Legion Lake Campground in Custer State Park

We stayed at Legion Lake Campground in Custer State Park, South Dakota. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Custer State Park is perhaps our all-time favorite state park. We enjoyed staying in the park, though the lack of water and sewer was inconvenient. Especially since we hadn’t noticed that it didn’t have water, and only arrived with a half-full tank.

We do have a water bladder to fetch water, and a tote to dump waste, but coped without using them, since only three nights. The lack of a dump station in the campground would be very inconvenient for a longer stay, though.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-07-28
  • Check out: 2024-07-31
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, a little drizzle
  • High temps 82-92°F, lows 59-64°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 16 MPH

Noise:

  • Nearby road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #01E, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Unlevel site; high in front and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 70 feet long by 14 feet wide
  • 12-50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 110 feet to footpath on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, very conveniently located
  • No water; water spigot at bathhouse
  • No sewer; no dump station in this campground

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 22 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • AT&T: 160 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 90-110 ms ping
  • Verizon: 26 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • Nearby lodge restaurant

Our review on Campground Reviews:

In the middle of everything

Custer State Park is one of our favorite places. The scenery, wildlife, and general ambiance are magical, and staying inside the park makes it even more special. All the sites are electric-only, and that’s okay as it’s the hookup we rely on most (especially when it’s warm). There is a water spigot by the bathrooms if you need to fill up, but the nearest dump station inside the park is in a different campground halfway across the park. The site was a bit unlevel, but not so much that our hydraulic levelers couldn’t cope. A nice view of the lake across the road and a tree-filled hillside behind our site made for a picturesque stay. We camped at Custer State Park – Legion Lake Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Legion Lake map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Only an electrical hookup:

Only electrical hookup

Our coach from across the road:

Our coach from across the road

Elevation 5,010 feet:

Elevation 5,010 feet

Paladin was most fascinated by a taunty chipmunk that hung out around our site:

Paladin

Chipmunk

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Path to the lake area:

Path to lake area

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

(We wondered how they got the left-hand trailer into that position.)

Bathroom:

Bathroom

Info sign:

Info sign

Campground map

We are currently planning to visit this area again next year. But we’ll probably stay outside the park, so we can have full hookups, and explore other areas.

Travel from Mitchell to Custer, South Dakota

We drove our coach 313 miles, about five hours of driving, from Mitchell, South Dakota to Custer, South Dakota.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Route map

An interactive map:

Heading west of I-90:

I-90 West

Rest area stop:

Rest area

Sunflower field:

Sunflowers

The Dignity of Earth and Sky sculpture:

Sculpture

A Tiffin Allegro Red motorhome passing us:

Tiffin Allegro Red motorhome

Lunch stop at Hutch’s Cafe:

Hutch's Cafe

Menu:

Menu

Hutch's Cafe

Hutch's Cafe

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Entering Mountain Time Zone:

Entering Mountain Time Zone

Passing Badlands National Park:

Badlands National Park

Another rest area:

Rest area

Paladin sat in his dash bed for a while:

Paladin sat in his dash bed for a while

Firehouse Brewery & Winery had several fire trucks along the freeway:

Firehouse Brewery & Winery had several fire trucks along the freeway

Paladin asleep on the floor:

Paladin asleep on the floor

Busts:

Busts

Entering Custer State Park, our favorite state park:

Custer State Park

Curvy road:

Curvy road

Whatever we do, don’t turn onto Needles Highway with our coach! Very narrow and short tunnels:

Needles Highway intersection

Legion Lake campground entrance:

Campground entrance

Our site, with a glimpse of the lake in the background:

Our site

RV podcast: RV Miles Podcast

I thought I’d do occasional posts about podcasts, YouTube channels, etc that I enjoy.

RV Miles

First up: RV Miles Podcast.

The RV Miles Podcast is hosted by Abby and Jason Epperson, and has over 300 episodes, each typically about an hour long, with varied topics related to the RV industry. A fun segment is Fresh Tank / Black Tank, where the two hosts each talk about something that makes them happy and something that they don’t like.

I’ve listened to the podcast for years, and recommend it to all RVers. Listen via your preferred podcast app. (For iOS, I highly recommend Overcast.)

If you prefer a visual medium, they also have a YouTube edition of the podcast.

Mitchell Corn Palace

We stopped by the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota (Wikipedia info). It’s a multi-use arena decorated in corn and other grains, with the decorations changing each year:

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Inside continues the corn theme:

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Sheets for coloring:

Corn Palace

The arena was set up with swag for sale, with more corn art around the walls:

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

Corn Palace

We bought some interesting popcorn:

Popcorn

An interesting place.

Mitchell KOA Journey

We stayed at Mitchell KOA Journey in Mitchell, South Dakota. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another KOA Journey, with an interesting (and easy to navigate) layout.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-07-26
  • Check out: 2024-07-29
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temps 91-95°F, lows 71-72°F
  • A bunch of wind, gusts to 32 MPH

Noise:

  • Some freeway noise
  • Very occasional distant train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise

Site:

  • #C-19, back-in/pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • A little unlevel site, high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 110 feet long by 15 feet wide
  • 10 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • 75 feet to dump station on passenger side
  • Two picnic tables
  • Fire pit
  • A couple of tall trees
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, very conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
  • Loose sewer connection, inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 11-14 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • AT&T: 29-32 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 120-160 ms ping
  • Verizon: 27 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • Mini golf

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A nice oasis along I-90

This was a convenient place to stop along I-90 through South Dakota and to check out the Corn Palace and the Prehistoric Indian Village. There’s not much else to do in Mitchell, but this was a lovely shady place to camp to check them out. It’s reassuring/concerning that they have storm shelters scattered around the campground in case of emergency, but I’m just as glad we didn’t need them during our stay. Our site was very long and had a big grassy area on one side, but it was very close to the neighbors on the other. We camped at Mitchell KOA Journey in a Motorhome. 

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Spacious on the passenger side, a bit too close on the driver side:

Our site

(I typically prefer more space on the driver side, since that means other campers aren’t hanging out right next to our coach. We tend not to sit outside much, so space on the passenger side isn’t as important to me.)

The utilities; a loose sewer connection, requiring three 10-foot hoses:

Utilities

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Cabin and playground:

Cabin and playground

Mini golf and playground:

Mini golf and playground

Office:

Office

Dump station:

Dump station

Storm shelter (one of several); both reassuring and concerning to see:

Storm shelter (one of several)

Dog park:

Dog park

Retention pond:

Pond

A windmill, which didn’t seem functional (it was very windy, but wasn’t spinning):

Windmill

Entrance sign; want to buy a KOA?

Entrance sign

Travel from Maple Grove, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota

We drove our coach 307 miles, about five hours of driving, from Maple Grove, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading southwest:

Route map

An interactive map:

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Minnesota’s largest candy store:

Minnesota's largest candy store

LeSueur water tower:

LeSueur

When a place catches our interest, I’ll often look it up on Wikipedia (in this case, LeSueur), and read out interesting factoids to Jenn:

LeSueur

Saint Peter:

Saint Peter

Happy Chef Restaurant:

Happy Chef Restaurant

Paladin on the driver chair during a rest stop:

Paladin

A van towing a trailer:

Van towing a trailer

Since 1906:

Since 1906

Ship:

Ship

Train and wind turbine:

Train and wind turbine

Cows:

Cows

Welcome to South Dakota:

Welcome to South Dakota

Roadworks, with everyone on one side of the freeway:

Roadworks

Roadworks

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

Winnebago’s all-electric prototype eRV2:

eRV2

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on the dash

Our destination:

Our destination