Great site!
Tman3366
6/13/2026
First Camping of the season
We like this campground because of the lake. The lake was very busy on Saturday and the parking lot was full. The mosquitoes were awful at sunset.
We were scheduled to camp the weekend before, but needed to move our reservation. We were glad we could do that. Our new site didn't have much shade.
S L
6/10/2026
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.5
Bugs
Need to spray the geounds for the bugs they were preety bad
Gramps
6/10/2026
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Lake Vermillion
Nice campground.
SD Camping
6/10/2026
Overall Experience
4.0
Services
4.3
Good times
popup
6/10/2026
Great spot
HappyTravelers
6/8/2026
Fantastic experience
Smith
6/6/2026
nicest park
I stayed at the Juniper loop. The bath house was the cleanest of all the other state campgrounds that i have stayed at, and the campground was very well kept.
Happy Campers
6/4/2026
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Wonderful time
Lovepath
6/1/2026
Love Lake Vermillion
King Ranch
5/30/2026
First Time Visitor
This was our first time staying at a SDSP. We were impressed with the care given to this park. Camp hosts were friendly and the facilities were clean. Our camp spot was roomy. Loved the easy access to the lake for our kayaks. Took advantage of the hiking trails. We visited local golf courses and geocaches, visited the sculpture garden on I-90 to the north of the park, visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell and downtown Sioux Falls. We also traveled to Palisade SP to check it out-very pretty and enjoyed hiking that area.
Nebraska Neighbor
5/29/2026
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.1
Beautiful Site
Red Star Ranch
5/29/2026
Dump Station Issues
The dump station doesn't have working water, so you have to drag hoses from the ditch to fill and rinse your tanks. Another camper told us it had been like that (broken) for 4 years. You would think that repairing that would be a priority since every camper needs to use it.
SD Mom
5/21/2026
Overall Experience
3.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
3.6
Improvements, need new updated dump station
It’s Beautiful state park, nice quiet, Tom, the host was a great personal host. The ranger came by and asked if we were aware of the weather coming in. I thought that was so nice.
Improvement: I hear from every guest. Updated your dump station. It is Very poor , old, no room. It needs at least 75-100 ft in between each station. A lot large campers out there.. Only Half the stations worked. It needs a whole new system . How it is positioned , big campers can’t make turns. That is what I hear the most from guest . It’s very disappointing.
Jeanie
5/20/2026
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
5.0
Facilities
3.8
Spring Camping
Very nice campground.
MaryT
5/19/2026
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.2
Lake Vermillion
The site was sloped towards the back and made it difficult to level my camper.
Cubs2016
5/18/2026
Overall Experience
4.3
Services
4.3
Facilities
3.3
Wonderful first camping weekend of the season
Rich
5/13/2026
Review
State park is always well kept and patrolled for safety. Was surprised to have no water running at dump stations leading multiple campers to wait in line to use the one hydrant.
Jska
5/13/2026
Overall Experience
4.0
Services
4.6
Facilities
4.4
Camping
I knew ot might snow there and there was a shovel provided at the cabin to use if necessary. I really appreciate that. It was quiet and the cabin was warm.
Tbirdy
3/18/2026
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Needy Cats
Everything was very good, but we did not expect the restrooms to be locked. I know it is October, but when the restrooms are locked, it is a bit inconvenient.
Needy Cats
10/24/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.0
Nice tidy little cabin
Park Enjoyer
10/15/2025
Great
We had a great spot on the east side. Lots of pine needles around the site but GFP came and raked them away and left a rake so we could have a fire.
Happy Camper
10/13/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.7
Lake Vermillion
MinnieJ
10/8/2025
Beautiful campground
Beautiful, quiet and clean. Listening to the owls talking all night was icing on the cake. The showers and bathrooms were updated and very clean. Water pressure in the shower was great. We were just passing through but I would like to come back and camp for a few days. We stayed in a lakeside pull through site. Bring levelers for these sites.
Justpassingthru
10/8/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
I LOVE CAMPING
Evertthing was wonderful except the mosquitoes. I had over 50 bites and we couldn't sit outside for a camp fire. It would be great if you could spray. We loved the park, just not the pesty biting bugs.
