Cottonwood in SD -- Campground & RV Camping

Cottonwood Recreation Area sits downstream of Gavins Point Dam between the Missouri River and 250-acre Lake Yankton. The campground offers 77 electric sites, two modern shower houses with flush toilets, a playground, horseshoe pits, and a dump station. An adjacent day-use area features a boat ramp, accessible fishing dock, disc golf course, picnic shelters, and a swim beach. Paved multi-use trails connect the park to the 31,400-acre Lewis and Clark Lake upstream, the Calumet Bluff trail, and the city of Yankton. Lake Yankton supports non-motorized boating, paddling, and fishing.

Getting there: From U.S. Hwy 81 in Yankton, South Dakota, drive four miles west on South Dakota Highway 52, then south on Dam Toe Road and follow signs.

• Little separation from through roads or other sites here, a 77-site campground with the nearest through road 0.1 miles off.
• The Lake Yankton shoreline is 0.1 mi off.
• Estimated night sky: Bortle 4, a rural sky with a glow on the horizon.
• Open country, with nothing named rising within 30 miles.
• Most sites here have an electric hookup, with 14 on the water and most of them shaded.

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