Exceptional Park

Such a gorgeous park! Besides the scenery and awesome hiking, the park staff are some of the best that I’ve ever seen. The Park Host, Merle, was so awesome, too. He stopped by to see if we need anything and he gave us maps and ideas of things to do in the area. We took a pontoon ride in Garretson and we never would’ve known about it had Merle not stopped by and told us about it. I just love this park - we try to come every year!
 Minnesota Visitor
9/10/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.5

Great Park

I have tent camped here for the past 3 Labor Day weekends. It is a close getaway from home. I have camped in 3 different tent spots in both areas. This year was in a very quiet area of Queen. It was perfect almost. Check-in was easy. The bathrooms were close and clean and the campsite was spacious and trimmed. The trails are kept up and staff keep regular tabs on the campground. I've never been here when it rained and Sunday 9/6 was a gully washer. We packed in alot of stuff before we left though.
 Lefse Lady
9/10/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.5

Cabin Review

 SJ
9/10/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisades

Love this campsite! Only request would be that they drive around with wood to buy.
 Happy Camper
9/9/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Fantastic place to camp

It was a terrific site. Small, clean, and close to Brandon and Sioux Falls. Darryl the park manager is friendly and kind. I wish we could have stayed longer. I'd love to come back, should the opportunity present itself.
 Intrepid Otter
9/8/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Road trip rest

This was a respite from the road stop as we traveled across many states. The weather was very warm and humid making the electric hook up for our travel trailer ac a welcome amenity. The showers were great and overall we had a peaceful visit. Lots of trails to explore and although Split Rock Creek was very low, we found some shady spots to sit on boulders and cool our feet off. Really enjoyed our visits with volunteer cam host Merle.
 Stings
9/8/2026
Overall Experience  4.3
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.8

Best kept secret

 zepolmaf
9/6/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Great Park

 Roaming Empire
9/5/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great place

The trails are wonderful and everything well maintained and clean! Camp host was very informative and friendly!!
 Fugowee
9/4/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Palisades

 Joey H
9/3/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Nice Lodge

 Pre reception
9/2/2026
Overall Experience  4.8

Beautiful park!

I really wish that the park entry fee could be paid at the time of reservation, in the same transaction. It was difficult to pay the entry fee online.
 GTGirls
9/2/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

So much to see and do

We were so happy with the amount of trails to explore at Palisades. Merle, our campground host, was so welcoming and had so much information for our stay. The disc golf course is a great add-on to the park. We ended up only playing the first 9 holes as the fairways are narrow and we spent a fair amount of time looking for our discs that would get blown by the wind. The only thing we would like to see improved is the bathrooms/shower house in the original part of the campground. It could use some maintaining/updating. But otherwise, the person who cleaned them did a fabulous job.
 Kenats12
8/31/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.8

Beautiful, Quiet and Relaxing

This is a beautiful, well-kept campground close to Garretson, Brandon and Sioux Falls. The campground host welcomed us and was very helpful when parking. He stopped daily to see how we were doing. There are many hiking trails and lots of shade. Awesome experience!
 Mary Lou McGirr
8/30/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

What a great park!

This is a real gem. We stayed in the Queen’s campground, which had a lot of shade and spacious sites. The hikes were all really nice, although sometimes the hiking map didn’t match reality. The Sioux quartzite along the river is gorgeous. They also have frisbee golf which we didn’t have time for, and an assortment of games and equipment you can borrow. The campground volunteer was super nice and helpful.
 Ranger Gal
8/28/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Late summer 5 day stay

 repete
8/28/2026
Overall Experience  1.0

Unattended parking

My daughter came and visit us while we were at the campground, she is from Minnesota and she parked by the Ranger station for 2 to 3 hours. She received a ticket for unattended vehicle and the price of the ticket was more than a day pass for now state vehicle. I saw no sign there saying that she could not be parked there, I think it’s just kind of a money grab.
 Chet
8/26/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  4.7

Amazing stay

 HCons
8/24/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great time

Sweet disc golf course ! Could use a couple of benches in between holes
 Conman56
8/23/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  4.8
Facilities  4.3
Facilities  4.4

A true gem

 Mn Norske
8/21/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Incredible Staff & Campground!

