13389 U.S. 16A, Custer, S.D. 57730, 888-875-0001,
Rates: start at $130 for a lodge room and $140 for a housekeeping cabin that sleeps up to four. Parking is free, but you have to pay the $15 state park fee (good for 1-7 days per vehicle). No WiFi and don’t count on cellphone reception.
Stay here if you: want to be inside Custer State Park, are traveling with a family or group or are looking to cook your own stovetop or microwave meals.
It’s close to: Sylvan Lake, which is within walking distance, Harney Peak and other hiking trails. Mount Rushmore National Monument and Crazy Horse Memorial are about a 20-minute drive.
The rooms are: rustic and pretty in the lodge, with TVs and cozy chairs. The cabins are simple and also rustic, but have enough space for a family, and offer kitchens for cooking small meals with mini-refrigerators big enough to hold 2-3 days’ worth of food. There’s not a lot of space, but a small round table with two chairs in the one-bedroom cabin that sleeps four would be fine for a family of four with small kids, and we managed to cook breakfasts and dinners and pack lunches using the stove, supplemented with the rice steamer and blender we brought.
They put all of the money into: the main lodge, which sports a huge, appealing restaurant that serves good food — game meats and surprisingly elaborate salads — and an inviting lobby area with a sitting room and fireplace off to one side.
The bottom line: The lodge rooms are a good option if you don’t need to cook and want to be right inside this park, one of the most beautiful state parks in the country, abundant with bison (more than a thousand), pronghorn, deer, marmot and prairie dogs, as well as a few elusive elk and many wild turkeys — not to mention some of the best fly-fishing around. The cabins are great for kids, especially if you don’t mind lugging all of your cooking gear (don’t forget can opener, dish soap and cleaning products). Note that the small refrigerators are not turned on when you arrive, and they only need to hit about “3” before they will freeze everything. Also, the heat in our cabin was terrible — it never got warm enough that we didn’t have to wear many layers — and the phone was so bad people kept having to call us back trying to get a better connection. Kyle Wagner