GREEN GIRL
10/4/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Relaxing close to home
Adventureclosetohome
10/3/2025
Great Outdoors
Ike
10/3/2025
Very nice
Brittany
10/2/2025
Vermilion
Chuck
10/1/2025
Nightticklers
Really like how nicely spaced the sites were. The staff is very friendly. This park just needs more trees and land to better standout that people come here more. Also, it "seems the local business" have nothing to do with the park??? I know if i owned a business next door I'd love to be apart of this wilderness community.
Alex Losfstranf
9/29/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
4.8
Lake Vermillion
Great location coming to/from the Black Hills on our way from Minnesota. Facilities were clean and showers were great; nice hot water! Easy to find our spot and plenty of room. Dump station was also clean and very easy to use.
Laura L
9/25/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Well kept park
Nemo
9/24/2025
Nice and Peaceful
Nice during the week. State may benefit from demand-based pricing. Cheaper during week with higher prices on the weekend. May increase revenue overall and encourage more utilization during the week and smooth out demand on weekend. Just like hotels and airlines use!
South Dakota Bruce
9/21/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.8
Nice park
Jacks
9/19/2025
Campster
Campster
9/15/2025
Great experience
Cabin4frequenter
9/4/2025
Late summer
Moose man
8/29/2025
Kicked out at 4:02
Great place. However, forced to leave the park at 4pm or threatened with another days charge despite the fact this was a Sunday and there were no other campers using the site for the following day. No other park I have visited did this. What's the harm in utilizing a state park if no one else is utilizing it. Does this mean I can't use an empty site for an afternoon pick nick!? This is a STATE PARK, owned boy the citizens of the STATE!
Camper
8/28/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
3.0
Excellent Experience
Great experience. Love the ability to call in to get reservations. Website is hard to use if you need multiple sites. Sites and comfort stations were very clean.
Camper
8/27/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
4.3
Facilities
5.0
August 25
August 2025 visit
8/26/2025
We thought the Lake Vermillion Camp and the Cabin 3 was great to sleep in.
The campground is very clean and the Camp and Cabin was more than we expected. We were surprised at the cleanliness of the campground bath in the middle and the rest of the entire area. We also appreciated the great help of your people, especially Reed, that worked from the phone and in person. We have a plan to come back in the near future to enjoy your lovely area again. BTW, as a former Slalom Skier, the lake is a Wonderfull place to ski. I would think that if South Dakota skiers were interested in tournament skiing your lake would be perfect.
MikeW
8/24/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.8
Great experience!
Winston25
8/22/2025
Blockage
Over all beautiful park! Clean and very friendly! The ONLY problem was with a lake side camper or cabin I wish they would trim some of the trees so we could at least enjoy the beautiful lake and watch the boaters skiers and activities! The lots are large enough to enjoy. Thank you
peppermint
8/21/2025
Overall Experience
4.5
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.7
difficult for boaters
This park won't let you park a second vehicle next to the pad unless two wheels are on the pad or road. This can be challenging or impossible depending on your campsite layout and what boat/camper you have. I don't understand the purpose of this or why it seems to only be enforced in this region. Grass was also quite tall but that seems to be the case in every park we stay at.
sd camper
8/21/2025
Lacking Power
Thought we had serious problems as one AC and the kitchen/ground fault power did not work. However, when I arrived home and plugged in to good power everything worked. Clearly even though it had a 50 amp plug it was not feeding 50 amp power.
Campingsd
8/21/2025
Overall Experience
3.5
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.2
quick get away
TP
8/21/2025
Lake Vermillion August Camping Weekend
DK
8/20/2025
Another great stay
Jacks mom
8/18/2025
Almost perfect
This was our third stay at Lake Vermillion Recreation Area. We love the camping cabins. It was our first time staying in the west unit. Appreciate the closer bathroom and shower house in the east unit, but these also offer a beautiful view (the ones by the lake). They definitely could use better/never mattresses, and a quick sweep and spray for spiders (the HUGE spider webs and spiders hanging over the door from around the light fixture outside was nasty and my little kids were terrified to go in and out lol). We also had to evict numerous spiders from the inside of the cabin. Other than that they are clean. The bathrooms near the beach can get gross but understandable those are harder to keep up with. The other bathrooms are clean and well maintained. In general this is a really great spot to stay and swim, or just enjoy a relaxing time away. Most staff were very kind and helpful. Price is affordable for a family to enjoy.
