Hot
Camp sites close together, no privacy due to topography, minimal shade, and very hot. Sites well-maintained and clean. Campers all quiet and respectful. Great camp hosts.
Peaceful
The RV area we camped in had 9 sites, we were on the end in site 9. We put our picnic table on the far side of the RV and felt like we were alone with a beautiful view of the landscape. The sunset and sunrise on the rocks was beautiful and there was a great view of the starry sky at night. It's rare that you get to be so close to nature in an RV site. There's also a disc golf course, and biking/hiking trails. The only negative was that the water was at the entrance, a bouncy mile long road from the site and we didn't know that until we got to the site.
Hot but beautiful
The campground is non-electric, so remember that if you like to run your AC when it is 100+! Luckily, a rain shower cooled it off for us. There were only a handful of people staying there. The hosts were super nice and drove around to check on everyone often. Wish we would have booked the teepee spot so we could hang out in it. Luckily, we did not see any rattlesnakes, though I heard there are giant ones in the park. Lots of hiking trails. Overall, a gorgeous place to explore.
Fun night in a Tipi!
We rented the tipi campsite and it was super cool! Campground host was very nice and gave us recommendations for hikes. We even saw a dinosaur spine fossil! Makoshika state park is truly a hidden gem.
Magical
Words can’t describe the beauty of this place. You must get out of the car to see it.
Clean campground, spacious sites, and excellent hosts
We stayed in site 12, which was rated as an RV campsite, it was pull through, but the hosts said mainly they use that area of the campground for tents with the RVs across the street (RV sites 1 - 9). If you are tent camping, the upper sites are really nice and secluded (20s - 30s). RVs cannot make it to sites 20s - 30s because it is a narrow dirt road to the top.
It's dry camping - no RV hookups, but at the visitor's center they have a water fill station that is free. You can pull in and fill up your RV water tank. There is no dump station at the park, nor in Glendive, so you have to drive to Miles City or Wibaux to dump. We found a Cenex in Miles City that had a good dump station and it was free.
The sites were spacious, clean and affordable. Sites 11 & 13 had a nice view. The bathrooms were pit toilets. Very clean. No running water. Camp fires are permitted.
The camp hosts were really helpful and friendly.
We spent one day in Makoshika hiking the trails with our dog. We felt that 1 day was sufficient, but you could easily spend more time to enjoy the park, take some longer hikes, or play disc golf. The other day we took a drive to North Dakota to check out Theodore Roosevelt National Park, about an hour drive away. Well worth the drive. We stopped at Beaver Creek Brewery on the way back to the campsite and brought back a growler for around the campfire.
They said next year they plan on expanding the campsites and adding in some full hook-up RV sites and a dump station. Even without that, we plan on coming back.
I'd book in advance if you are planning on going over a weekend. The campsites were all booked when we arrived. We reserved our spot about 3 weeks prior.
Site12
Month of VisitJune
Dinosaurs and caprocks galore
wow, what a find! We had planned to travel through the area but hadn’t planned to stop—until we hit the Tourist Center at the Montana border and found a brochure for thus park. If you love geology and want a quieter less crowded and more accessible experience than the Theodore Roosevelt National Park nearby, then this place is for you! There are several campgrounds and dispersed campsites to choose from, the RV campground is small and packed and a bit barren, but the tent sites are magnificent. There are incredible canyon views from the “Pine on Rocks” campground close to the park amphitheater, but the campsites are kind of on the edge of a cliff so would not be good with kids or pets. The trails are magnificent, and you can hike to all kinds of geological wonders, even some dinosaur digs in action! However, don’t do like we did as we came in August and the heat is BRUTAL and we werent able to hike as much as we wanted. However, we were pleased that our dog was able to join us as we discovered dogs arent allowed on the hiking trails over at the National Park
Beautiful views, Very Clean, Awesome Disc Golf course
Easy to access main campground, a few miles from the Visitor Center on paved road. Clean pit toilet bathrooms. Grassy with great views. Super fun, nearly complete disc golf course with baskets.
Primitive sites available for less money (Main $18, Primitive $12). Primitive sites were accessed from the main road going through the park which turns from paved to gravel, some primitive sites are on roads that are a bit rough but they are worth the drive, very private sites. All seemed to have pit toilets.
Water available at the Visitor Center.
Month of VisitJune
First winter camping
This is a beautiful area of Montana that goes under visited and under appreciated. The campground is just as nice as you would find in one of the national parks. There are fire pits, tables, pit toilets, and the availability of firewood and water at each camping area. I was able to make my way down here in January and happened to be the only fool camping in the Montana winter when a wind storm rolled through. Regardless of the wind, this is a wonderful campground with plenty of hiking and biking extremely close to the campground.
Month of VisitJanuary
