We stayed at the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park for a few nights and loved our stay here. We stayed in one of their cabins called the Housekeeping Cabin (Cabin #5). We saw bison outside our cabin and nearby grazing in the grassy area out front. We loved having our own kitchen where we got food at a local grocery store in the town of Custer and made our own meals. We enjoyed having coffee in the mornings on the front patio and there is a picnic table you can sit out. There was a couple bunnies that we would see when sitting out on our front porch and we loved watching them! The cabins allowed for a peaceful and relaxing stay and you are right in the heart of Custer State Park. The bed was comfy and the cabins were well stocked. We only got WiFi at the main lodge but didn't really care because we didn't go to be on our phones, but instead to enjoy nature and the wildlife around us. We ate lunch once at the restaurant but feel there are our better restaurants in the town of Custer. The lodge has a gift shop if you are looking for souvenirs or gifts. We really enjoyed our stay here and absolutely loved Custer State Park. read more

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While visiting Custer State Park, I decided to stay at this historic lodge. Apparently two presidents have stayed here, with Coolidge calling it the "Summer White House." The complements and accolades stop there. You get almost nothing for, in my case, $250/night. You get a roof over your head but that is it. You do not get: WiFi in the rooms (ridiculous in 2025 but you can go to the lobby) or room service in any fashion (ridiculous). You are expected to check out by 10 AM (ridiculous). The bathroom is so incredibly tiny that the bathroom door only clears the toilet by 1". The rooms are not very well appointed, and are instead, quite tacky. I will not be back and I encourage you to find other accommodations. If all they have to hang their hat on is that two presidents stayed there, they should re-evaluate everything. read more

FOOD: Very nice limited menu. Great food for what you would expect in a tourist destination. I had the buffalo burger with fries. The burger was perfectly cooked, medium rare. The bun was small and enabled me to smash the burger. Good burger to bun ratio. The usual fixings. My travel partner had the Reuben with fries. She said it was good. I had Lost Cabin SoDank, a local IPA. Delicious. SERVICE: The service was fantastic. Our hostess, Ash is sweet, professional and hard working. Our server, Doc, was knowledgeable about the menu, offered good suggestions and was fun to talk to. He made the experience all the more enjoyable. AMBIENCE: Beautiful lodge with accommodations not to be matched or missed. Surrounded by Custer State Park Wildlife Loop. Absolutely stunning. read more

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Hmmm not my favorite place, the ambiance is nice and our server was fantastic... but the food. Ahhh well, the burgers were cooked to a crisp black, there was no sauce to be found to juice the burger up... the plates were just sad. I know it's lunch, but there were only 4 tables, not sure how the kitchen could have messed up a simple burger and fries (at $23!). Coming from the nice Bluebell dinner the night before, this was simply disappointing. I hope for anyone else dining there, you catch them on a better day. read more

Rainy day and we were hungry so stopped here for lunch. Great bar with a wonderful bartender from South Carolina. She served great drinks and listened to our stories. ( margaritas and dirty martini good ) Started with a bowl of chili. Close to mine. Beans yes! Then split the pear, spinach, cranberry salad. So good. The baby back ribs were good but huge. must have been a big baby. Service good. love the state park. So beautiful here read more

The restaurant here was supposed to be really good and up scale. My husband ate here a few years ago and really liked it. He got a bison steak but was under impressed. I had something else but can't remember even what it was. I do remember that I had a mango margarita that was delish!! I doubt that we go back to that restaurant. the table was dirty and they did not bring out any bowls for my dog (it was a hot day). There are better, not as expensive , and more choices of food restaurants in Custer. We ate outside and my hubby had to go in and order, then go back in to bring everything out. One of the waitresses came out with water but that was it. We cleared our table and then took the dishes inside. read more

