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Water

Established Camping

Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground

Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground, near Wolf Creek, Montana, is a fantastic spot for those looking to enjoy the great outdoors with stunning views of the reservoir. The campground offers a variety of sites suitable for tents, RVs, and even glamping, making it a versatile choice for different camping styles.

Visitors often rave about the clean facilities, including well-maintained pit toilets and accessible drinking water. The campground is right next to a large boat launch, making it easy to get out on the water for fishing or boating. As one camper noted, “This is a great BLM camping spot right above the reservoir, with all of the sites having a great view.”

For those who enjoy hiking and wildlife watching, the surrounding area is rich with opportunities. Keep an eye out for bighorn sheep roaming nearby, as some campers have spotted them right at the campground entrance. While the campground can get busy on weekends, many appreciate the peaceful atmosphere during the week, making it a great escape from the hustle and bustle.

With its beautiful lakefront views and friendly vibe, Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground is a solid choice for anyone looking to unwind and soak in the natural beauty of Montana. Just remember to come prepared, as nearby towns offer limited services.

Description

Bureau of Land Management

Chain of Lakes

Overview

Holter Lake Campground is situated on the picturesque Holter Lake in west central Montana. The site is located approximately 45 miles north of Helena, Montana, along the Missouri River. The area offers stunning views of the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area. Gates of the Mountains Historic Site is in close proximity of the campground, which is accessible via a watercraft. The area is overflowing with outdoor adventure opportunities. Whether you're into fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing, hiking, boating, water skiing, or all of the above, all of these activities are in close proximity to Holter Lake Campground. There is surely an activity for everyone!__

Recreation

Holter Lake Campground offers excellent recreational opportunities. Activities in the area include camping, boating (motorized and non-motorized), fishing, water skiing, hiking, scenic/wildlife photography, wildlife viewing, and bird watching. There are trails within the general vicinity, as well as multiple fishing access sites and hunting access points. The recreation opportunities in the area are truly boundless.

Facilities

Holter Lake Campground offers excellent recreational opportunities. Activities in the area include camping, boating (motorized and non-motorized), fishing, water skiing, hiking, scenic/wildlife photography, wildlife viewing, and bird watching. There are trails within the general vicinity, as well as multiple fishing access sites and hunting access points. The recreation opportunities in the area are truly boundless.

Natural Features

Every campsite has a view of the lake and mountains. The campground and day-use area has poplar and green ash trees throughout the campground, which provide shade during the height of the summer. The site is situated in a shrub-steppe landscape, mostly comprised of sage brush and bunch grasses. The campground is surrounded by sparsely wooded hills.

Nearby Attractions

Holter Lake Campground is located in a prime location to get out and recreate outdoors. There is access to public lands, where multiple recreation opportunities and experiences are available. The campground is adjacent to the Missouri River, which was also the historical travel corridor for The Lewis and Clark Trail. Holter Lake Campground is situated between Helena and Great Falls.__ In Helena, there are great restaurants, museums, the capitol building, old mining settlements, Last Chance Gulch, Reeder's Alley, and a vibrant downtown area. In or near Great Falls, there is the First People's Buffalo Jump and Interpretive Center, Charlie Russell museum, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Giant Springs Fish Hatchery and State Park, and Tower Rock State Park. The Continental Divide Trail is nearby.

Charges & Cancellations

Reservation Cancellations & Changes ___ Cancelling a Reservation: Customers may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Depending on when you cancel in relation to your arrival day, it may be considered a late cancellation (see below). Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window ___ Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. The recreation.gov cancellation policy can be found here: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies

Fee Info

Each RV/trailer/tent costs $25 with a max of two of any combination per site.__

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Location

Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground is located in Montana

Detail location of campground

Directions

From Great Falls, Montana take Interstate-15 South towards Helena. Take exit 234 to Craig. Turn left heading to Craig and cross the Missouri River. Come to a "T" and then take a right on Recreation Road. Travel approximately 5 miles. Before crossing the Missouri River/steel bridge, turn left onto Beartooth Road. Continue 2.3 miles to Holter Lake Campground. The Campground will be on your right.__ From Helena, Montana take Interstate-15 north towards Great Falls. Take exit 226 to Wolf Creek. Turn right towards Recreation Road and cross the railroad tracks. Turn left onto Recreation Road. After crossing the Missouri River/steel bridge, turn right onto Beartooth Road. Continue 2.3 miles to Holter Lake Campground. The Campground will be on your right.

