New Year Sale: Save 20% on 3+ night stays in Specialty Reunion Cabins over 2026 hot dates.

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Open House & Free Fishing Weekend

Events & Brunches   |  

Open House & Free Fishing Weekend

Even though we officially open around the end of April each year, our first celebration takes place the weekend before Memorial Day Weekend. For three days, all travelers can enjoy free entrance to Custer State Park and free fishing, where no park license is required (camping fees and fishing regulations still apply).


Special Rates & Events

Activity Discount: 20% off your Buffalo Safari Jeep Tour and/or Hayride & Chuckwagon Cookout for May 15, 16, and 17, 2026. Book your activity today!

Horse Roundup: Each morning at 7:00 am, our prized herd of horses is rounded up for the day and brought in to the stables from their night pasture. Stop by the Blue Bell Lodge Stables and wait at the picnic tables or the pipe fence next to the stables office. Our Wranglers will come out, run ropes, and stop traffic for the whole herd to cross! 

2026 Event Schedule

Stop out to Custer State Park for live music, demonstrations, special programs, and the annual Buffalo Chip Flip contest, which takes place at the Peter Norbeck Outdoor Education Center each year.

The 2025 event schedule is out! 

Custer State Park Open House Weekend 2026:

Friday, May 15 - Sunday, May 17, 2026

A white pickup truck filled with buffalo chips for the flip activity.

Pancake Feed

We invite you to stop in to the pancake feeds at Legion Lake Lodge from 8am to 10am on both Saturday and Sunday morning of Open House Weekend. All donated proceeds from the pancake & sausage meals purchased support the Custer County Search & Rescue. Come one, come all and this year will be the biggest donation yet, as you enjoy some of the only lakeside dining offered in the Black Hills. 

Stay More, Save More

Stay at any of our four resorts in Custer State Park between opening day and Open House Weekend for some of the best savings offered all year. Stay two (2) nights save 15% and stay three (3) or more nights and save 20% on most lodge rooms and cabins. Limited exclusions apply. Inquire for details or book online today.

New for 2026! All guests who are staying at a Custer State Park Resort lodge room or cabin on May 15, 16, and/or 17, 2026 will be entered into a drawing for a free upgrade to the Ponderosa Cabin at Blue Bell Lodge!
 

Book Now

More Lodging to Explore

Entrance of Creekside Lodge

Creekside Lodge Rooms

Tucked along Grace Coolidge Creek, just 200 yards from the State Game Lodge. Creekside Lodge is open year-round.

Cowboy Poet's Cabin

What a view! Perfect for a small family of up to five, we have just three of this cabin type, all nestled behind Legion Lake Lodge. Peaceful, private lake views.

Cabin sits under pine trees in Blue Bell Lodge area at Custer State Park

Rose Quartz Cabin

Tucked in the trees near French Creek Nature Area and the Wildlife Loop, these spacious chinked log cabins with private decks at peaceful Blue Bell Lodge can't be beat.

Spruce Cabin

At the top of Needles Highway, as you turn in to Sylvan Lake Lodge, this loop of cabins sits at 6,145 feet elevation...as if they were always meant to be there. One-room cabin with vaulted ceilings & a wood-burning stone fireplace.

Otis Cabin

These original log chink cabins with two (2) private bedrooms and a full kitchen are conveniently located within an easy walking distance to Coolidge Store.