I am thinking about retiring to SW South Dakota in a couple years and want to visit the area again. The only time I can get a full week off work to visit is summer and I want to be there before the Sturgis crowd starts filtering in. When do they usually start arriving (and campgrounds become unavailable)? I am looking at 10-20 July but could come earlier, maybe late June.

I maybe asking for recommended towns to look at a little later, once we decide what we're looking for and do a little more research.

August 6-15, 2021 is set for Sturgis Rally. You should be fine in July and wouldn't see an issue. That neck of SD is busy all the time with tourist any way so not really sure it will be that much different. That whole area would be to many people for me even in non tourist.

I thought that Sturgis had a few different rallies every year like superbike week and so on. I don't know much about it though.

We go after Labor day to Deadwood.... nice and quiet... cheap hotel prices

No Sturgis crowd at all

I get to Sturgis a few times a year, No crowds, Its a small town atmosphere most of the time. The crowds are in Spearfish, up the canyon and Deadwood. Never been around for the biker rally, but was there for the Mustang Rally, that was a good time.

That would be a a great area to retire in. I’m there a few times each year. My buddy lived in Gillette and moved to Sturgis last year. Check out Bell Fouche.

Custer is a nice area, Newcastle wy good place too

Custer and Lead are on my short list. I have a friend in Casper, WY trying to get me to move there. We were there about 10 years ago and want to get back so we can get a better feel for the area.

Diggerman - what did you mean by "up the canyon?"

August is the time to go on vacation away from SD. Rent your place out to a good group and pay for the year's mortgage. July, even late August is a good time to visit. If you are leaving when they are coming, it isn't bad, or vice versa.

Spearfish Canyon. Quite the drive.

The entire month of August is a total zoo in the black hills.

June is not summer up this way. Wait til July.

If you are going there and can’t stand the sturgis crowd why would you want to live there as they return every year??

Look into elevation big difference between Custer and Lead in the spring some of the Canyons in May get down to the 20s before sunup. Icebox canyon is South of Cheyenne crossing lives up to its name. If you want to get away from people look at smaller towns if that’s your goal.

Besides Custer, Hot Springs is a nice town in the southern Hills. Pringle is in between the two and nice but its small. Hermosa is out on th plains south of Rapid but you can be in Custer from there in about what, 35 minutes? Its growing. Oelrichs is out on the plains east of Hot Springs, small but sort of left alone. Can be in the Hills in about 45 minutes. As Law Dog said, the northern hills are colder than the southern. More flat pieces in the southern hills as well, at least my perception.

You get very far SW your out of the National Forest then, don’t over look WY you have a better chance at a elk tag as a resident more big game options. I’d buy a cabin in the National Forest with a long driveway and put up a sign that says GIT! LOL

The area around Custer and Hot Springs is great, they do get a little busy from tourist traffic in the summer then turn into almost ghost towns in the winter, don’t know what your budget is but it’s a fairly expensive area to buy a house at least by SD standards.
If you want more services don’t overlook Rapid City area, lots of little developments just outside the city in the foothills that are nice quite areas.
I lived in Spearfish for 4 years and it’s also a nice area.

If you want more remote and off the beaten path look at the Hulett WY area.

We typically vacation in the hills in late May to early June as the weather is mostly good and the tourist traffic is fairly low.

Don’t forget Edgemont guys. You don’t need a hot water heater. Comes out of the ground about 160 degrees.

Been out to the black hills in june, July, August and September. Tent camping, imo mid to late june or early September have been my best trips.

Yeah, I forgot about Edgemont, but you have to like trains