Address

1380 BEARTOOTH ROAD
Wolf creek, MT 59648

Coordinates

46.995022 N
111.990513 W

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Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site
  • Boat-In
    Sites accessible by watercraft.

Stay Connected

  • WiFi
    Fair
  • Verizon
    Unknown
  • AT&T
    Unknown
  • T-Mobile
    Unknown

Site Types

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

Features

For Campers

  • Trash
  • Picnic Table
  • Phone Service
  • Reservable
  • Drinking Water
  • Toilets
  • Alcohol
  • Pets
  • Fires

For Vehicles

  • Water Hookups

Contact

General Info

Reservations


Reviews

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1 Star

27%
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4.5

out of 5

15 Reviews

Reviewed Jul. 28, 2024

Great week day but packed on weekend

 A lot of water stations.  The boat dock parking area allowed camping along the perimeter. A few paved walking paths near the beach area.   The narrow paved roads made life interesting. The fish cleaning station is closed due to vandalism.  Our first day was 105F which made the lake more inviting.  Evening low of 76F.  No pets on the fairly small swim beach.  All other water access has large rocks for erosion mitigation.

Our Saturday departure was delayed by FWP boat inspection at the entrance and a long line was inbound to Holter Lake.

SiteA8 partial shade
Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Z S., July 28, 2024
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Z S., July 28, 2024
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Z S., July 28, 2024
  • (4) View All
Reviewed Jan. 3, 2024

Lovely Campground in Northern Montana

This is a great BLM camping spot right above the reservoir, with all of the sites having a great view. We were stopping for a night so didn’t get to explore very much. All of the sites can accommodate larger rigs, but none have electrical service so there are lots of generators.   We found this unnecessary as we run on nearly 100% on solar and there is open sky a plenty!

The bathrooms are clean, pit toilets, but have potable water right outside. The camping area is right next to a large boat launch for anyone getting on the water. Hiking, boating and fishing are all right there for your enjoyment. 

Nearby towns of Craig and Wolf Creek don’t offer much in the way of services, besides a small bar and grill, and gas station, so come prepared.

Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Shari  G., January 3, 2024
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Shari  G., January 3, 2024
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Shari  G., January 3, 2024
  • (4) View All
Reviewed Sep. 30, 2021

Lakefront

It's a beautiful place to stay even if you don't fish or boat. I wanted to stay here to kayak and SUP, but like other large lakes/reservoirs the wind was a factor in mid September. The campground is nice. The previous review from Dexter has already given a lot of details about the CG, so I won't repeat. For the price, yes, I would recommend if it fits your needs.

Month of VisitSeptember
Reviewed Sep. 18, 2021

Views for miles

4 star rating is only due to no services and vault toilets (spotless). We had great AT&T cell service. The third Saturday in September and maybe half the sites were filled. Limited shade. People were friendly. What we could see, the views were amazing.. Unfortunately, the smoke obscured the true beauty. The winds were too high to kayak and paddleboard. A little disappointed, but that's not doesn't dissuade me from enjoying. Bring what you need as there isn't anything close to get suppies.

Month of VisitSeptember
Reviewed Aug. 5, 2019

Pretty good campground

Was a pretty decent campground to camp at. It was mostly TT staying there at the time we went and seen wildlife within the first 30 min of setting up. Swimming area is nice and water was warm however it may have been too hot to tent camp. There was only a few places to find shade to set up a tent but we were unable to fine a shady spot for throughout the day that's the only reason for the 4 and not 5 stars.

