Oahe Downstream Recreation Area

Great place for families, was pleasantly surprised by the updates to the shower houses, grass is looking great. Attentive staff . Even when this campground is busy you don't feel crowded. Seems to be like minded folks camping there . The salmon fishing could have been a bit better but hey can't have everything! 😉

After 3 or 4 visits we've noticed that every evening right before sundown unmonitored teens trash the bathrooms and walk around destroying anything that's not bolted down throughout the park. Very nice bathrooms trashed every evening because parents allow their kids to run amuck.. What was a very nice park is being run down by inconsiderate people not cleaning up after themselves, their pets or monitoring their kids to curb vandalism... Very sad! Enjoy don't destroy! Also a lot of people reserve spots & never show, just ruining other people's opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors... This part was written after our first visit - Not to bad a place. Helpful, friendly staff. It's clean and well kept with nice modern restrooms & pit toilets. Tent spots, camper spots & cabins both modern and primitive available. Three campgrounds, #1 is nicely shaded but furthest from water but has cabins that are waterfront, #2 is also mostly shaded & has some spots that are close to the swim beach and #3 is mostly shaded & has some primitive cabins & some waterfront spots. We stayed in cabin #1. Quiet, ok fishing, close to restrooms, spaced out pretty good so your not 10' away from the neighbors.

Very quiet peaceful campground #3. Bathrooms were clean and showers were warm. Wish i would have stayed longer

We loved this park. It is right outside Pierre, SD, so is an easy drive if needing supplies. This is a huge park with 3 campground areas. We stayed in area 2 which was right next to the Missouri River. Campgrounds 1 & 2 are next to each other and an easy walk around them both. Campground 3 is across the bridge and about 2 miles away, but is an easy flat walk. We were able to walk the entire park including about a mile down the trail toward Pierre in a couple of hours. The interesting thing in this park is the time zone. The park sits directly on the time line and officially is on central time, however my phone would periodically pick up mountain time and give me an extra hour! Lol. The bathrooms in our campground were very clean and had great showers. There is a very nice 18 hole disc golf course and 3 horseshoe pits. The staff we met were very friendly and the cleaning staff was phenomenal. We saw them cleaning all the bathrooms throughout this huge park every day. They do a wonderful job keeping the bathrooms and showers nice. The Cottonwood Trail is great and paved. The Eagles Nesting Trail is not paved, but is very well groomed. This is a great park and when we get back to South Dakota we will definitely come back here.

We recently stayed at the Oahe Downstream cabins for Mother’s Day weekend. We encountered a small setback with our cabin arrangement but nonetheless everything was set right by the friendly and fantastic staff there. Sally, Paul and Erik made our stay more than amazing! If you’re looking for a getaway this is the place. We look forward to going back again soon.