Shade Valley Camp Resort

Theft ($1,700 stolen), rude owner, nothing going on like other campgrounds in Sturgis, lengthy in depth review worth a read before you pay to stay here. I want to reemphases this with I did not pay for the cabin rental, it was gifted to me by a total stranger met online. Total cost was I think around $1,500, and I paid for the wrist band of $250 that anyone staying inside the campground had to pay. Which is a rip off here unlike the other campgrounds and I will explain below why it was an issue (here specific). I had a DJI Pro 3 Mini, extra batteries, accessories, and carry case. I had gopro batteries, charger, and accessories as well. It was locked in the cabin (J27). I arrived on the 3rd, and stayed until the morning of the 14th. I didn't speak with anyone, hadn't flown the drone, and no one knew anything of value was in my cabin. Well I met a girl in Rapid city and spent the night of the 13th at her house but prior to that I came to the cabin from 4pm to 730pm on the 13th and started packing so the next morning I could show up, strap my stuff on my bike, check out, and head back to NH. Luckily I took photos of everything in the room as I had almost every night before (I work in security and am very particular about my belongings, safety, theft, all of it.) Well I asked the manager 2 times in person that I was good to check out the next day still and it wasn't an issue. He confirmed checkout was at noon the 14th. I even called twice after while on the road to absolutely double check since I didn't want the guy who paid for the cabin to be charged. All 4 times I was told there wasn't a problem. I showed up the 14th in the morning around 930 to find he just got in the office and heard the cleaning lady they hired had cleaned out my cabin, packed some of it, and left half my stuff in a garbage bag on the front porch... And not only that, he said she had entered my cabin the day before (the 13th) in the morning, before I had come back and organized my stuff. He didn't know why she cleaned it out, why she had done it, or anything. In fact, he wasn't much of a manager at all and I don't know how he has that position because there was zero accountability they where entering to clean out stuff when they knew I was coming back and knew I hadn't left my stuff behind. I went to the cabin to find my sleeping bag still on the air mattress, yet all my knickknacks/souvenirs in a garbage bag on the porch along with the 3 beers I had in my fridge that where still cold. She had JUST done this. My clothes had been shoved into my dry bag and left in the office with my backpack which had credit cards of mine, my passport, and prescription meds in it. He called her to come over to the office/my cabin and explain why she did this. Well my drone was missing, all my gopro stuff , 4 Sturgis challenge coins I earned, other random things like spare oil, a Wall Drug sticker from Wall Drug, and random other things where stolen. She claimed when she went in it wasn't like how it looked the day before. Which was news at this point to me and the manager, why had she gone in the day before? There was no answer, and never got one. I said yea well because I came back to organize my stuff to make today easier. I showed the photos I took and she said it wasn't like that at all. That my stuff was all over and the drone missing. Got very defensive and abrasive. I called the police, and she left right after I called for an unknown reason... The police where unable to find anything on her hours later when they found her. She would of had time to toss stuff/hide it. She claimed the cabin was unlocked... Never explained why she entered in either time before the checkout date and time. The owner replied to all this with "How did you get my number. Have a good day." They had nothing going on either all week, no big shows, no one at the bars, nothing. You paid $250 for small bands to play to a crowd of 2-5 people, 1 bar tender, and security that left post at 11pm... Owner and staff where horrible and the atmosphere was horrible.

Cabins were ok, good a/c for hot days and a fridge to keep food cool. Shower block was too far away and should be in a central location, close for campers in cabins or on a Rv/tent site to have close access to and not having to walk 5 min to take a shower. Most Rv parks have their shower blocks in a central location and close by for their guests.

This was our first time to Shade Valley and also to Sturgis. The property was very spacious, clean, and the staff was amazing. We didn’t have to wait to do laundry since they had an amazing woman named Amy who took care of it for us. The food was great and well priced. The music was great and we will definitely be back next year.