We saw this driving by, thought it looked interesting from the outside and decided to try it. Given the choice between the menu and buffet all six of us chose the buffet. The consensus is that the buffalo stew and beef were good, the salads good, the fruit was very good, especially the watermelon, and the desserts really good. Overall a nice place to eat, a beautiful interior, food was good and Geoffrey was friendly and brought us drinks and came back to refill any glasses as needed. I have to say I didn't love the chicken or rice. Neither was 'bad,' just not 'really good' but my wife thought her one taste of rice off my plate was good. Fun place to go and if you are looking for lunch the buffet a bit less expensive than menu items. read more

This is a review of the restaurant of the lodge where we stopped for lunch while on a tour exploring Custer State Park. I did not stay in the hotel. The lunch buffet was great. The salad and the fruits were fresh. I saw the manager of the restaurant who seemed to be very hands on and made sure that the buffet area was clean, presentable, and that the food was freshly cooked. The roasted chicken was fine. The roasted beef was so good! The buffalso stew is a must try! Dessert options were few. The pecan pie was a little sweet for me. The red velvet cake was my favorite. Staff were pleasant and our server Balint was attentive and provided very good customer service. Very affordable buffet with great food. If you're exploring the Custer State Park, would definitely recommend trying this restaurant. read more

Great experience at this historic lodge in the Black Hills. We had dinner here with friends. I had the pork chops and my wife had the Walley. Both were done to perfection. Our waiter was very helpful and provided great service. The atmosphere was the main attraction for this restaurant and it did not disappoint. If you are looking for a fine dining experience in the southern Black Hills I would highly recommend this restaurant. read more

A beautiful hotel that was recently updated. The staff were incredibly friendly and delightful. The food in the restaurant was delicious. A couple points of note. This is a motel rather than a hotel. The windows and door are on the same side and other guests walk past your window to get to their rooms. Not terrible but if you like natural light it's a huge disappointment since you really can't open your shades without everyone walking by having a full view into your room. The other negative for me was that the insulation between the floor to block noise was not there. Who ever was above us was a heavy walker and paced for 2-3 hours at night. It was very disruptive and something we were not accustomed to even though we travel frequently and stay in many different hotels. We didn't hear the neighbors on the sides of us but the guests above us were really bad. Maybe just bad luck on our part. The location is great and the park is amazing but I think it's helpful to have a good understanding before booking. read more

State Game Lodge - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

It was called the summer White House established in 1927 under President Calvin Coolidge. Another president that stayed there was Dwight D Eisenhower in 1953. That location is fantastic. Don't expect anything fancy. Very outdated and not the love that it should have received. Found a bottle of cleaning spray, shower was dirty, and a used bar of soap was also in the shower, Don't people know how to clean. The lobby was small and quaint, had a great little gift store, the bar was small but good food in the restaurant was great, Love the ribeye and mash potatoes. This is also where the governors meet to have meat, stay and party before the bison roundup. I believe they could put some love and care into this place to make it amazing. It was overpriced for the amenities,I'm NOT sure if I would stay there again. read more

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I really wanted to stay at the State Game Lodge when we were in South Dakota recently, but there weren't any vacancies. After a visit to Custer State Park, we settled for dinner in the State Game Lodge Dining Room. For dinner the Mr. and I decided on the buffalo ravioli appetizer to share, a buffalo sirloin for him, and the BBQ short ribs for me. MSAR & MM also ordered the ravioli appetizer and she got a club sandwich, and he chose the buffalo cheeseburger. I was disappointed when I was told they were out of short ribs. I changed to the sirloin, but if I had to do it over again, I'd have ordered another plate of the buffalo ravioli appetizer and ate it myself. I could have literally licked the cream sauce off the serving plate, it was that good. Dessert was a shared bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for the Mr. and I and our friends had the apple crisp. Both were just 'okay' and perhaps not worth the calories. Our waitress was attentive and helpful and we enjoyed our meals. The State Game Lodge is beautiful and I left sad that I wasn't able to stay there. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60865-d2250825-r776320428-State_Game_Lodge_Dining_Room-Custer_South_Dakota.html# read more

