$35 / night

Camper submitted image from Red Cliff Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Red Cliff Campground - 2

Nature

Camper submitted image from Red Cliff Campground - 3

Roads

Camper submitted image from Red Cliff Campground - 4

Water

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Facilities

Established Camping

Red Cliff Campground

18 Reviews

About

National Forest

Custer Gallatin National Forest

Overview

Red Cliff Campground is located in the scenic Gallatin Canyon, on the Bozeman Ranger District of the Gallatin National Forest, in Montana. Bozeman is 46 miles north of the campground and West Yellowstone is 45 miles south. The campground is adjacent to the Gallatin River and Highway 191. The surrounding area offers many outdoor recreational opportunities, including fishing, rafting, hiking and viewing local wildlife.

Recreation

Great opportunities for hiking, fishing, scenic driving and wildlife viewing are available around the campground. Anglers cast for rainbow, brown, brook and cutthroat trout, whitefish and Arctic grayling on the Gallatin River. Rafting and kayaking are popular activities as well. The Elkhorn Creek Trail, for hiking and horseback riding, begins at the south end of the campground.

Facilities

Natural Features

The campground sits next to the Gallatin River, at an elevation of 6,200 feet. Most campsites are situated among scattered pine and fir trees. Some sites are located in open meadows further from the river. A variety of wildlife makes its home in this scenic canyon. Visitors can often glimpse bald eagles, bighorn sheep, moose, elk, mountain goats, deer and coyotes. Black and grizzly bears also live in the canyon.

contact_info

For facility specific information, please call (623) 910-0170.

Nearby Attractions

The west entrance to Yellowstone National Park is located 45 miles south of the campground, in the town of West Yellowstone. Visitors enjoy day trips to the park for unparalleled wildlife viewing, beautiful scenery and unique geologic features. The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in the town of West Yellowstone is a popular attraction. It showcases live grizzly bears, gray wolves and various birds of prey, and has a variety of exhibits and educational programs.

Fee Info

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Location

Red Cliff Campground is located in Montana

Directions

From Bozeman, travel south on Highway 191 for 46 miles to the campground. From West Yellowstone, take Highway 191 north for 45 miles.

Coordinates

45.1741667 N
111.2416667 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Hike-In
Backcountry sites.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Unknown
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Poor

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Tent Cabin

Features

For Campers

Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Drinking Water
Electric Hookups
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump
Pull-Through Sites
Big Rig Friendly

SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE

$35

/ night

First Come - First Served

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(877) 444-6777

Jason

Ranger

Reviewed Aug. 23, 2023

Great camping

Stopped here to find several spots available. You can reserve online or just show up and pay at the fee station. Each space has its own bear box, table and grill. We stayed in a back in non Hookup site. There are Electric sites available too.

Site47

Month of VisitSeptember

(16) View All

Will E.

Ranger

Reviewed Dec. 18, 2022

Wow

Great place close to entrance to west Yellowstone. Close to some hiking

Site41

Month of VisitJuly

(12) View All

Julie R.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 25, 2022

Road noise extreme

It is a lovely campground right next to Gallatin river. Camp host extremely helpful and nice. Great place for dogs. Lots of road noise unfortunately.

Site39

Month of VisitOctober

Joe K.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 18, 2022

Solid spot, nice river but nothing extraordinary

Solid campground off the highway. We stopped after driving through Yellowstone.

They have like 50-60 sites which is nice, but only about half of them are along the river. The ironic part is the river spots are closer to the somewhat busy road on the other side of the water. It’s not a huge deal, but you won’t be in the middle of the woods. Just something to keep in mind when choosing this location.

When we arrived they had plenty of wood for sale. They had water facilities (we weren’t quite sure whether it was potable). Bathrooms are primitive with tank toilets and no sinks.

All in all, we had a great night camping along our journey. Definitely a decent spot to mark for your travels.

Site40

Month of VisitAugust

Justin

Ranger

Reviewed May. 22, 2022

Great Campground!

A lot to do without needing to leave the campground. If it were warmer weather while we stayed, then the river would have been great for a soak. A little highway noise, but I never noticed it inside of the RV

Site12

Month of VisitJune

(11) View All

Megan H.

Guide

Reviewed Nov. 26, 2021

Beautiful area, noisy

The area is beautiful, campground is right by the river (but also by a busy highway). Overall nice toilets, lots of spots and close to the town of Big Sky. Some spots offer good shade.

Month of VisitSeptember

Kait J.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 19, 2021

Great Stay in Big Sky

This is a beautiful campground right on the Gallatin River near Big Sky. Spaces are well spaced out, electric & non-electric available. The vault toilets were clean & well maintained. We loved the raised firepit with the swivel grate for cooking over. Take the time to explore along the River, lots of animals tracks! Fresh water is available but note that there is no grey water dump in Big Sky, so you’ll need to drive on to West Yellowstone or north.

Site39

Month of VisitOctober

Will E.

Ranger

Reviewed Jul. 26, 2021

Wow what a great campground

Super friendly campground host. Very helpful. The campground was clean even the restrooms. Easy access to big sky Montana and a hour ish drive to west Yellowstone. Sites are easy to access with smaller rv. But have bigger sites for larger rigs. No t mobile or att service.

Site42

Month of VisitAugust

Zachariah J.

Scout

Reviewed Mar. 10, 2021

Friendly hosts

Good staff, clean bathrooms, beautiful campground

TMB

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 14, 2020

Comfortable Montana Camping between Yellowstone and Big Sky

Red Cliff is a large comfortable campground with a few electric sites; water is onsite at a well so fill bottles or onboard tanks to take to your site. Sites are reservable through recreation.gov. Many sites have shade most or all of the day, and they are not too close together. Many sites are on the Gallatin River, an excellent fishery and pleasant location. Many sites will accommodate large rigs, but small to medium trailers and RVs/camper vans are the norm. No cell service.

