We camped at the Mount Rushmore KOA at Palmer Gulch (phew, try saying that one 3 times fast!) during our epic South Dakota road trip during the summer of 2020. This campground is considered a resort, and with all the amenities that they offer it’s easy to see why. This was our first experience at a resort style campground and we’re gonna tell you all about it.
Oh, and by the way…during this review we refer to this campground as the Mount Rushmore KOA (the actual name) and also as the Palmer Gulch KOA (common RV’ers name). It’s important to know that this is one campground that goes by two different names depending on the person or persons describing it. So for this article we these names interchangeably. So if you’re interested in finding out more or thinking about staying here, read one and find out all you need to know.
Table of Contents
Location of Mount Rushmore KOA
The Mount Rushmore KOA is located approximately 6 miles west of Mount Rushmore National Monument on Hwy 244. Given its location it is ideally suited to use as a home base to check out Mount Rushmore and Keystone, SD to the east, Crazy Horse Memorial to the west, or Custer State Park to the south.
About Mount Rushmore KOA
Palmer Gulch KOA is the second largest KOA in the country (Okeechobee KOA in Florida is the largest) and boasts over 250 campsites. In addition to campsites they also offer cabins from 1 to 3 bedrooms and rooms in their on-site lodge. Needless to say, this place is massive…as you can see from the map below. They obviously offer several different types of campsites ranging from partial to full hookups and locations right in the middle of the action to more secluded spots on a hillside.
Regardless of what you’re looking for, Palmer Gulch has a campsite that will fit the bill. We recommend either the deluxe patio sites in the yellow or the full hook up pull through sites marked in red that you can see in the center of the map. These sites don’t offer much in the way of shade, and they’re not terribly spacious either but they are close to all of the amenities…and for us, that was exactly what we were looking for.
Costs vary depending on location and features of the site you were interested in, but RV sites typically range anywhere from $75/night to $125/night.
Amenities At Palmer Gulch KOA – What To Do
- Pool / Hot Tub
- Waterslide
- Splash Pad
- Bounce Pillow
- Mini Golf
- Bike Rentals
- UTV Rentals
- Climbing Wall
- Corn Hole
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback Riding
- Chuck Wagon Dinner Show
- Gold Mining
- WIFI
- Multiple Full Service Bathhouses
- Laundry Facilities
- Camp Store
Insider Tips
- Book Early – You wouldn’t think a campground of this size would run out of sites, but due to its location and all it has to offer, this one does. Even if it doesn’t fill up completely, the sites with the most desirable location and features tend to go quickly.
- Pay for your preferences – If a certain location or certain features are very desirable for you, the campground offers you the ability to pay a small extra fee when booking a reservation that will guarantee the site preference that you want. Depending on how important this is to you it might be worth the small charge in order to guarantee your location.
- Book early for the chuck wagon dinner ride. You can read more about this ride here, but long story short this was one of the highlights of our trip. If I’m being honest, I would say that this chuckwagon dinner ride was probably my most favorite family excursion that we’ve ever taken. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
- The same thing goes for UTV rentals… Book early!
- Mount Rushmore KOA hosts a traditional cowboy rodeo 4-5 times during the summer season. If this is something you would be interested in, you might want to try to coordinate your visit to the days when the rodeo is being featured
- If you get one of the sites we recommend (yellow or red in the center of the map) there is little to no shade and South Dakota can get hot in the middle of the summer. So we recommend leaving your AC running in your RV and pulling your shades during the day to aid in cooling
| Pros | Cons |
| TONS of amenities | Can be quite expensive |
| Great location for exploring the Black Hills | Premium RV sites offer little to no shade |
| Lots of activities / excursions that can be added on | Can be quite crowded during peak season |
| Restaurants and ice cream parlor on site |
Mount Rushmore is east of the KOA not west. I have stayed here several times during the Sturgis rally and it is a very nice campground.
You are absolutely right! Thanks for catching that error, I’ll be sure to correct it! We agree, it really is a nice campground.