Best Glamping near Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest

Located in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest near Butte, Montana, Delmoe Lake was a beautiful place to camp for a night. The area is popular with OHV’s and you will pass multiple staging areas on the drive up as well as many others camping along the way up to the campground. It’s a ~10 mile drive on a well maintained gravel road that is accessible from I-90 by taking either exit 241 or 233 (we're driving cross country so it was important to find some place that was easy to get to yet far enough away to feel like we were out in nature). There are two camping loops as well as a day use area. Sites cost $5/night plus $3 for any additional vehicles (we had 2 cars so it was $8 for the night). Sites include a picnic table and fire ring, and there was ample firewood left by others for us to use. Pit toilets are also available. We were here in late July and there were a decent amount of mosquitos. Echoing the previous review, there was a fair amount of trash around but it was still a pleasant place to spend the night.

This campground was a pleasant surprise. We had initially planned to camp at Glacier but were thwarted by fire and smoke. We booked this campground when we arrived at the State Park, no problem. The road circles the campground. There are five loops inside the outer road, with about 7 campsites per loop, and the playground and bathrooms in the center. The sites have electric hookups. We were able to fill our water tanks with spigots centrally located throughout the campground, but could not keep it connected. No sewer, but the bathroom is very convenient. The site was level with a fire pit and very spacious. The State Park was awesome. We went hiking and the cave tour was great. They have two souvenir stores and one cafe near the cave. We stayed there for 4 nights which was perfect for what we had planned. Would highly recommend.

Vigilante campground at Bannack State Park is perfect for those who like ghost towns. The Campground has 16 sites, one site is just for those arriving by bike. A tipi is available for $30 a night for Montana residents or $42 for non-residents. Sites are a little pricey starting at $18 for residents $28 for non-residents. Kids visiting the park can work on a Jr. Ranger program. Great time to visit is when they have volunteers dressed in period clothing. You can go in to and check out just about every building in the town. The state park has a second campground, Road Agent, near this one.

If you like history, ghost towns and camping then Bannack State Park is for you. Bannack Montana was the 1st Territorial Capital of Montana. The Ghost town allows you a look at how settlers and miners leaved in the early day of Montana. See the 1st Territorial Governors Manson (ok, small cabin). Almost all of building you can enter. The best times to visit is when reenactments are happening at the park. The state park has two small campgrounds, Vigilante Campground with 15 sites and one Tipi site. One of the sites at the Vigilante site is only for bikers. Vigilante campsites can be reserved. The other campground is Road Agent Campground. Road Agent has 8 sites. Both sites have Vault Toilets, water and trash bins.

The layout of this state park was somewhat unusual: there are five loops within one larger loop with 32 sites plus seven additional pull-through sites on the outside of the loop. There are also three handicap accessible cabins and one tipi. All are reservable. This campground appeared to be very family-friendly, with many kids riding bikes and playing on the playground (first campground I’ve seen in a while that had kids playing on it). There are some trees, but they don’t necessarily provide shade (certainly not for B4!) Flush toilets plus (fee) showers; it was nice that there was HOT water! The path leading from Loop B (where we were) to the bathroom went between one of the cabins and their driveway, making it feel like we were walking through their yard – a little bit awkward. There is one 6.5-mile trail from the campground but the real attraction is the cave tour (and no, Lewis and Clark never saw the caves)! The Classic tour is $12 and lasts approximately two hours and is very interesting. You cannot make advance reservations for the tour, but we had no problem walking up and buying tickets at 5:30 pm on a Friday. It is a 3/4 mile UPHILL walk to the cave entrance and a half-mile walk back to the visitor center when done with the tour. There was also a covered picnic pavilion and a day-use area, but it appeared to be closed when we were there.