Best Tent Camping near Casper, WY
Public lands surrounding Casper, Wyoming offer several tent-only campgrounds with varying levels of amenities and accessibility. Lodgepole Campground on Muddy Mountain provides clean facilities with trails suitable for all skill levels, while remaining relatively uncrowded despite its proximity to town. Golden Currant Campground sits along the North Platte River, offering primitive tent camping with riverside sites shaded by cottonwoods. Chalk Bluffs Campground features well-established tent sites with covered wood patios and fire rings. For backcountry tent camping options, the Pathfinder Reservoir area includes several primitive campgrounds including Sage, Weiss, and Diabase, all offering year-round tent camping opportunities.
Most tent campgrounds near Casper feature basic amenities with varying levels of development. Vault toilets are common at established sites, though drinking water is limited or unavailable at most locations. Campers should bring their own water supply, particularly at primitive sites. Fees range from free to approximately $10 per night, with payment boxes available at entrance points to most campgrounds. Cell service is typically limited or non-existent, with campers at Chalk Bluffs reporting the need to travel several hundred yards from camp to find even minimal signal. Summer brings biting insects, particularly at riverside locations like Golden Currant, where mosquitoes become problematic when breezes subside.
The tent camping experience varies significantly across locations. According to reviews, Lodgepole Campground offers quiet surroundings with sites spacious enough to accommodate multiple tents. One camper noted that Golden Currant is easy to miss when driving, describing it as "the first camping area you come to on Trapper Road." Pathfinder Reservoir campgrounds experience unpredictable weather patterns, with occasional cold spells and wind gusts requiring extra layers even during summer months. Bishops Point Campground, while offering primitive tent camping with lake access, tends to be windier with fewer trees for shelter. Walk-in tent sites at Elkhorn Springs Campground, located 25-30 minutes north of Casper, provide a more remote experience, though highway proximity may create noise issues for tent campers.
