About this place
A handful of camp sites and some day use picnic sites. It stands in the Long Pines Unit, on the Sioux Ranger District, about 5 miles north off the Tie Creek Road.
Lantis Spring runs through the campground. Filter or treat anything you take from it.
You will find a vault toilet. Nobody picks up trash out here, so pack out all of yours. The stay limit is 16 days.
The Sioux District Office handles questions. They are at Box 37, Main & First, Camp Crook, SD 57724, on (605) 797-4432.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Stay limit
- 16 days
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Type
- Specific campsite
- When it’s open
- All year, weather permitting
- Managed by
- Custer Gallatin National Forest
Getting there
From Camp Crook, South Dakota, go 3 miles west on Highway 20. At the top of the hill turn right onto Tie Creek Road and go west 6 miles. On the rounded corner, turn right onto Forest Road 3119, Exie Road. It becomes Forest Road 3117 at a 4-way junction. About 1.5 miles on, turn left onto Forest Road 3117A. The road ends at the campground.
Coordinates 45.632222, -104.176667
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- Medicine Rocks State Park Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Camp Crook, SD Directions
- Baker, MT Directions
Baker is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why “at least”: this route is hard to measure. We worked the drive out twice, with two separate mapping tools, and they gave different answers. That usually means there is no road close to the campsite, so the drive doubles back a long way. The figure above is the longer of the two. The real drive could be further still, so check the route before you set off.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
You can camp here for 16 days. After that you have to move on. This is Forest Service land, and each forest sets its own rule for how far you have to go, so check before you travel.
The nearest other free campsite in this guide is Red Shale Campground, Montana — 95 miles in a straight line, but at least a 128 mile drive. Two more sit closer than 25 miles, if the rule here allows them.
Why “at least”: there is no road right at this campsite, so the drive is hard to measure and the real one could be further. Check the route before you set off.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.