Park Ranger, John Dummer, was absolutely phenomenal in assuring we were comfortable with our camp space, and ensured we had all the accommodations needed to enjoy the park. John always goes above and beyond, as we have encountered his constant smile in past camping trips at state parks. He is one of the main reasons we continue to buy a pass every year, and love visiting. I assure you, he's an invaluable asset to your team. Please thank him!
 Krumz1313
8/20/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Great park

The park is great. I wish they would add the intermediate baskets to the disk golf course to make it more family friendly
 Skigr8
8/19/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Highly Recommend the Palisades

 TheDuke
8/17/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Great place

Great place to go with the family and get out of are daily routine. ?? thanks for the awesome memories we get to have there.
 D.....
8/13/2026
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Annual Fun

 Scott
8/12/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Lovely park in the middle of farm country

Our spot, 93E was lovely, but very hot. There were trees but with the summer angle of the sun, the trees did not provide shade. This would be a great spot for fall or winter camping when its cooler.
 GeoJen
8/12/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.7

Nice Cabin Experience

 Family
8/10/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Mike

Its nice park i recommend very highly lots of fun
 Mike
8/9/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

great park!!

Great park very clean and organized. Site 97 a bit loud and not level but still had a GREAT camp with my boy! Will be back. This overnight was coupled with a range day of shooting target at Garretson.
 gatorman
8/4/2026
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.8

Rocky Cliffs

Plenty of trails and sites to see. Although the trails are not for the weak. Lots of tougher, rocky hikes. Devils Gulch is another place if in the area.
 Glacier 18
8/3/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Lovely Park

If you are camping in the Queen Campground, know there is a short steep incline, our trailer hitch nearly bottomed out. Our site also shorted out the power to our PUP, I’m still working on fixing the lights. Otherwise fine- out site was full of fireflies which was cool!
 MNMom
8/3/2026
Overall Experience  3.8
Services  3.0
Facilities  3.0

Camping

 Sally
8/2/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great place to stay

 Gotamap
8/1/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

THE BEST STATE PARK

super spacious and family friendly- we traveled from Nebraska and it was ONE OF THE CLEANEST and best kept state park i have been in- camp host was super friendly and would have helped with anything 10/10 we will be back to Palisade :)
 Britt
7/30/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.8

Beautiful rock cliffs along the creek

We tent camped for one night and it worked out good even though we had not tented in a while. Enjoyed the hiking in the park with great views of the rock cliffs along the creek. The map says there is kayaking available but when we checked it out the only place to put in was in a small pool of water that wouldn't allow you to get near the rock formation area. We hope that the park would consider making a new kayak launch area or a dock to allow putting in a kayak in the part of the creek by the palisades.
 Happycamper
7/29/2026
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.3

Hot week end

 DeanandKaren
7/29/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Wonderful

Palisades is a wonderful park!!! Well kept and lots to see and do!! Close to other attractions and things to do (if you have to). The only issue I had was having to wait what felt like a long time for staff to clean the shower building. If that's the only negative, it is minimal.
 Troy Nielsen
7/28/2026
Overall Experience  4.7
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Too much money for an overnight out of town guest

 Cindy
7/28/2026
Overall Experience  3.3

our stay

 madogar85
7/27/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

our stay

 madogar85
7/27/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Lovely spot

Camping here was easy and enjoyable. We were in spot 105e, which was a pull thru facing the river, with a single tree and tall grasses. I would say the park was half full, with only one neighbor. We rode bikes daily, around the bike path and exploring the city. We ate at the blue buffalo and the pizza/pub 2 block away from us (both were fantastic, with friendly people and great food). A quick visit, but perfect.
 Kmp
7/26/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  4.7
Facilities  4.6

Great area, lots to do.

