Boondocking On The Lake At Sheps Canyon Recreation Area In South Dakota

We had been in the woods a lot lately and I really wanted a spot by the water so I was ecstatic when we found free camping at Sheps Canyon Recreation Area In South Dakota.

 

About 15 sites are located on the west shore of Angostura Reservoir and the camp is run by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. The sites are on a first-come, first-served basis. The closest town is Hot Springs, South Dakota which is about thirty minutes away. The road in is gravel, but it was in good shape.

This is dry camping so no water, trashcans or hook-ups can be found here. There are a couple vault toilets though that were clean and stocked with toilet paper. Most of the sites had a metal fire ring for late night s’mores cooking though.

Never leave fires unattended and make sure no embers are burning when you put it out.

 

The camping spots are all located on the banks of the lake, but some do require a bit more effort to reach the shore. Most have trails leading from the sites down to the lake, but you may have to traverse a steep embankment.

 

The entry road runs parallel to the campsites so please keep pets leashed and keep an eye on small children. I don’t know why people feel the need to speed through camps, but it happened quite often here.

I don’t know what the stay limit is at this location. I couldn’t find any information online and the sign at the camp didn’t list it in their rules. I’m assuming 14 days would be the limit, because that seems to be the standard in most places.

Rangers did drive by every day we were there though so I’m sure if you flagged them down they be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

There are multiple sites able to fit larger recreational vehicles. Most sites seemed to be level, but a few would take a little work.

Multiple spots were located close together like they were group sites. If you’re more of a loner though don’t worry, you’ll be able to find spots that give you plenty of room from your closest neighbors too.

There is not much shade here either. If you’re running solar you shouldn’t have any issues powering up. Both our Verizon and AT&T phones worked well here. We had no problems making calls or getting online.

Most of the sites were occupied during our stay and it was still pretty quiet for being so crowded. The only trash we saw was in our firepit, which always seems to be the case.

 

Fishing and boating seem to be very popular here.

We were there on the weekend and it seemed like all the locals were there fishing. We didn’t see anyone catch much though. Most of the weekend it was windy and the waters on the lake were quite choppy. The wind made it a bit cold so unfortunately we didn’t get to swim or kayak.

We spent a lot of time with the pets walking on the shore of the lake. Most of the shore is rocky, but we lucked out at our site which had a significant sandy section.

Our dog Dexter loves getting his feet wet and running along the waters edge. Our cat Everest though prefers rolling in the sand and keeping his feet very dry!

 

Do watch for snakes as well. We saw two while playing near the shore. Also check your pets for ticks, because we found a couple on Dexter after he got done playing in the grass.

We saw multiple waterfowl species during our visit and the area has a local flock of turkey. We saw the flock three different days walking the shoreline during our stay.

 

The east side of the Angostura Reservoir has paid campsites with hook-ups. There are also boat ramps located there. A paid horse camp is also available further down the road from where the free campsites are located.

Now on to the sad part of this post…this may no longer be a free campsite.

Someone linked to an article which stated that the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission voted in October to make this area a paid camp. The proposed cost of camping will now be $11 per night. Now I don’t know if this has gone into effect yet.

If anyone has been here recently and can confirm one way or another please sound off in the comments.

 

If you would like to check this place out maybe call beforehand and see if they are charging yet. The sites are still going to be first-come, first-served so if you want to take a chance and head there just make sure you have a back-up plan in case it is no longer free.

All in all we had a great visit at Sheps Canyon Recreation Area.

We had planned multiple activities in Hot Springs, but never got around to it. That always seems to happen to us. It was the weekend and we were having a nice time on the lake and decided relaxing was better than dealing with crowds in town.

 

We would stay here again for sure in the future even with the new $11 fee. We really want to check out The Mammoth Site in Hot springs. The lake was gorgeous and I would love to get the kayak on it. The views of the meadow and hills on the opposite side of camp were pretty great too.