By Scott Shephard
Reva Gap Camp Ground and The Castles (in the background)
Deb and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary yesterday by camping in one of our favorite places in South Dakota - Reva Gap campground in Harding County. My hunting friends know the virtues of this area in the NW corner of South Dakota. Another virtue, if you ask me, is that Harding County has the lowest population density of any county in our state: .5 people per square mile. Compare this to our most densely populated county (Minnehaha) which has 216 people per square mile. I’m sure that in this county deer and antelope outnumber humans. Campers are few and far between.
Another virtue of this campground is its arrangement and its setting. There are only 6 campsites spread out along about a 1/2 mile, which results in a feeling that you own the place. The setting is spectacular, with the Castles guarding it on the east and a vast nearly empty plain stretching all the way to Wyoming and Montana embracing its western edge.
The other virtue is that it is just off of SD state highway 20, my favorite road in our state and, incidentally, the longest state highway in our state - it runs from Watertown all the way past Camp Crook 50 miles west of here to the Montana border.
The downsides of this campground: for many it’s in the “middle of nowhere,” there is no garbage service, no water, no electricity, no Starbucks nearby, and no restaurants for 50 miles. My advice is to go somewhere else. (Very selfish of me, isn’t it?)
Photos can’t do this campground and Harding County justice but in the featured photo above you are looking east. The other photos show the west view and the Castles just before the sun went down yesterday.
I heard the coyotes singing last night, perhaps celebrating Deb’s and my 49 years of marriage. It was a good day to be in South Dakota.
DJI Mini 3 Pro 5 Fram HDR
