Best Tent Camping near Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest

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.

Philipsburg Bay Campground is a beautiful large campground right on the shore of Georgetown lake.  This 69 site campground sits among large pine trees with campsites nicely spread apart.  The large trees give you plenty of shade throughout the day.  This paved campground is split up into three loops, two of which are first come first served, the other can be reserved.  The area also has a day use area and boat launch.  Cost is $15 per night.  Campground has trash service, and water is available during the summer season.  I visited in November so no water for me.  Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring.  Several vault toilets are located in each loop.  Bear lockers are spread out through out the campground for food storage.

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.

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.

Orofino Campground is a small campground with 11 sites, but it also has a second half across the road which has two large family/group camps and a Day Use area with a large pavilion. The sites are not numbered. The Campground has a vault toilet. The two family sites each have their own vault toilets, the day use site shares two vault toilets with one of the family sites. This campground appears to get little use and little maintenance. The vault toilets are quite old wooden structures, but in good shape. The campground area has several sites where finding a level spot for a tent is difficult. One hand pump is available for water and is located on the campground section. Each family site had 6+ picnic tables and firer rings with a few BBQ grills. All the sites in the campground have picnic tables but a couple do not have fire rings. The campground has plenty of shade from its large trees, fewer trees in the family areas but still some good tree cover.

Orofino campground is a small campground with 11 sites, but it also has a second half across the road which has two large family/group camps and a Day Use area with a large pavilion.  The sites are not numbered.  The Campground has a vault toilet.  The two family sites each have their own vault toilets, the day use site shares two vault toilets with one of the family sites.  This campground appears to get little use and little maintenance.  The vault toilets are quite old wooden structures, but in good shape.  The campground area has several sites where finding a level spot for a tent is difficult.  One hand pump is available for water and is located on the campground section.  Each family site had 6+ picnic tables and firer rings with a few BBQ grills.  All the sites in the campground have picnic tables but a couple do not have fire rings.  The campground has plenty of shade from its large trees, fewer trees in the family areas but still some good tree cover.

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.

Racetrack campground is a hidden gem of a campground tucked just in side the Forest Service boundary.  This 13 site campground has large roomy sites well spread out from each other.  Plenty of level ground to place a tent(s) at every site.  Two vault toilets serve this campground.  Each site has a metal fire ring (first sit is a rock ring) and picnic table.  Water is provided from a hand pump.  No trash service so be prepared.  A few of $15 is planned to go in to effect in 2022.  Campground sits in very large mature evergreens along a small creek.

This has to be one of the most peaceful campgrounds I’ve even been to. It’s 10 miles off the main road so there is no street noise to speak of. But watch out for the cows as you drive in, they aren’t too fond of sharing the road. Only 8 sites with a host at one of them, you don’t have many neighbors. I was not able to camp here as it was totally full and according to the host, was going to stay that way for the week. He said it stays quiet except when a family with kids show up. He also said the fishing was pretty good in Copper Creek. The vault toilet was clean (his least favorite job), he will split a log or two if you ask real nice like, and there are two bear boxes for the 8 sites to share (he said most don’t bother to use them). The water pump delivers good clean spring water from the well. Every site has a picnic table and a fire ring. If you want solitude and quiet, this is the place to camp!