Our Story

We spent 2 weeks in a rv site that backed up to a small creek. Management/owners were very understanding and easy to work with when our plans had to be adjusted. Sites were well maintained, work camper/staff were outgoing and friendly, maintenance/lawn crew was mindful of starlink/cords, dark night sky, and it was a nice quiet home base for exploring the nearby attractions.

Clean and cozy cabins are perfect for a family retreat.

My family recently stayed here for a week-long stay near all the major sites in South Dakota. We adored our time in the Bearded Buffalo Cabin and loved how central the location was to all the surrounding national and state parks as well as the monuments. Very dog friendly and such a nice size dog park- we have three retrievers and they had enough space to run around and throw the ball which I rarely am able to say! The Coffee Truck was also amazing and I just had the best experience with the staff here (I wish I got their names as they deserve the shoutout). Overall, we would stay here again and cannot wait to plan another trip here.

We went to the Bearded Buffalo Visiting Store

I stayed in the RV site. The sites are very clean, included a picnic table and fire ring. The Shower House is amazing….. Great water pressure. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable.

Very nice campground! Love the coffee shop. There are cornhole boards and other games out front by Bo the giant buffalo. Bo is super cool! The staff was very friendly and fun to talk to. The campground was peaceful and relaxing. The location was great.

This is our second time staying at this great place, the first was about 1 year ago. The place is just off Hwy 16A just inside of Custer. You can’t miss the tall bearded buffalo statue in the front. Our condo is called Custer’s Retreat. It is a 2 BR condo. The owners thought of everything. Beautifully appointed modern kitchen with everything you need for cooking…… pots and pans, oven baking sheets, utensils, etc. Cling wrap, parchment paper, tinfoil, coffee maker with coffee are there. 36 inch Blackstone grill in the back for added cooking variety. Bedrooms are very clean and comfortable. Bathrooms also very clean with body wash, shampoo, and conditioner for you to use. Washer and dryer on the first floor with detergent provided. Luxury vinyl plank throughout the condo with carpet in the bedrooms. Leather sofa and TV in the great room and a smaller TV in the master bedroom and upstairs bedroom. Back porch also boasts outdoor furniture and a fire pit for those nice nightly family gatherings. Beautiful views behind the condo where wildlife are present. Nice walking trails from the resort along Hwy 16A. Gift shop and coffee truck also available. This is the place where we will always stay in Custer. Smaller and larger units also available to rent. Thank you for such a wonderful stay!

We stayed in the Crazy Horse cabin over the 4th of July. Everything about our stay was 5 stars- The cabin, the drinks from Buffalo Brew, the yard games… we had an AMAZING experience and will 100% be back! As the cherry on top, there was a little baby deer whose bed was right behind our cabin, it was so fun watching him hobble around in the evenings.

Stayed two nights, loved the location! Clean and well maintained. Only downside was the location of the fire pit. The camper spots all have the fire pit towards the top of the spot right next to the road and ours was right next to one of the smaller cabins. Led to an awkward conversation with the cabin renters thinking we were in their spot one night. Super easy access to Mount Rushmore and everything else you can see in the area. We didn’t get the check in email/text but they were super responsive when we reached out with a question. The coffee shop was a cute touch and staff were very nice. Would absolutely stay again and recommend to family and friends.

Our stay was 6/6 – 6/10 2026 on our short family trip! We were in camp spots 11 & 13 ( 2 families staying together) Key take aways 1- location, this was the absolute best place we could of booked with younger children! Everything we wanted to do was just a short drive and being so close to town was easy to get things that inevitably got forgotten! This campsite is off the highway we knew this before booking and was slightly worried about noise.. this is was not an issue for us what so ever every once in awhile we heard a truck but nothing that kept us up at night! 2- The campground, we loved it! the gravel spot made it so easy to pull in and made getting level a breeze, the kids were so amazed by the cute touches on the electric covers! The shower house / private bathroom was the cleanest and nicest we have ever had in a campground each bathroom had a heater/ac stocked toilet paper and tools to help if you are in a plumbing situation! We did have a site issue ( double booked ) – I believe this is because I booked with a 3rd party, but the owner or manager handled it beautifully we were able to stay with our group and was extremely kind and helpful during this situation and all worked out no problem! 3- other Campgound notes / suggestions – when we arrived it was after normal hours I used the number provided to ask questions, I got very quick informative answers right away! There is a man that stays long term that is an RV/ camper repair man we used in an ac emergency he was a GOD send and if he is staying permanently I suggest advising him because that in itself was so amazing to have right there when we needed it! We wake up around 7am and on our site we got to eat breakfast with the prairie dogs ( about 30) our kids loved watching them it was such a special surprise experience that just added to our trip! I know this would be hard to do but adding a way to be able to buy ice or firewood after store hours would be a major plus as ice was HARD to find in town! 4 – other, when we pulled in I was completely overwhelmed.. we are a young family starting out our camping journey in a old pop up and clearly the cheapest camper on site but that quickly went away we had so many smiling faces waving, an older couple came over and gave the kids bubbles and listened to their big adventure stories! Overall staying here was absolutely fantastic and I will recommend anyone in Illinois this spot for their South Dakota adventure! Thank you Bearded Buffalo we loved our time at your campground and will stay with you again when we come back!