Reviewed May. 10, 2019

Ranger review of Wenzel's Windy Pass Mummy 0° Sleeping bag and Holter Dam C

Holter Dam Campground Review

Holter Dam Campground at Holter Dam Recreation site is a BLM 15 site campground located just below Holter Dam. All 15 sites at the campground feature covered picnic tables with a fire ring. All the sites sit along the edge of a very large parking area. 13 of the sites have plenty of room for tents on a nice flat grassy area. Two sites are close together and have limited room for tents. The campground has a double vault toilet with numerous water faucets, and dumpsters. A second vault toilet can be found at the boat ramp area just a short distance from the campground. An ADA campsite sits right in front of the vault toilets. The concrete pad for the ADA site extends to and surrounds the fire ring allowing wheelchairs to get as close to the fire as they want. Campsites run $10 an night (½ price for senior and access pass holders). Keep an eye out on the surrounding hills around the campground for Big Horn Sheep. While staying at the campground we saw 5 sheep on the hill next to the campground entrance.

Ranger review of the Wenzel Windy Pass Mummy 0° Sleeping bag

I was quiet pleased with the Windy Pass 0° Mummy sleeping bag. The bag is roomy, giving you room to turn around in the bags with out needing to have to bag turn with you. On the bags stuff sack it says it is a cold weather bag 0-20 degrees. I slept warm all night with the temps dropping into the low 30's with it raining all night (snow was on the ground on the hills above us). I was quiet pleased with the amount of padding the bag provided during the night as my sleeping pad failed to hold air, but I was still able to sleep comfortably on the hard ground. I got up several times during the night and each time I was able to warm back up in just a few minutes after getting back in to the bag. It will be interesting to test it out next winter in colder weather to see if it meets its temperature claims. I weighted the bag, and at 4 pounds 10 ounces, you might not be taking this one out on a backpacking trip, but for the front country camping you can't go wrong with this warm bag, specially for the price of $45.

Site5
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Dexter I., May 10, 2019
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Dexter I., May 10, 2019
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Dexter I., May 10, 2019
  • (15) View All
Reviewed Apr. 23, 2019

Clean

Clean. Had outhouses. Pet and family friendly drive to accessible. Tent and camper parking. Right on the water.

Month of VisitApril
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Skyla S., April 23, 2019
Reviewed Oct. 8, 2018

Very nice, very busy campground

Holter Lake Recreation Area campground is a very nice campground with 52 camp sites. The entire campground including parking pads is paved. The site also has a swimming beach, boat ramp, docks, fish cleaning station, and accessible fishing walkway. The site has several vault toilets as well as water faucets through out the campground. This is a very busy campground with sites filling up fast, especially on the weekends. All sites are first come first serve, no reservations. If you want to avoid the crowd bring a tent and camp in the tent only area, when we visited no one was using the eight tent only sites, yet all the other sites in the camp ground were full. Each campsite has a fire-pit and picnic table.

Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Dexter I., October 8, 2018
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Dexter I., October 8, 2018
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Dexter I., October 8, 2018
  • (11) View All
Reviewed Jul. 15, 2018

Our go to spot

We camp here at least monthly. Great boating and swimming and you can see some amazing sights.

  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Megan B., July 15, 2018
Reviewed Sep. 10, 2016

Holter

Every thing was fine other than the campground host was mean

  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Nic F., September 10, 2016
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Nic F., September 10, 2016
  • Review photo of Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground by Nic F., September 10, 2016

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Does Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground have RV hookups?

    According to TheDyrt.com, Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground has water hookups.

  • What is the max vehicle length at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground?

    Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground allows vehicles up to 68 feet.

  • Are fires allowed at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground?

    Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.

  • Does Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground have wifi?

    No, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground does not have wifi.

  • How hard is it to get a campsite at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground?

    Some campers book as far as 6 months in advance, so on high-demand weekends it can be very difficult to get a campsite at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground. If you want to get a last-minute campsite at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground, try setting up a text message Alert atTheDyrt.com/alerts

  • Why is it so hard to get a campsite at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground?

    There are 56 campsites at Holter Dam Rec. Site Campground and over 80 million Americans who camp! Try snagging a cancellation by setting up a text message Alert atTheDyrt.com/alerts