Stopped buy for lunch as we were touring Custer State Park. They had a limited menu for lunch. Mostly burgers, salads, sandwiches and just a few entrees. This is not your ordinary fare. The chef blends local items with traditional to create a wonderful meal. We started with rabbit and rattlesnake sausage, with mustard sauce and onion jam. Wow, this combination really worked. Excellent spices on the sausage and the sweet jam was simply wonderful. The burger is quite possibly one of the best burgers I've ever had. Cooked to perfection on a toasted bun and topped with Gouda cheese, bacon, and crispy fried onions. Incredible is the only way to describe this. Treat yourself to this hidden gem if you happen to be in the area. read more

State Game Lodge - Bacon Cheese Burger - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

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I worked at the SGL in 1967, and was very excited to take my granddaughters there this year 2024. What a huge disappointment! We had lunch in the "new" dining room. Even though half of the tables were empty, there was a 20 minute wait - bad start. Hostess was rude, and it took the waiter 10 minutes to visit our table. Food was God-awful and seriously overpriced, even compared with the high-priced Black Hills restaurants. I had the Buffalo Chili. Big mistake. I swear, when you check the trash cans in back, you will find a Hormel Chili can. There may have been some ground beef in the bowl, but taste was terrible. $18 My wife had the Ceasar Salad. It was a wedge of 1/4 a head of iceberg lettuce with about one ounce of "dressing" drizzled over it. She left 90% of it on the plate. $17. Kids had buffalo burgers off the adult menu. Overcooked hockey pucks - small and bad taste. Original lodge is run down, and another huge disappointment. Concessionaire should loose the contract! Coolidge Inn another big disappointment. Soda fountain is gone, as is most of the kitchen and grill. Extremely limited menu - three items. Gift shop contains over-priced trinkets (junk)from China. Skip the Game Lodge. Mount Rushmore has better food, better service, better gift shop -- amazing the National Park service can out-class Custer State Park. Or better yet, go to Sylvan Lake Lodge, which is still classy and the dining room is elegant, wait staff is friendly and efficient and the food is excellent. Kristi Noem -- are you listening? SGL management is running the place into the ground. read more

This review is based on our drive through Custer State Park. Definitely a highlight of the trip to be able to see animals on the drive so close up. Definitely recommend for kids and adults! read more

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The tomato soup was interesting, the Reuben sandwich was very fresh and tasty, came with 3 pieces of steak fries. Staff was very attentive, friendly and service was topnotch. Met an artist and had a great chat with him. The establishment is very well decorated & very grand. I enjoyed the outdoor scenery while having lunch on the patio. Highly recommended read more

State Game Lodge - Rabbit & rattlesnake stuffed quail - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

What a beautiful spot to enjoy some South Dakota delicacies! We stopped here on a Mount Rushmore tour and had no idea what to expect. The property was gorgeous and as native New Yorkers, we were so delighted to see so many unique items on their lunch menu. We tried the pheasant spring rolls and rabbit and rattlesnake sausage. Both were outstanding, but we really enjoyed the sausage, which came with toast points and a fruity chutney. Our server was attentive and friendly. Highly recommend! read more

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Disappointed with room rates and service. I understand it's tough times during covid. How about a discount on room rates since there is no stay over service? I'm not even comprehending that logic since the restaurant is open and serving food, people not wearing masks, which I could not care less if they do or not. Why can't the hotel have stay over service? Oh well. ‍ When we checked in we found our room had three sheets of toilet paper (no extra rolls in the room) for our 3 night stay and a dirty towel was hanging on the back of the door. I'm sorry but I don't think the price reflects the service. I'm hoping the rest of our stay changes my mind about future stays. read more

State Game Lodge - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

The nearby Creekside Lodge we stayed at was very nice. Our room including a small sitting area, with a couch, two comfortable beds, and both a microwave and fridge. I would have rated it 3.5 stars. However, the food and service at State Game Lodge was truly awful. Well, I should say that my "bison steak" was shoe leather. We were part of a tour, and everyone who had this entree complained to the point of rebellion. It was advertised as 8 oz, but, by the time it came from the kitchen, burned to a crisp, it couldn't have weighed more than 4 oz. Those at our table who had the Walleye were satisfied. My suggestion? Stick with the Walleye. Regardless, of the food, the service was pretty bad, e.g. "slow to non-existent". read more

