by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            The Palisades State Park expansion has officially opened for business, with the new entrance and campsites going live within the past two weeks.

            The new entrance, which is larger and has a brand-new welcome center, will be a boon for visitors looking to enter the park and allow for better customer service, according to District Park Supervisor Luke Dreckman.

            Palisades State Park is one of the most visited parks in the state, with over 100,000 visitors each summer. It was also one of the smallest with only 157 acres.

            Five years ago, the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks Department announced they had acquired another 257 acres to the south and west along Split Rock Creek, more than doubling the park in size. This acquisition lengthened the park to 256th Street along 484th Avenue, allowing the state to reimagine how the park would be laid out.

            Now, they are expecting visitors to build to over 300,000 people per year, and a larger entrance along 256th Street would allow that number to be accommodated.

            Part of the increase will be due to more campers, as this past weekend, the park opened their campground expansion, called King Campground, adding 77 sites to the 34 that were in the original park.

            "Altogether, there are 111 sites now," said Dreckman. Currently, the expansion includes a dump station, additional river access, a kayak and canoe landing, and extra fishing spots, picnic shelters, and trails to traverse. In the future, more amenities, such as a disc golf course, will be added.

            The new entrance has had a controversial past for Garretson residents and neighbors of the park, as it was moved further west and south of the city.

            First, looked like it would negatively impact 485th Avenue (known as the golf course road or the park road). The pavement needed a full replacement and would no longer receive state assistance to do so. Palisades Township, which is responsible for maintenance of the roads, appealed to the state legislature regarding the importance keeping the roadway maintained. Two years ago, the legislature passed extra funding to assist the township in rebuilding the road so there was still paved access to the lodge and maintenance sheds. The construction, which will allow for the pavement to last another twenty years, was completed last summer.

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