 Reddawg
7/22/2026
Overall Experience  4.8

Had a great time

 DM
7/22/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great park

 Jennifer
7/22/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

How California of you to charge a 15 dollar entry fee on top of the camping fee

 Cali
7/20/2026
Overall Experience  4.0

Great time for all

 BoyMom
7/18/2026
Overall Experience  4.8

Beautiful Park

Beautiful wide-open park. Spacious and not crowded even when close to full. Best Dump Station we have ever seen in many years camping. Nice bath houses.
 Martha G
7/16/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Palisades

 2017 coachman
7/15/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Mostly Great!

The park is beautiful and well-taken care of. We enjoyed camping here a lot. My only complaint is that when we pulled up to check in, we told the girl working that we needed a park pass because we were camping for two days. She gave us the car passes but never checked us in so we had the campground host and a park employee both come at different times telling us we weren't checked in. She seemed very eager to send us on our way as quickly as possible and wasn't super helpful.
 HAL
7/13/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  3.7
Facilities  5.0

Very pleased

 Nature lover 111
7/12/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Peaceful stay

Loved the cabin seclusion, staff was nice, disc golf was really nice and fun. Views were pretty
 Happy camper
7/11/2026
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.8

nice park

nice camp site in newer area, space between sites is nice, no trees though, windy on my visit but I brought a kite so in wasn't all bad, clean site, restrooms and showers. Host very nice, hard worker, always checking something.
 mister e
7/9/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  4.3
Facilities  4.0

nice visit

nice spot, nice visit, nice relaxing stay
 mister e
7/9/2026
Overall Experience  4.0
Services  4.0
Facilities  3.8

Whole place smelled like the vault toilets

 DC
7/9/2026
Overall Experience  1.3

SD review

 Runt
7/6/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

A great park!

 Jessie
7/6/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisades Stare Park stay

 Jarhead83
7/5/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Site switch

I reserved site 72, but when I arrived at the site, decided that site 73 was better. Since none of the other tent sites were taken, I took 73. Instead of telling me I was in the wrong place, Park staff switched my reservation to 73, I realized when I received an email notification.
 Chuck
7/4/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Great campground well maintained

 Jsilvent
7/2/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great Time, Great Park

 Jared
7/2/2026
Overall Experience  4.5

Great campsite through a midwestern hurricane.

 Justin
7/1/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Beautiful Park!

We loved this park. We biked a lot around the park and loved the river through the cliffs. Our campsite was secluded and we enjoyed our privacy. Hope to come back again soon.
 Barb C
7/1/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Overview

 Hike
6/30/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

overall lovely

Beautiful stop on our way from Iowa to Spearfish. Bathrooms and showers were very clean, the trail along the river with picnic spots are great. It would have been helpful to be able to pay the non-resident fee at the time we checked in at the entry building, rather than having the camp host zooming over to our site immediately after pulling in, it felt almost confrontational, and he told us it would be $60 even though we were only staying in state parks 3 nights of our trip. Broken glass on the road/in the grass near our site.
 SnowYogi
6/27/2026
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  3.7
Facilities  5.0

One night wonder

We camped in the Queen campground. The area is wooded and sites well spaced. The bathroom was a little outdated but was horrible.
 Bob
6/26/2026
Overall Experience  4.3
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.8

great park

Beautiful scenic park and area to explore.
 Mom
6/25/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  4.8
Facilities  4.7

Happy with Pali’s lodge

 Maria
6/24/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisades

 Mick
6/24/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Fathers day getaway

 H family
6/24/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Out of staters not welcome here.

