Josh Cleveland: Camping reservation time has arrived in South Dakota
Campfires. Beaches. Trail hikes. Boating. Sunscreen. S’mores. Mosquitoes.
While those may be a few months away, the time to start making plans and reservations for camping in our beautiful South Dakota state parks is now.
Most of our state parks allow reservations up to 90 days in advance of your arrival. We provide a 90-day reservation calendar to help plan your summer getaways at campsd.com. Mother’s Day Weekend reservations for a May 6 arrival began Feb. 5 and are open now. Many state parks still have plenty of sites available for that weekend.
Welcome Weekend reservations for May 20 arrival begin Saturday at 7 a.m. Memorial Day Reservations for May 27 arrival begin Feb. 26 at 7 a.m.
I’ve noticed a majority of campers are making extended weekends out of their camping trips and beginning their stays on Thursdays or even Wednesdays. Honestly, that is the best part of my job – seeing families enjoying the outdoors and all the parks and opportunities we provide.
With the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks changing over to our new Go Outdoors South Dakota system, making reservations is easier than ever. I understand there is confusion when a change as large as this one comes along. One issue users are having is logging in to the system. You are required to create a new profile to get started, then you will enter the information requested to move all your old licenses, preference points and camping information over from your old profiles to the new one.
Once you get logged into the new profile, you will have the ability to make camping reservations, purchase hunting and fishing licenses, and even purchase a park entrance license that will be mailed to you. I encourage you all to go on the GoOutdoorsSD app or visit GoOutdoorsSouthDakota.com soon to get your profile created and learn the new system well before you get to a date you want to make your first camping reservation.
GFP is working through any kinks as we find them to help keep this system better than our previous versions.
One of the many cool new features with this system is, while making reservations, you can actually view an updated “street view” of each park and campsite to see what they look like. It’s essentially driving through the park on a nice summer day from the comforts of your mobile device or computer. This can help you pick a site or know what setup you can have when you arrive.
I would also like to provide information on one change for group camping reservations this year before reservations start for our bigger weekends. While one person is able to log in and reserve up to 10 campsites at a time, as before, they will not be able to put every campsite under their own name. You will be required to enter the name and information of whomever you plan to have stay on each individual site.
Two workarounds for this would be to get everyone in the group’s information (name, address, phone number, and email) before the time to make reservations arrives or to let everyone in the group know which site they should reserve and have them each make their own reservations.
How about some more change for everyone?
At Pelican Lake Recreation Area near Watertown, we will have our new dump station finished this year. The towers and septic for the dump station are in, we are just waiting for conditions to meet requirements this spring to have it paved before it will be opened. The new dump station has two lanes so multiple users can fill and dump at a time. We also refinished the interior walls in the west comfort station and cleaned up the trees and brush behind sites 55, 56, 58, 61 and 63 to increase the size of those campsites.
At Sandy Shore Recreation Area near Watertown, we lifted sites 11, 12 and 13 to improve drainage and prevent flooding in the future. We also installed a new vault toilet on the west end near the cabins and tent sites. Staff is currently rebuilding the dock for the Sandy Shore boat ramp to have it ready once ice melts.
At Lake Cochrane Recreation Area near Gary, we upgraded the dump station to have frost-free towers. We also refinished the comfort station floors to improve the look and quality. State park staff has also spent time this winter removing noxious buckthorn and other undesired trees, plowing snow in the parks and at state boat ramps and getting equipment ready for the coming season.
Lastly, I would like to talk about a few programs we’ve got planned at Pelican Lake in the coming seasons.
Operation Adventure is back by popular demand. The dates for these programs are Feb. 26, March 12 and April 16 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. We will also be once again hosting our Easter Egg Hop in the Park on April 9. The program will begin at 11 a.m. at the picnic shelter with crafts, games and picture opportunities with the Easter Bunny. The Easter Egg hunt will begin at noon with eggs scattered around the park and trails.
Pelican Lake will also be hosting Becoming an Outdoor Family July 20-22. This will be limited to the first 25 families that register. This program is geared towards families who want to learn more about outdoor recreational opportunities together through introductory classes on trapping, outdoor photography, fishing, paddling and archery, to name a few. More information on registration can be found on our Facebook page. Search Pelican Lake, Sandy Shore, and Lake Cochrane Recreation Areas.
Josh Cleveland is district park supervisor for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Josh Cleveland Game Fish and Parks Camping reservation time is here
