Gunderson Park

Beautiful old park that was back in the day a swim beach with pavilion. There’s plenty of space to camp. It has no amenities besides benches and a few fire pits. It’s free to camp but they have a camping period when it’s open.

Great free camping! The county road in is a bit rough as it seems to be under some sort of construction. I liked that the campground had a mile long (one way) paved path that leads to the local football field. Lots of mulberry trees around. The Verizon cell service was pretty decent as well.

Gunderson Park is a lovely little park where we like to walk the dog around. There is a boat launch area, however, the drought this year has made the river very low so this year is not the best time to enjoy the river, sadly. I think the park could be improved with a couple trash cans and maybe picnic tables but it is really nice as is. I plan to go camping there at some point as well. It is really nice with very mature trees in the area and a few benches. It looks like some new trees have been planted so in a few years those will be lovely and helpful for shade around the area.

What a great place for free camping! I stayed here in mid October on my way to and from Western South Dakota. It sits right outside the nice small town of Centerville. The road to the park was just recently repaved. I car camped in my Jeep. There was a small blue sign at the entrance saying camping was only from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Nobody gave me any issues. Took a quick drone shot before I left. Zebra King donuts in town are worth the stop!

UPDATE CAMPING IS NOW ONLY ALLOWED BETWEEN MEMORIAL DAY THROUGH LABOR DAY. NO WINTER CAMPING IS ALLOWED ANY LONGER. Gunderson Park is a nice little boondocking location just ½ mile from the downtown area of Centerville. They have 2 fire pit locations, but, after speaking with the official at city hall we found out you can camp pretty much anywhere in the park you would like. It is free to camp here, you can stay virtually as long as you wish to according to that same official. There are no hook-ups. No bathroom facilities. No picnic tables. No playground for children. You may fish with a South Dakota license in the lazy rolling Vermillion River that skirts the park on 3 sides. They have a cement boat ramp. I will say when we stayed there the river was so low you would have had great dif