Rafter J Bar Ranch - Black Hills
Bernie O
staying at the Rafter J Ranch. We will probably be making our
reservations within the next week and I am wondering if any of you who
have stayed there have a recommendation for which sites are best.
There will be Three families in our group. Two pop-ups and a hard
side. (We're still trying to convert her). We would like to stay in
a more wooded and/or secluded sites. We need electric and water
hookups and with kids, shouldn't be too far from the restrooms. Any
suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bernie
Jay Brummett
Simply tell them that you want to be near the restroom in
the trees. There
are sites to the right side above the corral that will are
wooded, and have
trees. As for secluded, sorry, its a developed campground
so secluded (at
least my definition of secluded) is not really available.
But the entire
campground is well run and I have not had noise or the other
issues that
normally cause me not to seek out developed campgrounds. I
can fully
recommend Rafter J. If your trip sends you down in NB, I
can recommend
Smith Falls near Valentine and Fort Robinson near Crawford,
and if you
go to Scottsbluff the city of Gering has a great public RV
park.
Best of Camping
Jay Brummett
Osprey News
developed campground such as this, true solitude is not really an option.
The nearby NFS campgrounds offer more seclusion, however, no electric and
water hook-ups are available at these areas.
When I reserved our site I asked them for the most secluded site possible
and they did their best to accommodate us. They placed us in the Line Camp
Area where it was just our family along with two or three other families.
We were very satisfied with this area. Just keep in mind that the highway is
nearby so traffic noise, if this is a problem for you, will be heard in
during the evening.
The campground that is the furthest away is the Ranch Camp Area which sets
adjacent to the National Forest. This area is shaded mush is much like the
Main Camp Area and has the sites pretty close to one another. See if you
can maybe score three sites on the end.
The Island area is reserved for the Big Rigs mostly and has less shade.
The lower Ranch Camp looks over the meadow and is also somewhat less shaded
if I remember correctly.
Where would I stay? Probably the Ranch Camp Area.
We cruised a number of the local campgrounds while we stayed in Hill City. I
my opinion, Rafter J is arguably the best campground in the Hill City area.
The staff worked well in accommodating us and we were very satisfied with
our stay. The pool area is well kept and the facility is well maintained
and operated.
Be sure to throw your bicycles in and cruise the Mickleson (sp) Trail. Two
bucks at the self pay station buys you a day. You should mountain bike the
forest trails while you're there too.
Have fun.
"Bernie O" <Summe...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:32d27e79.02011...@posting.google.com...
Marty
hill away from the swimming pool and main facility. Our neighbors were
very quiet and the restroom was maybe 20 yards. Don't get the site we
got though. The hookups were on the wrong side so we had to pull in
instead of back in and it wasn't a pull through. I had to ask our
neighbors to move their vehicles so I could get my van out between the
trees after unhooking. I still have the site number. I will see if I
can find it and I will post another message. The only other problem we
had was pine sap on the bunkends which left a stain after removing it
with goo-gone. Guess you can expect that when camping under pine
trees.
Marty
Summe...@prodigy.net (Bernie O) wrote in message news:<32d27e79.02011...@posting.google.com>...