We paid for our lot. Paid another fee as an out of stater. THEN after a long travel day, they asked us to unexpectedly pay ANOTHER fee. When I expressed my surprise, they rudrly said I could have my camp fee returned and go somewhere else. Guess out of staters are mot welcome here.
 Kathy
6/23/2026
Overall Experience  3.8
Services  2.0
Facilities  4.0

Beautiful place

The hiking trails are excellent. Highly recommend this campground.
 2026 SD Adventure
6/20/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0

Wonderful stsy

The gentleman who checked us in was so polite and informative.
 Travato traveler
6/19/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Beautiful well kept camping area along Split Rock creek. Great hiking trails and a nice swim area.

The only thing I had a consern about was the fresh water spigot at the latreen near campsite 96. When turned on, it sprays so badly it’s almost unusable.
 John
6/18/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0

Weather and bad neighbors

It started raining when I tried to set up my tent. I left due to being drenched. The neighbors next to me had dogs that would not stop barking at mine.
 urbs42
6/18/2026
Overall Experience  2.5
Services  3.0
Facilities  2.0

Camping

 Mama1924
6/17/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Clean but no privacy

No trees at all. Noisy trains. Other than that great. Clean.
 Jilted
6/16/2026
Overall Experience  4.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.5

Great park

Park is beautiful. Clean bathrooms and showers. Disappointed that they have street lights in the camp ground, made it extremely bright in our tent all night and weren't able to do our normal star gazing.
 Camper
6/16/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.7

Palisaids

 KR
6/16/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisade

 gusbus
6/15/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Park stay

 [email protected]
6/15/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

could be better

The "plastic" mattress cover is way too big, makes it hard for full size sheets to fit. I think the floors should be cleaned, swiffer wetjet works great! Cabin #9 check the window to the east, replace the dust pan (dollar store). Had ants, small and regular size ants.
 noname
6/14/2026
Overall Experience  4.0
Services  5.0

Amazing!

The park is huge first of all! Tons to do and see. Our cabin was wonderful! Quiet and secluded with all the things we needed - a fire ring, lovely deck, and air conditioning.
 Sheri F
6/11/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.7

Fun Weekend !

 # Camper
6/11/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisades

Palisades is a fantastic state park with plenty to do and see. The king campground is newer and still coming into it's own, but is our favorite place to stay.
 Joey h
6/10/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Great campground

 Moto
6/10/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

The views were beautiful!

 Mrs. W
6/7/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Terrific Location

Palisades State Park provides the perfect camping opportunities. There are numerous hiking paths. The Park provides additional opportunities, FREE, such as kayaks, corn hole boards, frisbee golf, etc. Just check out the posters by the shower house, or ask the Host for help. The Host at King Campground makes his rounds frequently and is very helpful. The camping sites at King at very large for bigger rigs. Palisades is located close to Brandon and Sioux Falls if you need anything for your camping experience, or if you need a day to shop. We love the State Parks in South Dakota, the only campgrounds we choose for our getaways. Palisades is one of our favorites, especially now with their expansion.
 Stephanie
6/6/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Palisades cabin stay

 Gabby
6/5/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great place to camp

 Al
6/4/2026
Overall Experience  4.8

Palisades

Palisades State Park is a very beautiful tucked away park that you should visit. As far as staff goes, Merle is the man! Every time we have visited in the past, Merle would make a quick visit to our site to say hi and go out of his way to make sure everything was good to go for the day.
 A. Camper
6/3/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0

Love outdoors

Great walking paths. Great staff .
 Love this state park
6/1/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Best of the west

 Becca
6/1/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Camping with the girls

 Nature ?????
5/29/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

All is great

 B&G
5/29/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great Park

What a gem of a State Park, small but mighty. The short hikes along the river were beautiful. The park was well maintained and the camp host very helpful.
 Hawaii traveler
5/28/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Palisades Rocks

Love this park! Beautiful views. Great trails. Only improvement would be if someone could please drive around to camp sites with wood to sell instead of only having for purchase at entrance.
 Wally
5/27/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Cabin Camping

 SJ
5/27/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Camping

 Darren
5/22/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great Facilities and Great Park

