Heartland RV Park is located in Hermosa, SD – a few miles south of Rapid City and about 15 minutes from one of the entrances to Custer State Park. This is a large, well-laid-out park. Sites and roads are good gravel and site spacing is close but not quite on top of one another. Most of the sites are just long enough for the camping unit but plenty of parking is across the road from the campsites. The campground has decent WiFi, cable TV, a pool, and laundry rooms. There’s a camp store and a new activity building is just being completed. Also it looks as if the campground itself is being expanded. The staff is constantly out and about, keeping things in good shape.

The location itself is interesting because it is at the edge of the Black Hills which are mostly hidden from view because of the terrain. The immediate vicinity of the campground is treeless, rolling hills but within a couple of minutes of the campground the beauty of the area is plainly visible just to the west and within minutes of leaving the campground and heading west you are driving through it all. Rapid City is an easy 20 miles away.

For us, the campground struck a balance between being close to the state park, but with full hookups and an easy drive versus being right in the middle of it all but either being in the state park with electric only or driving through twisting, sometimes steep grades to a commercial campground in the Black Hills. Also, this park has the distinction of accepting Passport America and Escapees half price rates with no stay limit or blackout dates. You definitely want one of these two memberships if you are going to stay here.

Aside from being just slightly outside the beauty of the Black Hills the only other negative is the constant noise from highway 79, the primary north/south route in the area. Our site was in the row farthest from the highway so the noise wasn’t quite as bad as it was in the rows along the highway. The traffic is 24/7 so it is something you have to make peace with during a stay at this campground.

We found this to be a good spot for us as a place to stay while exploring the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.