TRAVEL DAY
From: Custer State Park, Blue Bell Campground, Custer, SD.
To: Little White River Recreation Area, between Tuthill & Martin, SD.
Day 361 – Since we couldn’t get reservations at a campground near our next destination, LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge, we knew we’d have to search around to find a place to stay. Therefore we were up at 6:30 a.m. and it was difficult, LOL. We needed as much time as possible between leaving, stopping to dump tanks, driving to our new destination, and finding a campsite with space for us for 3 nights, on a weekend.
When looking at a map and seeing what might be an interesting stop with a 2 to 4-hour drive, we found LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in south central South Dakota. There’s not a whole lot near there; it’s located in ranch and farmland between two very small towns, Martin & Tuthill. There were no private campgrounds in the area and only one regional/city park in Martin. There was a Recreation Area above the NWR which allowed people to camp for free. We figured between the two, we could find something for 3 nights on a weekend. We had called to get reservations. Neither offered advance reservations at their campground; both were first-come, first-served. We were told the campgrounds could be busy this weekend because it’s Grouse hunting season. Oh goody. We decided to take our chances.
We departed Custer State Park Blue Bell Campground at 8:40 a.m. It was 34 degrees and still very foggy. Custer was at 5500+ feet. We hoped that when we were at a lower altitude, back in the plains, we’d be out of the clouds and fog. At least we didn’t get snow last night.
We first drove to the State Game Lodge Campground, one of the State Park campgrounds, and the only one with a dump station. We dumped our tanks and got some potable water. Still foggy and cold. We will miss the Bison. It wasn’t until we left the Park and eventually headed south at Hermosa, SD before we left the fog and were back in the rolling hills of the high plains. We drove and drove and drove. The scenery varied and we passed through flat lands and hilly terrain, more farms and ranches, and several very tiny towns. Much of the drive was through the Lakota Indian Reservation. And about the last half was through sunflower crop land. Sunflowers mean black birds; there were plenty of them stuffing themselves with what was left of the crops. We were west of the Badlands National Park and that scenery was really interesting.
After leaving the Indian Reservation lands we got to Martin, SD and followed the GPS to Brooks Memorial Regional Park, where we drove through the campground and scoped it out. We’d hoped it was nice and not full, but since we were told there were only had 4 campsites, we didn’t have much hope. We were tired of driving and so were the girls.
We drove through. No one was camping there. In fact, it was hard to tell where we would camp. There was a playground and a ball field. Maybe in the large sandbox by the playground? Hmmm. Now what? We drove on to the turn-off for Little White River Recreation Area. Using Google for directions, we turned onto a badly maintained gravel road and drove on the washboard ground VERY slowly for 9 long miles, beating the you-know-what out of the RV and tow car. The NWR was on one side of the road, farmlands were on the other side of the road. Finally we reached the more narrow gravel road that Google told us was the Recreation Area and turned onto it. A short distance later we turned onto a road by a beautiful body of water, Little White River Reservoir. There no signs alerting us that this was a campground, but at the end of this side road off a side road off a side road were restrooms, 2 picnic tables, and a firepit. Right by the water. No one was camping there. We pulled up to the water and set up camp. Nice! It was 12:30 p.m. and a whopping 44 degrees and cloudy.
We had lunch. We liked it here and the girls liked it here. We have a little beach with a pathway to it from our campsite. In the distance we could see someone fishing. No one was here, otherwise. Camping is free & there are no hook-ups. We’re boondocking. After lunch we took off for an exploratory drive through the National Wildlife Refuge. We discovered a sign announcing the Little White River Recreation Area when we turned onto the gravel road, but it was facing in the other direction. That’s why we never saw it. An entrance to the NWR was soon after leaving the Recreation Area. We took that road but it wasn’t a good road. We will use other entrances in the future. We drove to the NWR headquarters to get information but there was no one there. We stopped at a kiosk and picked up a couple of flyers. We drove the auto tour route but did not take the time we normally take, knowing we had two days ahead of us to creep along at a snail’s pace. Still we were gone almost three hours and we saw a lot.
The high today was 51 degrees and it was cloudy. Tomorrow is supposed to be full sun and in the upper 60’s – a beautiful day for driving the Refuge roads. When we got back to the RV, a truck and trailer were parked in the grass nearby; there are no designated campsites, you just park where you want. We saw an older man leave the trailer with his dog. He took the dog to the lake to play. He seems like a great neighbor. Tomorrow is another day.