This is a tough place to review, as it looks like the Four Seasons, but operates like a Ramada Inn, the latter of which is located nearby in the less ideal town of Keystone. Anyways, this place was the summer home of President Coolidge and I understand why -- the main lodge/center looks like a millionaire's home in Connecticut and is centrally located in Custer State Park; it's truly the nicest hotel in the area and naturalized, so we actually DID see a wild buffalo walk right past on the front lawn. There was also the cutest bat hanging outside our room; check the included photos to see him! The rooms are fine -- similar to an older Hyatt or Marriott -- but I wish they'd send a maintenance worker to touch up some missing paint on walls, replace some cracked electrical wall plates and unclog some bathtubs (ours would always fill up to about 4-5" as we showered!) We were in room #114, so take note, folks! ;-) Otherwise, the rooms have wood ceilings, bison-themed bed covers and a nice rustic theme going on. There are no dedicated balconies for each room, but rather one long thoroughfare filled with chairs and patio sets. It's a very nice arrangement to wake up to and enjoy in the mornings and later in the evenings. The guests here appear to be middle-to-higher income, so every car is 2015 or newer; bring a sunshade for your front windshield and your car won't get too hot! Meanwhile, the main restaurant serves an amazing breakfast buffet for $12.50/person (evening during Covid-19) and the dinner menu's a bit pricey, but the food tastes alright, especially considering there are FEW "interesting-to-great" restaurant options in this huge area. Like others, we found the hosts of the restaurant to be TERRIBLE (guy with the pony tail, this means you). The waitstaff is awesome, however, and tries their best to make you feel welcome. We'd totally stay here again, especially for the excellent location, but don't expect amenities like those from a fancier hotel chain, including internet (it wasn't offered at ALL, but hey, you're in the mountains, so go for a hike!) read more

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Very nice place. We didn't stay there, we just stopped in for dinner on our way by. I had the Elk, my wife had the Bison burger. Both were very delicious. The service was great as well. We are on vacation in this area, if we ever come back, we will eat there again. read more

Beautiful, restful place to stay in gorgeous Custer State Park! Great food in the restaurant and very reasonably priced. We will stay here again! read more

Beautiful historic lodge that served as the Western White House for Coolidge and Eisenhower. Dining room menu was a pleasant surprise with locally sourced fair including bison, elk, walleye and even a rattlesnake sausage (quite good actually). Some local beers and a couple private labeled wines available as well. A refined dining adventure that far exceeded expectations. read more

State Game Lodge - Rabbit and rattlesnake sausage appetizer - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

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This review is for the Creekside Lodge property that's right next to the older State Game Lodge. As the only people staying there last weekend, we had a great experience. The rooms are more updated than the older lodge rooms and were clean and comfortable. (Great mattress and shower pressure in the morning ....) Ours had 2 queens and a pull-out couch, with a door opening to a patio overlooking the creek, so a family would be good staying here. A nice touch to the rooms is the split bathroom. The sink is near the door so one person can get ready while someone else is showering. The off-season rates are very affordable. Would definitely stay here again. read more

The Game Lodge is a wonderful location in which to spend one's vacation! The restaurant serves local cuisine that is delicious from start to finish. The location is beautiful and surrounded by all of the Black Hills wildlife. We honeymooned there some sixty years ago and haven't missed an anniversary to date. Highly recommend visiting Custer State Park and staying and dining at the Game Lodge! read more

Jodi (bartender) was awesome. We stayed at the campground down the road and enjoyed several meals/drinks at the lodge. Thanks Jodi!

