Center is coming up near the Wildlife Loop junction.”
Plays on the road 0.3 mi from Game Lodge Campground in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Game Lodge Campground is a modern campground on US 16A, south of the Visitor Center and near the Wildlife Loop Road junction. It has tent-only sites and campsites with or without electric hookups, plus 11 cabins. It makes a handy base for the central part of Custer State Park, with several visitor stops nearby.
Grace Coolidge Creek flows through the grounds toward a swimming beach beside the playground. Creekside Trail follows the creek by the campground, giving you an easy walk without getting back in the car.
State Game Lodge is about a quarter-mile west and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1921, burned later that year, and reopened in 1922. President Calvin Coolidge spent three months there in 1927; that is why the lodge is known as the Summer White House. The lodge dining room offers casual breakfast and lunch and a more formal dinner, seasonally. Coolidge General Store is about a mile west.
Wildlife
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.
Keep exploring
ModerateLovers Leap Trail4 mi · 3 hr · 0.5 mi awayA steep ridge, a rocky perch, then Galena Creek crossings.
EasyCreekside Trail2 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayA paved creekside stroll with bridges and easy campground access.
ModerateBarnes Canyon Trail4.9 mi · 4.5 hr · 3.2 mi awayA 4.9-mile one-way walk through Dry Creek backcountry.
ModerateCalkins Draw Trail4.4 mi · 2.8 hr · 3.2 mi awayA backcountry trail from Barnes Canyon down to French Creek.
ModerateFisherman Flats Trail1.2 mi · 54 min · 3.5 mi awayA short, steep drop to a rocky perch above French Creek.
ModerateRimrock Trail3.1 mi · 2 hr · 3.6 mi awayA 3.1-mile one-way multi-use route on French Creek’s south rim.
ModerateGrace Coolidge Trail4.6 mi · 3 hr · 3.7 mi awayA nearly level creek walk past trout pools and repeated crossings.
ModerateLost Trails: Lower Loop1.5 mi · 1 hr · 3.7 mi awayA rocky lake loop with waterfall views and CCC stonework
Campground · 0.1 mi awayCalvin Coolidge Group AreaFive electric sites share a shelter and central fire ring.
Lodging · 0.2 mi awayCreekside LodgeRoomy suites and a paved creekside trail, right in the park.
Picnic area · 0.3 mi awayEllerton Picnic AreaA shaded picnic stop beside Wildlife Loop Road's visitor-center junction.
Visitor center · 0.4 mi awayCuster State Park Visitor CenterGet oriented before the wildlife drive; ask where bison are moving.
Lodging · 0.4 mi awayState Game LodgeA Summer White House still working as a lodge and restaurant.
Sight · 0.6 mi awayPeter Norbeck Outdoor Education CenterHands-on nature exhibits lead straight to open-ended outdoor play.
Store · 0.8 mi awayCoolidge General StoreA former Coolidge staff house with pizza, malts, and useful supplies.
Campground · 1.7 mi awayGrace Coolidge CampgroundCreekside camping with tent-only sites across US 16A.Parkwolf’s Custer ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
