Mount Roosevelt Dispersed Camping

Found a great spot for tent camping right before the trail head and pit toilets. Enough space to turn around in a suv or truck. The road up there is very well maintained gravel road, a car could easily get up there. Some dirt roads are car friendly, but the spot I grabbed needed a higher clearance vehicle. Could hear sounds of the highway and there were some 4x4s driving up and down the gravel road but they stopped before it got to late.

We camped here in 2020 and have not had an opportunity to come back since. We finally decided on a Black Hills Trip for the end of June, 2023. While driving around we could not decide where we should camp until we finally agreed to go back to where we knew it was just like home.

We camped at the larger camping spot that you can pull through on Mt. Roosevelt Road. We were using our GMC Acadia and small enclosed trailer and there was no issue getting in and out. Had some other campers two different nights in a row but no problems from anyone, boondockers or locals. We left our camp set up while we explored the Black Hills and it was always just as we left it.

The vault toilet was there for the kids to use and it more often than not was stocked with TP but we always bring our own just to be safe. We camped during the fire restrictions so not having a campfire at night sucked but I do understand it, would hate to be the cause of a nasty fire.

The only downside to this area is that there is no place to dispose of garbage and obviously not having a fire, you cannot burn paper cups, paper plates, ect. If a dumpster could be located at the trail head that would be super nice. I would have no problem paying for the garbage disposal either.

First, the main road (Roosevelt rd) is about as good as a dirt road gets and apparently well maintained. There are 4 overall sites in the area. This GPS coordinates will bring you to a VERY steep and rocky offshoot that only the best small 4x4's can get into.... you probably can't camp here. If you go past these coordinates, you will find a single campsite on the right just before you get to the picnic area at the Roosevelt tower trailhead. That site will handle a van or small travel trailer. If you go about 1000 feet past the picnic area you will see what amounts to a circular driveway (1st left....). That area has 3 spaces; one will fit a 26 foot travel trailer a second can fit either a van or small travel trailer and the third one (actually in the driveway) that can handle a large fifth wheel. If you travel down the road further (1/2 mile???) you will see an offshoot straight ahead (when Roosevelt curves to the right) that goes up a hill. That area was reviewed and is called "Top of the mountain dispersed camping". There are about 4 sites up there 2 or 3 of which that maybe can handle a large travel trailer.... go up there and look first. Like I said, Roosevelt is well maintained and all sites I mention are easy in/out. There is a vault toilet at the Roosevelt tower trailhead. The trail is short and cool and has a 35 foot tower midway. Free water can be found at the Spearfish city park (15 miles?) and there's also a Walmart etc. These spots are minutes from Deadwood. Plenty of cell signal. I would give this a 5 except water is not close.

The road is dirt but seems well maintained. They did end up plowing the snow into the bigger pull off where if you read other descriptions states you would need 4 wheel drive with clearance to get up. That was my original plan but because I couldn't see the terrain under the snow I decided not to go for it, but rather drive further up. I did need 4 wheel drive in spots because they only seem to plow up to that turn off and it looked like other cars turned around at that point and headed back down. I ended up in the parking lot for the trail that goes to the tower. The snow had been there for a few days at this time and it looked like maybe only 1 or 2 other people had driven on the road that far up. You could easily camp at parts of that road that are a bit wider, but probably not with a big camper. Parking lot at the top was unplowed (of course because the road wasn't) no one had walked the trail to the tower (I did), but no other prints. Vault toilet at the parking lot. Quiet other than planes flying over.

The GPS coordinates will lead you right to the spot. It’s up a dirt road and on an even rougher, slightly tilted section of ground. Not the best ground, but if you walk further up the trail, there’s a BEAUTIFUL view. You can look out across the Black Hills. And it’s private, besides the few passing cars on the road. Ideal for quick place to pull in and sleep on a road trip. Cell service is ok.