Our full-hookup sites at Ride N Rest sit on State Highway 79, a mile north of the Highway 34 junction and just outside downtown Sturgis. There are more than 50 of them, each with its own electric, water and sewer connection at the site, so nothing has to be hauled to a dump station in the middle of rally week. Sites are laid out along interior lanes with room for rigs of many sizes, and the lanes are kept wide enough that motorcycles can pass a parked coach without anybody putting a boot down in loose gravel. Below is how the sites are arranged and what that means when you pull in.
Where are the hookups on the site?
Electric, water and sewer are grouped together on one side of each site, positioned so a standard length of hose and cord reaches without stretching. When you back in or pull through, put the utility side of your rig toward that post. If you are not sure which side yours is on, it is the side with the sewer outlet, usually driver's side on most travel trailers and fifth wheels. Getting that right on the first try saves you from repositioning with a line of bikes waiting behind you.
How much room is there between rigs?
Enough to put your awning out, set up chairs and still have your neighbor do the same. That is the trade-off we make on purpose. During the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, most of our RV guests are traveling with bikes on a trailer or riding in alongside a coach, and those bikes have to park somewhere that is not the lane. We ask that trailers, bikes and vehicles stay on your own site rather than spilling into the road, and the spacing is set up so that works.
What size rig can you fit?
We handle everything from a small camper van up to long fifth wheels and 40-foot motorhomes with a toad. If you are running something at the long end, or you are towing an enclosed bike trailer behind a coach, tell us the total length when you book so we can put you where the approach and the turn work. Highway 79 gets you here off I-90 without tight town corners, which is one reason our RV park in Sturgis SD suits big rigs better than a lot of in-town options.
What is the best order to set up?
Level the rig before anything else. Once you are level and chocked, drop the jacks, then plug in power, then hook up water, then make the sewer connection last so you are not working around a hose while you are still adjusting position. Give your sewer hose a downhill run and use a support if you have one — the ground here is mostly firm, but a sagging hose is a slow drain and a smell you will notice by day three in August.
Where should hoses and cords run?
Keep them tucked along your rig or under it, not looped across the lane or onto the neighboring site. Rally traffic here is largely two-wheeled, often at night, and a stretched cord across gravel is a real hazard for a bike. The same goes for guy lines, mats and generator cables. We would rather remind everyone up front than sort it out after.
Anything else worth knowing before you arrive?
Ask what electrical service your site has when you book so you can plan your air conditioning use in the heat of early August. Our shower house is a short walk from the RV loops, breakfast is served daily, and the World Famous Steak Dinners run during rally week. If a full-hookup site is not the right fit, we also have dry camping, shaded tent sites, cabins and the four-bedroom Rally House for groups riding in together.