Best Tent Camping 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.

Basin Canyon Campground and Picnic Area in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is a bare basics campground with only 2 sites(an old 3rd site can be found but is over grown and falling apart). Be careful not to drive right by the site as the sign for the campground is missing. The two campsites sit on the Boulder River side of the road. A picnic area and two outhouses sit on the other side of the road. One of the two sites is a very nice site next to the river with a picnic table and metal fire ring. This site appears to get heavy use as the ground is all bare dirt. The other site sits closer to the road in a grassy area. The second site also has a metal fire ring and picnic table. This campground does not have water(but looks like it may have in the past) and does not have trash service, so be sure to pack out your trash and bring plenty of water for your stay. Across the road is the picnic area which has three large picnic tables and two concrete fire pits. A rock ring fire pit has been placed in the picnic area and this might be a safer place for a fire at the picnic site do to the encroaching forest at the concrete fire pit location. The picnic area could use a little maintenance. The picnic area side of the road has two outhouses. These are old school wooden framed forest service outhouses, but are very nice, clean and well stocked inside. I did find one more former campsite/picnic site that has pretty much been reclaimed by the forest and the table is falling apart.

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Lowland Campground Review

Lowland Campground located in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest north of Butte Montana is nice small very quiet campground with 11 sites and a large day use area. You will disconnected from the world hear as there is no cell phone service at this campground. The campground has a vault toilet at the entrance, two more are found in the day use area, one is just a short distance from the campground toilet. The campground has several new bear proof garbage bins. The site has a water pump, but the only pump appears to be in the day use area so you will want to drive to the pump to fill up your water jugs in order to avoid a long walk back to camp with those heavy water jugs. Each site has plenty of room to spread out. You will want to collect firewood before you arrive at the campground as there is nothing to harvest in the campground, even small twigs for starting a fire were hard to find. We had the campground to our selves when we visited, and the best part is the fee is only $5. Can't beat that price and have vault toilets, water and trash pins.

Ranger Review of the Grub Stick

Received the Grub Stick several weeks ago and have used it on several outings since. Have to say this is just fun to use. Cooking over a fire is always great fun and having the Grub Stick just gives you way more options for fire cooking fun. It was a blast coming up with ideas to try. We really likes the bacon bowl feature, but a hint on using it “don't use thick cut bacon” it takes to long to cook and is hard to get the bacon clip over it. We have cooked up hot dogs, sausages, made eclairs, S'mores, Chocolate chip cookie s'mores, Biscuits, biscuit s'mores, Bacon bowls stuffed with just about anything we could find. The big down fall of the Grub Stick is that we didn't have enough of them and waiting for someone to finish was a downier, especially when you had a new idea you wanted to try.

$14/night tent camping. Spent two nights. Thursday night was great. Plenty of site for everybody to spread out. Friday night was much more crowded. Sites are all nice and flat and level for tent camping. Vault toilets are very clean. There is a playground if you have kids. Decent hiking, unfortunately the caves themselves were closed during our stay. Easy access from I-90. Would stay again mid-week or off season, but during prime time I'd prefer a bit more seclusion.

If you are in a tent they will gouge you for $40 per tent for a crappy tent site with no services, no grass, and uneven ground. Also they will refuse to give you a receipt if you pay cash. Our group had 4 tents so we spent $160 on a poorly maintained tent site. It was an outrageous amount. A large RV and pickup truck pulled in to a site right after us and they paid $40 for that whole site. One good note is that the showers were clean and nicely done.

There is a 16 stay limit, and a $15 a night fee.

The road is easy accessible

Tent camping,Camping trailer,Fee charged for some activities ($5) ,Picnic tables,Toilets,Drinking water,Parking