We stayed at one of there cabins down the road, and loved every min of it. It has two bedroom and two bathrooms perfect for my 3 person family. I think the couch also made into a bed but we didn't need it. We had animals come through everyday and there is the grocery and laundry near by. I would definitely recommend it and come again. read more

State Game Lodge - Firepit - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

We spent two total nights in the hotel in a "Deluxe Room". The room was very cramped with two queen beds, an extremely small couch/coffee table and the room décor was old and dingy. Considering the nightly rate high price, I expected something nicer. The lodge itself is beautiful with a nice restaurant, bar, gift shop, and porches to take in the wonderful views. I really liked everything about the lodge and relaxed atmosphere, just wish the rooms were a bit nicer. Staying in Rapid City does not cut it. You have to stay in the Hills to make this experience the best it can be! read more

My husband and I were excited to try the restaurant especially since we were staying at the lodge. My husband ordered the rabbit and rattlesnake stuffed quail. He complained it tasted off, when we checked the quail was still raw in places. I ordered the elk osso bucco. The elk meat was ok, the rice under it was horrible. It was like they did not make enough rice so they added uncooked rice to cooked. So some rice was mushy and the rest was uncooked and crunchy. The waitress took the raw quail to the manager and came back and offered us free dessert. The manager never talked to us. It seemed like the management was hidding. read more

Very good food and top shelf spirits. Beautiful lodge only stopped to shop and eat while cruising the park, by the way they have great bison burgers and amazing fries. read more

Let me first say that I'm somewhat of a hotel snob, but the pictures on their website lured me in. Besides the buffalo in front of our cabin and the friendly receptionist the rest of the stay was horrible. Flies galore and mouse traps everywhere. I understand "roughing" it, but if I were to rough it I would have camped out. The cabins are also right on the highway, we could hear cars driving past us at night. Look elsewhere if you can. read more

State Game Lodge - Cabin #2 - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

Exactly what I expected...a historic hunting lodge. The manager was a delight. He obviously loved his job and loved the lodge. If you are looking for modern conveniences in your room...this is not the accommodations for you. We stayed in the "T" room which is obviously the old summer porch. It was marvelous and my daughter declared the bed the most comfortable in her life. She wanted to take it home. Our only regret...just one night in the inn. Of all the places we stayed on our road trip this is the only one we agreed that we would love to return to. Thank You! read more

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just stopped for lunch. finally some exotic authentic food.! enjoyed both the salad and the buffalo stew. ambiance is "homey" but food was unexpectedly one of the best I had in SD read more

State Game Lodge - salad - Hotels Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

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Disappointed is an understatement! The "newer" cabin that we booked was completely overrun by ants. I don't mean 2,3 or even 10, but 50-70 ants each day! When we first checked in we thought okay maybe they just didn't clean in a few days and the cabins been vacant. At check in we only saw maybe 10 ants. We cleaned up ourselves and unloaded our luggage and went to do activities around the park. By the time we returned that evening there were 30 ants in the bathroom alone. The floor, beds, and now our luggage had ants on them. Again we cleaned them up and spoke to the management. We were told "sorry but it's bug season and there is nothing we can do". Wow, nothing they could do? Not even offer to send someone out to clean up the cabin. How about notify visitors if they know it's a problem. Needless to say we will never be back and hope that things will be better for others visiting. read more

i love this place partially because I have been going there since I was a little kid. I dont like the new remodel they did to cater to the buss groups but I guess all things must change. We got the breakfast buffet one morning that was very good and a deal at 9.75 I think its the cheapest I have found at a 4 star park eatery. The bison is almost always good except for my family dinner. Ok there were 20 of us and all of our food was either wrong or burnt (most of it) and cold. The problem was that someone was having an MI in the other room and I guess they shut the kitchen donw. They did comp our whole table all 20 of us with 7-9 deserts. I guess I can complain that someone needed to go to the hospital I just wanted my darm food. JK it is always great just a fluke night and they did try to correct it well. I love this place, read more

