Black Hills area campground

[booster]

Since we were going to do several of the cave tours at Wind Cave National Park, we decided to try their campground, which is only about 1 mile from the cave. This area is only about 10 miles from the heart of Custer State Park, so we expected it to be pretty busy. Amazingly, it was nearly empty. Typical national park setup, flush toilets, no showers, no electricity, most of the sites widenings of the road to parallel park on. There were a few back in, front in, sites that were very good for B's. We were there for 3 days, and a Rialta was there when we arrived, and when we left, in one of the other good spots. Nearly all by ourselves, spotless bathrooms, very quiet, and pretty private. Normal price is $18 per night, but we got the geezer discount with our Golden Age cards which made it $9 per night, We got the same half off on the cave tours. 10 miles north, Custer reserves a year ahead, and the privates are also very packed and $30+ per night. They said the campground had never been full since it was opened in 1963. Go figure.

[wincrasher]

Gorgeous! Thanks for the info.

[pattonsr]

Booster,

Looking at the third picture, is that a second parking spot for a toad next to your B?

I found a detailed campground map. Do you remember what your site number was?

[eric1514]

That's a really nice site and your RT looks great there. Thanks for sharing that. I'm going to make a note of that place. Next year I'm planning some travel that direction as I have a niece in MT.

I've been following the mods you've been doing on your rig with great interest, but I'm curious about the RT 190s of your vintage in general and specifically, I'm curious as to what kind of overall mileage you've been getting.

Thanks,
Eric

[booster]

Originally Posted by pattonsr

Booster,

Looking at the third picture, is that a second parking spot for a toad next to your B?

I found a detailed campground map. Do you remember what your site number was?

I don't know why that site had two spots with curbs like that. I think it was the only one like that.

I think we were in site D5, maybe D4. It is the site in the uppermost loop, next to the handicap accessible site.

If you have a link to the detailed map, I could tell for sure. I couldn't find a map with the site numbers on it.

[booster]

Originally Posted by eric1514

That's a really nice site and your RT looks great there. Thanks for sharing that. I'm going to make a note of that place. Next year I'm planning some travel that direction as I have a niece in MT.

I've been following the mods you've been doing on your rig with great interest, but I'm curious about the RT 190s of your vintage in general and specifically, I'm curious as to what kind of overall mileage you've been getting.

Thanks,
Eric

Historically, we had been getting right around 16 mpg overall on trips, before we retired. They tended to have much more long driving days than now, and I did drive for mileage most of the time. The mods do cost us a little in mileage, I think, in a couple of ways. The obvious way is wind resistance from the solar and the sitting higher, as well as the added drag from the larger tires at slightly reduced pressure. The other way is the obscure one, and that is that the van handles much better, so I am tending to drive faster, even without trying. On this trip, we came across South Dakota on two lane roads, on a very windy day at 70+mph without issue. Actually an easy drive. The new tires now have about 5000 miles on them, and have gotten much better in handling as they broke in. We have been amazed how easy it has become to drive. It is very car-like now.

We have probably lost about 1mpg to the changes, but it could be a little less than that if we did more careful driving like we used to. For the pluses we have gotten from the mods, I would rate the 1mpg loss well worth it.

[Davydd]

If you are looking for a good campground in the Black Hills the Horse Thief Lake National Forest CG in the Black Hills just a few miles from Mount Rushmore is a good one.

[eric1514]

Thanks Booster. That's better than I was thinking. I thought I'd have to go to the smaller V8 and a Ranger to get that.

Eric

[Quark]

I intend to take our first trip to the black hills next year,this is useful info
Thanks for the idea,s!!