 EricD
5/21/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great Park

 Soofooclown
5/20/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Quiet, clean, fun

 Emily peters
5/20/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great State

Great staff at the Palisades State Park. The camp SD website worked very well securing reservations. We will make this a main attraction for our SD summer getaway plans. Beautiful park, well maintained, professionally managed.
 Retired
5/18/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Not good

 Jiggydogo
5/17/2026
Overall Experience  3.8

South Dakota stay

Hiking trails were good, not difficult at all. Good variety. Bathrooms and showers very clean. Campground really clean. Pleasant places to visit.
 Linda
5/16/2026
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.7

Review

 Bill
5/14/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisades Review

 Caleb C
5/14/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Great time in cabin

 Camper12
5/12/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Beautiful Tenting

 K
5/6/2026
Overall Experience  5.0

Nice new addition to a landmark park

The new part of the park is pretty bare, given it was farmground just a few years ago. A wonderful job was done to create the camping sites, and the hiking trails that join up with the existing park. Very disappointed that a horse area was never added to the park, as there would be ample areas for horse enthusiasts to enjoy the prairie from horseback. Across Split Rock Creek to the west, there is ample room for horse trailer parking, and horseback trails could easily have been created without interfering with the rest of the park. Palisades Park would have been a nice area for travelers going to the Black Hills to horseback ride to layover for a night, since the entrance is just 6 miles from Interstate 90.
 Horse crazy camper
4/30/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Fantastic Stay

 Amanda
4/29/2026
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Lovely, well maintained park

We stayed during the off season and washrooms, showers etc. not available. No staff available. How to reserve/pay unclear. Called the reservation line and they were helpful, however they did not elaborate on how the state nickels and dimes campers. State tax, tourist tax, non-resident fee, reservation fee and the another $15 fee to get into a park with no staff and no services available. $30 camp fee turned into $62.71. The park looks lovely and probably is great if services available.
 Gavlut
4/26/2026
Overall Experience  4.3
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Early Spring Camping

Camped early spring. Stayed in Kings Campground. It will be very nice once all the trees grow
 Marty
4/22/2026
Overall Experience  4.7
Services  4.5
Facilities  4.4

Cozy, but noisy

Campsite was clean, moderately level, and fit my tent well. The fire pit was of good size and the electrical post worked as intended. The overlook was nice. Park employees I spoke to were friendly and knowledgeable. My only complaint is trains. They were traveling adjacent to the park all day and all night causing me to sleep very poorly.
 Eric B
10/29/2025
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  4.8
Facilities  4.7

Fantastic Weekend Getaway

Loved the King campground, the facilities were obviously new and up-to-date. Would likely have preferred the other campground if we came in July. Great hiking and views.
 Angie
10/27/2025
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.4

Lovely Park

 Ashley
10/24/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Great Park!

 Nebraska
10/22/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Tim

Super nice park host. Very helpful and friendly.
 Tim
10/18/2025
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  4.2
Facilities  5.0

Camping at the Palisades State Park

 Ricky
10/16/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Great Experience

 keepitrural
10/15/2025
Overall Experience  4.8

Amazing Expansion

This was my first time to visit after the 2024 expansion and it is amazing. I stayed in an immaculate new cabin and loved the new bathhouse. The old part of the park still features the pink quartzite cliffs and flowing river. There are many hikes and all are easy and under 2 miles. The only negative was the train line close by that blew its horn at 6:00 a.m.
 SDRUNNER
10/14/2025
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Quaint

Trash has got to be more of a priority. We found lots of trash at the campsite and in the trees. Very disappointing having a pocket filled with trash while looking for wood.
 John
10/14/2025
Overall Experience  3.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.0

Wonderfully peaceful

Clean level RV site with electric only. Restrooms and showers were the cleanest and best we have ever experienced. Roads were in great shape and provided great bike riding.
 Larrythebear
10/13/2025
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.6