Custer State Park/State Game Lodge Wedding Venue Review Unless you've always wanted your long-awaited, extensively-planned, and undoubtedly expensive "big day" to basically serve as a dress rehearsal for State Game Lodge (SGL) staff to practice for next weekend's wedding, you should probably consider another venue outside of Custer State Park (CSP). I won't go into great detail about our very first trip to SGL in February 2017 ahead of our eventual May 2018 wedding; or the difficulty we had in scheduling (and later confirming) a tour of the premises with the (since-fired) wedding coordinator; or the utter, and almost deal-breaking, lack of ability for SGL to return voicemails and emails in the weeks that followed our first visit as we tried to lock in our first-choice weekend. The communication pitfalls were seemingly improved when SGL hired a new wedding coordinator, Kyle, who took over well ahead of our wedding in plenty of time to finalize the details. Once our questions were answered by the old wedding coordinator, eventually, and the contracts were signed, there was a lot of downtime as we booked our vendors and carried on with life in general. It's a good thing we had that downtime, too, because even though my fiancé had her heart set on an outdoor wedding at SGL, I was ready to forfeit our deposit, cut our losses, and find a new venue based entirely on SGL's clear inability to effectively communicate with us. Let me continue by saying that SGL's new wedding coordinator, Kyle, did a much better job of communicating with us, comparatively speaking, and usually got back to me within 48 hours if I didn't catch him in the office. It was a big improvement over what I dealt with in 2017, and something I commended Kyle for often leading up to our wedding. It is unfortunate that as the new coordinator, I can say from our experience that Kyle had not had any/many outdoor weddings under his belt before ours at the end of May. The issues we encountered were the direct result of an obvious lack of staff supervision and disregard for attention to detail. Aside from that, if the disappointment of not having our expectations met wasn't frustrating enough, SGL and CSP rubbed salt in the wound over two weeks later by brushing off our concerns and either blaming us for something totally unrelated to the issue raised in order to distract from our complaint or by saying that they appreciated us bringing certain things to their attention and would correct it for weddings in the future. So basically our early spring wedding was a dress rehearsal for later peak-season summer weddings, for which SGL and CSP charges higher fees. The effort of writing this review comes down to SGL and CSP simply refusing to just apologize for their mistakes and refund us a mere $185.88 that we were owed. We paid SGL and CSP well over $10,000 for the venue and for catering (this does NOT take into account additional tens of thousands of dollars that our guests spent on lodging, dining, and drinking during their three days at CSP). While I should have disputed the ridiculously petty $185 amount with my credit card company, I've instead chosen to share our experiences in the hopes that someone will take it to heart and either pass on this venue or hold SGL and CSP accountable for their mistakes at your own wedding if the same things happen to you. Due to size restrictions, please see attached JPEG images of pages 2-5 for the full details: read more

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Very Dissappointing I understand this is an historical building but it is sorely in need of updating and repairs. The bathroom ( toilet tub) area is about as small as an airline bathroom. The bathroom vanity is very low to the ground almost mid- thigh height. The floors feel sticky and moist on bare feet and the walls are in desperate need of paint from all the dings and scratches. One positive is the shower water pressure which is nice and strong! Maybe it is just the area, but there are also a lot of flies that buzzed around and got in the room when the door was open which woke me up early every morning due to their buzzing around the room. The rooms are set up like a motel where people can walk past and look into your room if the shades are open. I never liked places like that. The restaurant has a very interesting menu for dinner which is reservation only. The buffet breakfast, however, contains a lot of pre-made food items like the mini pasteries, instant oatmeal, waffles that need to go in a toaster and eggs that are in a big vat. The location of this lodge is very nice and it is close to the Nature Loop which is a fun drive as there are herds of bison. The staff seems average friendly. I wouldn't stay here again. read more

Good food and horrible service. Laura gave us the worst service we've ever had. She was rude and unhelpful. When asked basic questions about the menu and what she prefers food-wise, she glared at us and refused to answer. We waited 40 minutes for drinks and 1.25 hours for food. Drinks came after a reminder and appetizers. Laura never checked in on us and we had to ask other staff for drinks and the bill. Overall, a 2 hour experience. Will never be back. read more

Food was so so. Very overpriced. The host acted like he couldn't wait for us to leave Our server was nice though. But not a memorable lunch at all. read more

Very nice atmosphere, even though a lot of empty tables the service was slow and the server screwed up our bill hence four stars but the food was good. Bison burgers and elk osso bucco, both tasty. read more