Vault toilets are well spaced and clean, no plumbed bathhouses. Many recreation sites and opportunities are nearby and this is the closest campground to Big Sky Town and Resort which has grocers, breweries, shopping, restaurants, and a hospital. It is still amidst wilderness, though adjacent to Hwy 191. BEAR SAFE FOOD STORAGE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Bear boxes are provided at many sites, or lock up your stuff in a hard-sided vehicle. You may see elk, deer and bear.

There is a great onsite trailhead for hiking and horseback riding. The Cliffs themselves are developed for rock climbing with bolted sport routes from 5.6 up to 5.11 and 5.12.

This is a clean well-kept FS campground.

Site20 (electric, cliff-side)

Month of VisitAugust

Mike C.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 18, 2020

Highly recommended

We pulled in here were able to get a spot that was backed up to the Gallatin river. The cost was only $20.00. We had 3 elk come thru our camp that dusk, was truly a suprise. The host Mike, was very helpful and courteous. The river, surrounding landscape and scenery is something to behold. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. There are trails too.....firewood can be forged from all the down trees on the trail. I thought this was an awesome campsite

(4) View All

Douglas A.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 13, 2020

Favorite campground!!!

This campsite is heaven. We stayed for 2 nights, both spots on the river. Wonderful hosts, incredible access to the river to fish and let dogs/kids play. Beautiful nature all around. We were a few minutes from rafting on the Gallatin and Big Sky. Electric hookup.

Jenny H.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 7, 2020

Really nice base camp for Big Sky

Just off “the 191”, Red Cliff is just outside of Big Sky and along both the highway and river. Nice sized sites, clean pit toilets, and reservable.

The electric sites are on the right when you pull in and are preferable no only for the hookup, but also because there’s a day use area between the road and sites, and that little bit of space makes a difference in deafening the road noise. We were on the non-electrical side and could hear it, but it wasn’t a huge deal.

Two site hosts take turns on duty and are really nice and accommodating. I would definitely stay here again if coming through the area, but plan ahead to get an electric site.

One thing to note - there is A LOT of construction on the Wyoming side between Red Cliff and Yellowstone in summer of 2020 making this not a good base camp for Yellowstone this year. A typical 45 minute drive can take over 1.5 hours due to traffic being reduced to 1 lane with a stop light to allow one direction to progress at a time.

Dexter I.

Legend

Reviewed Aug. 8, 2019

Nice green campground on the Gallatin

Red Cliff Campground is a large Forest Service campground in the Gallatin River canyon. The campground has 63 campsites which can be reserved. This nice campground is set among pine and spruce trees. Their are two sections to the campground, the south section is more heavily wooded and has electric sites for$28 a night. The north section is more open, especially at the uphill portion of the loop with sites for$20. Several campsites have steps leading up to the campsite. The entire area was very green, with nice tall grass cover through out the campground. The Campground is set across the Gallatin river from Hwy 191, allowing the river to slightly muffle the sound of the constant truck travel on the highway, still the road noise is the big downfall for this campground. Each site is equipped with a large picnic table and metal fire ring. Bear lockers for food storage are located though out the campground, but you might need to share space with others as one lockers serves multiple sites. Vault toilets are located through out the campground. Water is available as well as trash and recycling. If you need firewood it is available from the camp host. It appears that about 1/3 of the sites are located along the river. If you like to hike there is the Elkhorn trail head at the south end of the campground, and of coarse don't forget to bring that fishing pole.

Month of VisitAugust

(11) View All

Tim H.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 20, 2019

Easy access, hiking, caves and next to Gallatin River

Family and I stayed here in late May for three days. We have stayed in the past in June and July as well.

Campground is south of Big Sky, so if you need to buzz into town for any last minute supplies, it is only about 10 minutes up the road and has everything you could want.

Campground has both standard and electric sites. We have a small camper and scored one of the spots near the south end, which is also close to the Elkhorn Creek Trailhead. Best sites are obviously closer to the river, with those at the far north end or south end the best options. Some of the southern end options on the east side of the campground road are tucked up pretty tight to the hillside, and are not as desirable of a location.

Pros:
Beautiful setting, easy access to hiking, cave exploration and rock climbing.

Later in the summer, the Gallatin river provides good fishing opportunities.

Yellowstone Park is about 40 minutes away. Tons of hiking options within Gallatin Canyon, all accessible via a short drive if you want something away from the campground.

Great camp hosts, who check in with everyone, have firewood, and ensure everything is good to go.

Potable water spigot, bear proof dumpster and recycling are all available near the entrance.

Cons:
Being that the campground is near the river, which also parallels the highway, road noise is pretty common -- big semi-trucks hitting the rumble strips take something away from the peaceful setting, but it is not a deal breaker. That really is the only minor gripe.

Highly recommended overall for tent or RV camping.

Site#26

Month of VisitJune

Shawn S.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 8, 2019

Solid place

Not a bad places to get away for a quick trip. Some good fishing on the Gallatin river and even a cool cave to check out on the right side of the camp ground.

Ashley S.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 7, 2018

Clean but close proximity

Red Cliff was very clean. The camp hosts were nice, but it is a very tight campground. There is a lower and an upper level. We had a great experience here, but expect to see your neighbors a bit.

Month of VisitJuly

Jen R.

Guide

Reviewed May. 29, 2017

Gallatin river, Yes Please!

On the river close to Yellowstone National Park! A bit pricey for this MT gal but worth checking out. I don't clime but those of you who do this spot is often used a a climing location by the locals. Great place.

Site4

Month of VisitJune