Red Shale Campground | Established Campground

United States

Details

Verified:
6 months ago
Altitude:
973.0 masl
Phone:
None
Contributor:
Sturgis Chick

Amenities

Electricity:
No
Wifi:
Yes - Average
Kitchen:
No
Restaurant:
No
Showers:
No
Water:
No
Toilets:
Pit Toilets
Big Rig Friendly:
Yes
Tent Friendly:
Yes
Pet Friendly:
Yes
Sanitation Dump Station:
No

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Description

14 Free campsites at this National Forest campground. Vault toilets. No water of trash, you must haul everything in and out. Picnic tables and parking sites, tall pines offering shade.

Photos

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Latest Check-Ins

Arrived yesterday at around 4:30pm. Right off the highway like described. Plenty of spaces, not all are leveled but some are good. Put toilets that were surprisingly clean and didn’t smell bad

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Very pleasant free campground with several pit toilets. Three spots remaining as well as an overflow lot at 7pm when I pulled in. Some spots near the highway but it didn't see much traffic; east loop was away from the road and very nice (but full), west loop had more spaces. Some good size rigs were there, and most spots had level parking.

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Free USFS “wild” cg right off the highway. Easy in/out for all size rigs. As stated previously, no water or trash here, only a semi-clean pit toilet. It is quiet, and it is beautiful with well spaced sites. Do NOT be fooled into thinking there is shade here by the photos! If you arrive before 6pm, (in August) there are barely a few shadows from a very thin pine forest. It is really hot here today; 95° when we arrived at 2 pm. There are a lot of flies and grasshoppers today too, so being outside to catch a breeze is not great. In Summer, best to come after dark.
USFS could give this camp a bit of love. Other than the heat & flies, I’d give it 4 stars.

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clean pit toilets, picnic tables, fire pits. LOTS of potholes along dirt driving path, but it does loop around. I was able to find a space (South) to get my teardrop in comfortably.

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Nice campground — it’s 150 miles from Sturgis and bike week is almost here so the place is pretty full but I still found a spot … two loops. East is more scenic but west has more shade in summer. Very quiet campground

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very quite, very beautiful! i slept like a baby and got to watch the sunrise ( we parked our bed towards the east). the bathroom was not too bad, its a pit toilet but didnt smell bad at all. over all i love this place and will 100% stay here again.

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The campground filled up pretty quick on a Monday but we were still able to find a nice spot. Everyone was quiet and respectful. Pit toilets were decent but not great for cleanliness.

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Awesome campground! Spent two nights in the south loop and two nights in the north loop. The south loop is closer to the highway but the noise was actually not that bad. Everyone gravitates towards the north loop and I was alone on the south side. It does appear to be more overgrown than the north side. North side landscaping seemed a bit more kept up. Campsite #2 on the north side is stunning with a view over the mountain ridge into the valley.
1-3 bars Verizon LTE depending on the campsite w/o booster up.

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Like others said tiny bit of road noise but wasn’t bad at all the hound dog in the distance was louder. Nice little spots with tables and fire pits. Good att service and the bathroom was actually pretty clean. Not bad at all for an overnight or even a few days if you have time

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What a great spot! Quiet (slight road noise), picnic tables, toilets, fire pits, just awesome and free

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very spacious free campsite right off the highway. a friend & i tented out there for a night & felt a tad unsafe as two young women staying by ourselves. we were right off of a reservation & when we went into town we were stared at & the gas station we stopped at in Ashland, the attendants told us “good luck, be careful out there.” which added to our uneasiness. the campsite was empty besides one car that pulled up around 1am. pit toilets were dirty & there was garbage at almost every site we checked out. we ended up being fine but probably wouldn’t stay here again unless it was more populated or were car camping & had the security of staying in a locked vehicle.

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Open now on 16/04/23. Very nice! So far we are the only ones here aside from a truck and horse trailer who are walking their donkey:)

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Closed (probably just seasonally) as of 4/7 so just make sure you have a plan b if coming this way and counting on staying here!

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Lovely forestry campsite, clean, nice level camp-spots. Few others here. Some highway noise but in our Campervan we won’t hear much. Beautiful evening

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Very nice place to stop for the night. Multiple pit toilets throughout, very clean. Picnic parking lot at the end of the left loop. Decent cell service. Some road noise.

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Quiet, two other people. Sites are large and spacious. Enjoyed the spot and recommend it

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Such a great spot, I wish there were more free campgrounds like this! Quiet and clean, one other car.

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Still wonderful. 3-4 bars Visible (Verizon). Two loops. One is closer to highway and has more noise, second is much better. Most spots are level. Clean. Watch out for deer if driving at dawn or dusk!

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We just picnicked here but would be a great place to camp!!

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Excellent spot. A total of three other rigs here.

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Great NF place with easy access. Good Verizon signal

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Gorgeous place to camp, well maintained, had great service and 3G with Verizon all night!

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This is an absolutely beautiful place! Right off the highway, but honestly, very quiet. We stayed in a site on the hill, overlooking a valley, with the beautiful hills in the distance. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful & peaceful location. Since we were in an RV we were self-contained so didn't use the pit toilet. Loved it so much we decided to stay a second night!

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great campsite, for both big units and tents. pit toilet, water in the loop to the right - but it was turned off. free campsite.

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National Forest Campground, free, pit toilets, no water, 12 sites, great cell coverage, road noise,

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What a fantastic free campground. I don't know what the Forest Service is thinking here, its way too nice to be free. There are two loops when you pull in, right or left, both have nice sites with picnic tables and fire rings. There are pit toilets available and drinking water. Some of the sites are big enough for big rigs. There is a little, faint, highway noise, but not bad at all. We would stay here again.

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As described. Very nice peaceful sites. Firewood around.

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Plätze mit Tisch, Grill, Pit toilette im National Forest

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8 Free campsites at this National Forest campground. Vault toilets. No water or trash, you must haul everything in and out. Picnic tables and parking sites, tall pines offering shade.

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