RV & Tent Campgrounds in Meade County, SD: Rally Rules

For most of its 3,483 square miles, Meade County is ranchland with no particular campground story. But land near Sturgis sits inside a real, distinct seasonal business model: turning acreage into a licensed temporary campground for the roughly ten days of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, under a county ordinance built specifically for that purpose.

This page covers what's specific to Meade County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Ordinance No. 21 creates a specific Temporary Campground License, distinct from a permanent campground

Meade County Ordinance No. 21 defines a Temporary Campground as one established in conjunction with a special event -- the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the Sturgis Mustang Rally, a county or state fair, or a similar event -- and licensed for no more than 14 days. That's a meaningfully different regulatory path than operating a year-round RV park: a landowner isn't seeking a permanent campground use permit, but a short-window license tied to a specific dated event, renewed annually rather than granted once. The ordinance includes fee exemptions: nonprofit organizations are exempt from all license fees on showing valid, current nonprofit status, and Meade County residents are exempt from the Class B license fee specifically. County officials have periodically revisited the fee schedule -- reporting on a past proposal noted potential fee increases across the roughly six campgrounds affected, intended to offset the county's own rally-related costs -- so current fee amounts should be confirmed directly with the county rather than assumed from any prior year's figures.

This county license operates alongside, not instead of, the state's own Temporary Campground License requirement under the Administrative Rules of South Dakota (ARSD 44:02:12), administered through the South Dakota Department of Health. A landowner planning to open a temporary campground for Rally week needs both approvals -- the state license covering health and sanitation standards, and the Meade County Ordinance No. 21 license covering the local land-use side -- not one in place of the other.

What the licensed use actually looks like at scale, and what to confirm before you buy

The clearest illustration of what this license structure supports is the Sturgis Buffalo Chip, a privately owned 600-acre property roughly three miles east of Sturgis that has operated as a full-service tent, RV, and cabin campground combined with a multi-day concert festival since 1981 -- proof that Meade County land near Sturgis can be developed into a large, recurring seasonal camping business rather than a one-time backyard arrangement. Most operations near the Rally corridor are smaller than that, but the underlying license path is the same one Ordinance No. 21 describes.

Before buying Meade County land with a Rally-season campground business in mind, confirm three things directly with the county: whether the parcel's existing zoning district permits a temporary campground use outright or requires a conditional-use permit first, the current Ordinance No. 21 license fee and application deadline for the year you plan to operate, and whether the parcel qualifies for the county-resident exemption from the Class B fee. Also confirm the state licensing requirements with the South Dakota Department of Health before the season, since both approvals are needed and neither substitutes for the other. And keep the geography in mind: this seasonal-campground opportunity is realistically tied to land within a practical drive of Sturgis and the Rally grounds, not to Meade County land generally -- a remote parcel elsewhere in the county's large land area won't carry the same seasonal value even under the same ordinance.

RV and Tent Campgrounds in Meade County, South Dakota

Ordinance No. 21 creates a specific Temporary Campground License, distinct from a permanent campground

What the licensed use actually looks like at scale, and what to confirm before you buy

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