Very clean and well maintained

I’m not sure why others gave this campground reviews any stars under five! First, this campground is on BLM and free, and only costs money if coming with a group of many or some type of organizations’ camping outing; and the fee is so very minimal even for this. For regular, independent camping, it’s free being on BLM land, per their notice board. Despite being a free, BLM campground, it’s well-maintained, clean, possesses established, separate tent sites with a parking block for each separate vehicle, an area for RVs, even, and a maintained outhouse central to the tent sites and RV space. It’s also set right next to the river offering great fishing! There’s homes across the river, and a bit of vehicle traffic from those specific homes, for whatever reasons; but this campsite is still very much separated, regularly maintained, and flippin’ free! What’s there to possibly complain about?! I’ve camped free on BLM land many times, and it is pretty rugged and wild. There are no established tent or RV sites, no outhouses for the bathroom to use, nothing. You make of it as you will. I’m not understanding why every camper hasn’t given Glen Campground five stars! Also, future campers, PLEASE remember to pack in and pack out of ANY campground, including this one. Though it is maintained, they do not come daily as it is a free campground on BLM land and does not have garbage bins or water spigots. The campers that stayed before us, in the tent site next to ours, left litter everywhere and aluminum and tin cans in the fire pit. Come on now, people! Beer cans, canned vegetable cans, and the like are NOT biodegradable and do not burn down in a camp fire! Use common sense!! Pack in AND pack out all your items, including your GARBAGE!!

This is a nice smaller forest service campground adjacent to grasshopper creek. A great spot to stay if exploring the Pioneer Mountains.

There are 7-8 spaces, most suitable for a trailer or van. We were tent camping as were others. There are vault toilets and the ubiquitous forest service green potable water pumps/drinking fountains.

There are no dumpsters so have to pack trash out. There are campground hosts but they don’t have firewood for sale, so either need to bring or be prepared to do quite a bit of hunting for wood. The area around the campground is picked pretty clean of good firewood.

This is bear country and there are food storage boxes located throughout the campground for shared use. I expect the presence of bears is also why they don’t have any dumpsters on site.

The campground sits at approximately 7000 feet and by late summer gets near freezing temps overnight. Bring your fall/winter sleeping bag if tent camping here in late August or late Spring!

Just a few minutes up the road from the campground is Elkhorn Hot Springs where you can pay a few bucks to use the rustic pool and hot springs.

A beautiful combination of the mountains and Big Sky of Montana!  This reservoir is quite large and even has a cool little island in the middle of it that you can cliff dive from when the waters are high enough!  There are boat docks, day-use areas, and campgrounds spread all around the reservoir.  The campground we featured in this review was an RV only site (because why would you tent camp there) that was right next to the Lewis & Clark Day-use area that has a giant canoe and flag pole.  It is an extended stay RV site with the option for paying for weeks if you plan on spending a good chunk of your summer here.  

Right along the road on the dam there is a sign showing you that you're halfway between the equator and the north pole!  Also nearby is the cute, cozy town of Dillon, where you can venture into the 1st Patagonia and Great Harvest stores in the world!  If you're here around Labor Day they also have a great rodeo and parade and the Patagonia Store has HUGE discounts!

This is a great spot in a tiny town south of Butte Montana. They have a couple cabins, several motel rooms and about 10 full hookup, all grass, RV spots. Also a large area for car/tent camping. The grounds are meticulously maintained by the owner and it has nice views of the bluffs and mountains all around it. Walking distance to the restaurant and bar in town if that’s your thing. Quality hookups at each site, and each site has its own trash can. Clean bathrooms and laundry on site. Owners are very present and attentive on site and super friendly. Picnic tables at every site. One shared fire pit out front of the office. It’s in a very small town, with several fishing spots nearby. Very peaceful location. We would stay again.

A few things to be aware of:

• All sites are back in, but they are reasonably wide and very long.
• It is about a mile or two from the interstate which is convenient but you can occasionally hear a large truck pass by.
• There is a train track nearby, we heard about one train per day in the morning.
• We were here in July and there were some mosquitos. If you plan to be outside probably bring a citronella candle or bug spray.

Lost Creek is in a beautiful canyon spot, with numerous (25) sites to accommodate all types of campers (huge RV’s to tents). Camping spots are nice, but close to one another and the campground is often full. This means, if you do find a spot, you will have to deal with neighbors . There is a beautiful hiking trail that starts at the top of the campground and there is a beautiful waterfall and rushing creek that is a pleasure to listen to at night. (It almost drowns out the noise from neighboring campers if you find a spot on the creek.)