Beautiful state park

 Kevin
10/10/2025
Overall Experience  4.5

Great time

 TGR
10/10/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Great camp site for a tent or 2

 Happy camper
10/8/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Palisades was our heaven on earth

We camped on site 77 and were amazed with the privacy and facilities. We were across from two cabins. The shower house was located just a short walk down the hill, facilities were clean, modern - overall a perfect experience. The campground was located just few minutes from a small town with all the necessary amenities.
 Artcom
10/5/2025
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

LAME

We have been coming here for 10+ years, used to love driving 3.5 hours to go here but not anymore. Teased by the wifi adaptation but not in our cabin, it was a joke. Older cabins 5-6 were rotten roofs with wasp nests and I suggest when you clean the cabin that you bring a leaf blower.
 Pissed
10/4/2025
Overall Experience  2.0
Services  1.0
Facilities  1.2

Great trails

 Rollin
10/2/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Great host

 Rollin
10/2/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Best weekend ever

 Rollin
10/2/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Oily mess

We arrived to a black, oily mess. They were applying black oil over gravel when we arrived. Our campsite pad was recently done as well. We had trouble getting up one of the hills with or camper because it was so wet with oil. It was supposedly not supposed to stick to anything but it stuck to everything. Our camper tires, our truck tires. The wet, oily gravel was attached to the underside of both camper and truck. After backing into our site we had to walk on the mess to finish setting up the camper. Our shoes stuck to the oil with every step. We couldn’t get into the camper without stepping on it. Our dog had it on her paws. Every where she stepped inside the camper left oil marks. I can’t believe that they couldn’t wait until after October 1st to complete this work. The Queen campground was almost full for the last weekend of the regular season.
 Tessaann
10/1/2025
Overall Experience  3.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  2.6

Great trails

 Margaret
10/1/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Great park

 Margaret
10/1/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Love the park but disappointed in maintenance

I love this park but disappointed that no maintenance is being done to control invasive plants that are destroying the park. No burning along the canyon so cedars and buckthorn are taking over.
 SD botanist
9/30/2025
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  4.3
Facilities  3.7

Hidden gem

Great state park with hot showers close to Interstate 90, 4 hours from Chicago, 12 hours from Denver, 30 minutes from Sioux Falls. Very scenic walk along Split Rock River. Campsites are not close together. As we pulled into our site the wild turkeys were pulling out. Friendly staff.
 Iowan
9/29/2025
Overall Experience  4.8
Services  5.0
Facilities  5.0

Very nice park

 Jane
9/28/2025
Overall Experience  4.0

Fall fun camping

Very nice campground. My only complaint is I wish that all the family bathrooms would have been open. Two of them were closed 24/7
 Regular camper
9/28/2025
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.9

Camping at the Palisades

We camped in the old part of the park for pur second trip this year. Nice shady spots. Also a nice shower house with bathrooms. Loved the hikes you could take around the park.
 Faye
9/26/2025
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.7

Great location

 Mountain man
9/25/2025
Overall Experience  5.0
Services  5.0
Facilities  4.7

Overnight stop

A beautiful overnight stop for a last minute decision to break up a long drive. There wasn’t anyone at the office when we arrived around 5:00. We didn’t see any staff or ranger while we were there. We enjoyed a walk to the bridge, the historical marker, and the view.
 Luv2camp
9/22/2025
Overall Experience  4.5
Facilities  4.8

AOL Campout

 Michelle
9/20/2025
Overall Experience  5.0

Camping trip

It was a great place to visit and camp for a long weekend. My only complaint is that most tent camping sites are too close to each other, and our spot was not very flat for a tent. But we managed and had a great time. The trails were not very long, but the terrain made up for the short trails.
 Adventure Life
9/19/2025
Overall Experience  4.5
Services  5.0
Facilities  3.3

Nice stay at Palisades State Park

 ken
9/18/2025
Overall Experience  4.5