MomLovesCamping
8/18/2025
Overall Experience
4.0
Services
4.7
Facilities
3.9
Great trip
Comfort station number two is terrible water, pressure and hot and cold regulation. Other than that it was a great
Tsk
8/15/2025
Overall Experience
4.3
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.3
Relax Time
First time camping at Lake Vermillion, east side, we loved our site!! Beautifully kept campground. Clean restrooms/ showers. Quiet and lots of shade. We enjoyed walking along the lake as well as a delicious meal at the Lake Time Restaurant on Sat evening.
Kim
8/13/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
3.2
Wounderfull
Camp host and family was wonderful and friendly and helpful
Bain Kenneth
8/13/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
4.7
Facilities
4.5
Short stay
Why are campers coming in thinking they can pull into a site and not pay?
We saw many that were asked to leave because of no reservation. I do not understand people who think they can camp wherever they want...
Morgan
8/11/2025
Overall Experience
3.5
Services
3.7
Facilities
4.0
Great park, cold water
This is a great park and the hosts were friendly. My only issue is the shower - there was very little water pressure and the water was cold in the men's shower, no matter when we went to shower.
SD camper
8/7/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.7
Nice campground and hosts
Campground was well kept! Very nice campground host (Tom). It was a great weekend.
Camper2025
8/6/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.7
Park=nice staff=rude
I personally will never be back to this campground. Friday night when we arrived, we set up and about 11 o’clock. Our music wasn’t very loud. But staff came over and told us to shut our music off because it’s quiet hour which we respectfully did. On Saturday The park staff came over to our campground three times or more complaining about music that we were playing how loud the music was which it wasn’t and then complained about our dogs being on leashes in the campground. They also came over and told us we had to move our vehicles because it was parked slightly in the grass. Just an overall bad experience with staff.
Boo
8/6/2025
Overall Experience
1.5
Services
1.8
Facilities
3.0
Amazing
Was an amazing and relaxing time, loved the cabin so close to the lake. Cabin was clean and ready for our visit.. The beds were not the most comfortable but we still had an amazing time
CathyZ
7/28/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
4.8
Facilities
3.8
Love the park
Camp hosts worked really hard to keep the campground in top condition. Information visitor center staff are enthusiastic and helpful. Custer SP is one of our favorite parks.
RV camper
7/28/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
4.3
Facilities
4.0
Our favorite SD park
Campground is always super clean and the water is very clean also. Very enjoyable park with friendly staff. Bathrooms are well maintained. We have been coming here for years and years. I will say that this last year we see a sad abuse of the beach area. Large numbers of families and teenagers come in late afternoon and hang out for the evening and leave a disaster behind. I don't know how the park can do anything about it. It is an influx of immigrant workers in the area that seems to be contributing to it. We cleaned the beach one morning and had a pile collected including life jackets, shirts, sandals, toys, etc. but also a pile of trash and empty bottles. Very sad to see our beautiful lake being mistreated.
We did have a lot of fun finding the geocaches hidden in the park this time and tried really hard to figure out the riddle for the golden fish, but we didn't conquer the puzzle :(
PVCA2025
7/26/2025
Overall Experience
4.5
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.7
Lake vermillion
Brian stone
7/26/2025
Last minute decision
The park is great and well kept up. Campers were all friendly and Staff was also friendly.
Fire wood is my only complaint as I just wish you got more for the price.
Last minute
7/26/2025
Overall Experience
4.5
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Wonderful
FinallyOutside318
7/25/2025
Loved Cabin 3 location, beautiful view of lake! Liked space in cabin w/table, protected mattresses, AC, huge deck with large picnic table, nice adirondack chairs. Beautiful park, well maintained!
Really enjoyed my 4 nite cabin camping. Restroom/showers were close enough to walk or drive to, hot water! Got in some hiking here, then off to see some nearby South Dakota sights around Sioux Falls. Don't fish or do water sports, just love camping and outdoor adventures!
South Dakota 1st Time Camping
7/25/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
4.9
SD Campgrounds Are The Best
We stayed at Lake Vermillion Campground in July 2025. Beautiful campground, great facilities and staff was very friendly & helpful. South Dakota certainly knows how to do campgrounds. We were there for the Dakota Hunt-Retrieve Club dog trials. Would most definitely come back!
thorn
7/24/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Great camping in SD!
We stayed in one of 4 tent camp sites that was well shaded by a large tree and very clean. The vault toilet by the tent sites was pretty standard, but there were cleaner bathrooms by the playground that we used. Overall a great stay! Would definitely return.