The campground at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park has all the amenities you would need. Power and water hook ups, bathrooms and showers, a nice big playground for the kids. But, it feels more like a big parking lot with little shade or privacy. Great if you are in a camper, but maybe less appealing if you are tent camping. The campground lies at the base of the mountain that the caverns are in--about 3 miles. Once you are up near the caverns there is plenty of parking for RVs or cars. There is also a shady area to kennel your dogs for a fee, as they are not allowed in the caverns. There is also a small deli and a gift shop.

The total hike to and through the caverns is about 2 miles and about 2 hours. The hike to the caverns is about half a mile, and was fine for our 4 year old. However, the two year old, we carried in a pack. Once inside the caverns, there are over 600 stairs and a lot of bending and stooping, so take that into consideration if anyone in your party has mobility issues. There are handrails throughout and no particularly dangerous areas, other than some slippery spots. As long as children are old enough to know to stay near, they should be fine walking and holding hands.

Salmon Fly Fishing Access Site is a beautiful small campground along the Big Hole River. The site has six campsites all nice spread apart from each other, and a decent size day use area. Sites have gravel parking pads, metal fire rings and picnic tables, along with nice grass areas to set up a tent. The fishing access site is with in walking distance to the small town of Melrose. The site has one vault toilet. No water or trash service is available. The site has a concrete boat launch, but be warned that Montana FWP has posted that the water is shallow for larger boats. The campground is nice and quiet, far enough from the Interstate to not really hear the road traffic, there also is a lightly used rail line near by, but did not notice any train noise while at the site. Cost to camp is$12 with a valid MT fishing license,$18 with out, if you are over the age of 62 then those rates drop to$6 or$9 a night.

Galena Gulch Campground is a free nicely maintained BLM campground just off of interstate 15 south of Boulder Montana. This campground has 10 sites all with metal fire rings and picnic tables. Two ADA accessible vault toilets serve the campground. This is a trash-in trash-out campground. Be sure to bring your own water as there is no water at this campground. Most sites sit along the Boulder River. Camping is limited to 14 days. This is a busy campground despite it not being listed on the BLM's website and their being no indication from the interstate that the campground is present. The main drawbacks of this campground is the noise from I-15 and how busy the campground is. The sites are nicely spread out giving you plenty of room. The entire campground has nice grass covering and is well maintained making finding a good spot for your tent an easy choir.

It is a very off the beaten path, tucked away in the woods, true getaway from the busy city life. Travel south on 278 from Wisdom, MT and take the chance on an 18 mile gravel road to find a place only you see in pictures and read about in magazines. Drive through open cattle ranges and find a beautiful campground nestled up to 2 small lakes connected by a shallow channel. Clear water to see the bottom where it's shallow enough. No motorized boats allowed, so bring your own kayak or canoe and a fishing pole or two to enjoy the refreshing waters at the bottom of the mountains. Even in July, you can see snow atop the mountains on the Montana-Idaho border.

• Large, open water front spaces to set up "shop"
• Site 10 had room for 3 tents, 3 SUVs, 1 picnic table + extra side table, fire ring/grill, canoe, chairs around fire and shoreline, laundry lines
• Not crowded (maybe 5 sites taken when we were there)
• Bathrooms are clean (but no locks or hand sanitzer...at least the one I used)
• Water available
• One bear storage container at front entrance
• Must pack up and take out your own trash (no bear proof trash cans)
• Fire rings with grills available

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.

Lots to do in this park with local history and geology being the focuses. Not far off 90 if you’re road tripping. The campground is simple and open. Pros: different sleeping options (tent, RV, cabin, yurt, tipi), cave tours, river access, short hiking trails, lots of history (native, mining, settlers, etc), ranger talks, ice/wood camp store, helpful rangers, stargazing, nice modern bathrooms. Cons: very open campground with no privacy nor shade, no tent-only area, lots of RVs. We’d definitely visit again.

Camp at Bannack State Park, site of Montana's 1st Territorial Capital. Road Agent Campground is one of two campground at Bannack State Park. Bannack state park is a nice state park, see how the early settlers lived in this old mining town and former Montana Capital. Road Agent Campground has eight campsites with one vault toilet. Campsite sits among mature cottonwoods. Prices are a little steep, $18 for residents, $28 for non-residents.