We spent 2 weeks in a rv site that backed up to a small creek. Management/owners were very understanding and easy to work with when our plans had to be adjusted. Sites were well maintained, work camper/staff were outgoing and friendly, maintenance/lawn crew was mindful of starlink/cords, dark night sky, and it was a nice quiet home base for exploring the nearby attractions.

Clean and cozy cabins are perfect for a family retreat.

My family recently stayed here for a week-long stay near all the major sites in South Dakota. We adored our time in the Bearded Buffalo Cabin and loved how central the location was to all the surrounding national and state parks as well as the monuments. Very dog friendly and such a nice size dog park- we have three retrievers and they had enough space to run around and throw the ball which I rarely am able to say! The Coffee Truck was also amazing and I just had the best experience with the staff here (I wish I got their names as they deserve the shoutout). Overall, we would stay here again and cannot wait to plan another trip here.

We went to the Bearded Buffalo Visiting Store

I stayed in the RV site. The sites are very clean, included a picnic table and fire ring. The Shower House is amazing….. Great water pressure. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable.

Very nice campground! Love the coffee shop. There are cornhole boards and other games out front by Bo the giant buffalo. Bo is super cool! The staff was very friendly and fun to talk to. The campground was peaceful and relaxing. The location was great.

This is our second time staying at this great place, the first was about 1 year ago. The place is just off Hwy 16A just inside of Custer. You can’t miss the tall bearded buffalo statue in the front. Our condo is called Custer’s Retreat. It is a 2 BR condo. The owners thought of everything. Beautifully appointed modern kitchen with everything you need for cooking…… pots and pans, oven baking sheets, utensils, etc. Cling wrap, parchment paper, tinfoil, coffee maker with coffee are there. 36 inch Blackstone grill in the back for added cooking variety. Bedrooms are very clean and comfortable. Bathrooms also very clean with body wash, shampoo, and conditioner for you to use. Washer and dryer on the first floor with detergent provided. Luxury vinyl plank throughout the condo with carpet in the bedrooms. Leather sofa and TV in the great room and a smaller TV in the master bedroom and upstairs bedroom. Back porch also boasts outdoor furniture and a fire pit for those nice nightly family gatherings. Beautiful views behind the condo where wildlife are present. Nice walking trails from the resort along Hwy 16A. Gift shop and coffee truck also available. This is the place where we will always stay in Custer. Smaller and larger units also available to rent. Thank you for such a wonderful stay!

We stayed in the Crazy Horse cabin over the 4th of July. Everything about our stay was 5 stars- The cabin, the drinks from Buffalo Brew, the yard games… we had an AMAZING experience and will 100% be back! As the cherry on top, there was a little baby deer whose bed was right behind our cabin, it was so fun watching him hobble around in the evenings.

Stayed two nights, loved the location! Clean and well maintained. Only downside was the location of the fire pit. The camper spots all have the fire pit towards the top of the spot right next to the road and ours was right next to one of the smaller cabins. Led to an awkward conversation with the cabin renters thinking we were in their spot one night. Super easy access to Mount Rushmore and everything else you can see in the area. We didn’t get the check in email/text but they were super responsive when we reached out with a question. The coffee shop was a cute touch and staff were very nice. Would absolutely stay again and recommend to family and friends.

Our stay was 6/6 – 6/10 2026 on our short family trip! We were in camp spots 11 & 13 ( 2 families staying together) Key take aways 1- location, this was the absolute best place we could of booked with younger children! Everything we wanted to do was just a short drive and being so close to town was easy to get things that inevitably got forgotten! This campsite is off the highway we knew this before booking and was slightly worried about noise.. this is was not an issue for us what so ever every once in awhile we heard a truck but nothing that kept us up at night! 2- The campground, we loved it! the gravel spot made it so easy to pull in and made getting level a breeze, the kids were so amazed by the cute touches on the electric covers! The shower house / private bathroom was the cleanest and nicest we have ever had in a campground each bathroom had a heater/ac stocked toilet paper and tools to help if you are in a plumbing situation! We did have a site issue ( double booked ) – I believe this is because I booked with a 3rd party, but the owner or manager handled it beautifully we were able to stay with our group and was extremely kind and helpful during this situation and all worked out no problem! 3- other Campgound notes / suggestions – when we arrived it was after normal hours I used the number provided to ask questions, I got very quick informative answers right away! There is a man that stays long term that is an RV/ camper repair man we used in an ac emergency he was a GOD send and if he is staying permanently I suggest advising him because that in itself was so amazing to have right there when we needed it! We wake up around 7am and on our site we got to eat breakfast with the prairie dogs ( about 30) our kids loved watching them it was such a special surprise experience that just added to our trip! I know this would be hard to do but adding a way to be able to buy ice or firewood after store hours would be a major plus as ice was HARD to find in town! 4 – other, when we pulled in I was completely overwhelmed.. we are a young family starting out our camping journey in a old pop up and clearly the cheapest camper on site but that quickly went away we had so many smiling faces waving, an older couple came over and gave the kids bubbles and listened to their big adventure stories! Overall staying here was absolutely fantastic and I will recommend anyone in Illinois this spot for their South Dakota adventure! Thank you Bearded Buffalo we loved our time at your campground and will stay with you again when we come back!