Rebecca L
7/23/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
5.0
Dumpstation
Improvement suggestion. This facility need another dumo station. They only have one and we have to wait everytime when we leave.
Sally
7/23/2025
Overall Experience
4.3
Services
4.0
Great Park Stay
Susie Smith
7/22/2025
Very nice, clean park
Pat C
7/19/2025
We stayed at Lake Vermillion State Park and were very disappointed by the bath houses and the availability to take a hot shower. Many walked away from taking a COLD shower -no Hot less warm water
Fresh Air Lovers
7/17/2025
Nice overnight stay
Montana Steve
7/14/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Lake Vermillion
Great place to stay! My kids and I had a great time! The only negative part is that the area needs to be sprayed for mosquitoes as they were so bad when the sun went down and we weren’t able to enjoy a campfire even with bug spray on.
Camper33
7/13/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
4.0
Facilities
4.4
Lake Vermillion stay
Camp host was very polite and friendly. Lake was beautiful and I had a lovely swim in it . We took advantage of the very clean/ roomy showers. The only thing I didn’t like was how campsite was directly on the road.i didn’t see that in website description.
Camper
7/13/2025
Overall Experience
4.5
Services
3.4
Facilities
4.4
East side
Guest
7/10/2025
Lol Vermillion
I used the shower in the bath house. It was one stall and the timer for the lights was not on long enough.
Mama D
7/9/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
4.2
Facilities
4.7
Survey
Park and lake were phenomenal, we had a great time all week long. You do need to have a water and dump station on both sides of the lake though. Having to tear down to get water and dump tanks on the other side was very inconvenient. Other then that it was amazing fishing, spectacular sunsets, and an overall great time!
MG
7/8/2025
Overall Experience
3.8
Services
3.0
Facilities
3.4
4th of July Adventure
SummerSun
7/7/2025
Reservation Review TRANSACTION NUMBER22677370 Lake Vermillion Recreation Area
I found it unpleasant to see the fee increase incrementally, first for non-resident (which I can appreciate), online registration fee, park access fee. We come from a state where the camping fee automatically includes the park access fee (how else could I get in to camp there?)
The water smelled rather "barny" possibly from agricultural run offs. We were looking forward to a nice swim but were disappointed.
HM
7/6/2025
Overall Experience
3.3
Services
5.0
Facilities
2.8
Need dump station
There needs to be a dump station on the east side.
Happy Camper
7/3/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Beautiful location
Well located park on a beautiful lake with a family-friendly vibe. Nice-sized camping slots and lovely views; however state park system should be more transparent about lack of water service at campsites both on the website and as campers enter the property.
Jane
7/2/2025
Overall Experience
3.8
Services
3.3
Facilities
2.8
Sloppy Ranger
Park was great. Had one very sloppy employee patrolling the beach area.
Rusty Nail
6/29/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
4.2
Facilities
4.9
Terrific experience first time camping as a family
Family of 6
6/28/2025
Mid week escape
Sdfarm
6/24/2025
A.c. unit ruined the 2 day stay
The a.c. unit didn't perform well and rattled all night which kept me up. We had 2 days paid for but actually left after the first night. We've stayed here multiple times and never had an issue before.
BigC
6/22/2025
Overall Experience
3.5
Services
4.0
Facilities
4.3
Beautiful Park
This is a beautiful park - our site was roomy and shady! We loved the sections of bushes/trees separating the sites for privacy. The restrooms/showers were some of the cleanest I have ever been to.
DandLJones5
6/18/2025
Overall Experience
5.0
Services
5.0
Facilities
5.0
Traveling through
The Host asked us to move our RV after we had everything set up and level because our trailer wheel was not on the pavement. The sign reads that your vehicle must be on the pavement. Our RV was on the pavement and the trailer wheel was just barely over the edge of the pavement in the gravel. We have traveled over 3,500 miles and this was our first negative experience. I realize she was just doing her job and exercising her authority, but it seemed unreasonable given the circumstances and all the things that she could have been worried about in the campground. She was very nice about it, and so we moved our RV forward about a foot or so. Despite all that, enjoyed our time here, especially our motorcycle rides through the Needles, the Norbeck Scenic Highway, Iron Mountain Road, the Coolidge Tower Overlook, and especially riding through the herd of buffalo on the Wildlife Loop up off Lame Johnny Road. Spectacular time in Custer State Park
Traveler
6/18/2025
Overall Experience
4.8
Services
4.3