Looking for the best pet-friendly campgrounds near Bitterroot National Forest? Find the best sites near Bitterroot National Forest where you bring your dog and enjoy a scenic view. Search nearby campgrounds that allow pets or find top-rated spots from other campers.
Sam Billings Memorial Campground is located off of the West Fork Rd and consists of 12 campsites complete with picnic tables, and fire rings. There is also a large area ideal for group activities. Other facilites include vault toilets. Campground can accommodate RV's or trailers to 30 feet.
The park is an icon in originally constructed in 1965 and is right on the Bitterroot River, but with modern amenities. We are open year-round in the upper campground. Thinking of wintertime camping? We have a Conestoga Wagon with all the cozy essentials for a great glamping experience, even in winter - great for that ski trip at Lost Horse. We also have a great general store with groceries, local beers, wine, local Montana jams, honey, and other local merchandise and all the rv and fishing supplies you may need. The great plus is we have a great Angler's Roost family ready to help make your camping experience relaxing and enjoyable. Look forward to seeing you.
Alta Campground is located in a scenic forest in the heart of Montana's Bitterroot National Forest. The West Fork of the Bitterroot River flows nearby, giving visitors access to some of the best fishing the area has to offer, as well as other water-related recreation.
Fly fishing and wading in the Bitterroot River, which runs alongside the campground, are popular activities. During high water season, canoeing and rafting are available as well. A variety of trails and unimproved roads are great for exploring by bike or off-road vehicle. Hiking trails to various mountain peaks, including to Lookout, Razorback and Thunder Mountains, as well as Beaver and Deer Creek Points, are nearby. The Alta Pine interpretive trail is nearby. Painted Rocks Lake is located about five miles north of the campground. Visitors enjoy swimming, boating and fishing. Anglers will find mountain whitefish and a variety of trout.
The campground is located along the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, a popular fishing river in the area. Large, yellow-barked ponderosa pine trees tower above many of the campsites, which along with fir, aspen and lodgepole pine, provide pleasant shade. The campground is situated at an elevation of about 4,580 feet. A variety of wildlife can be seen in the area, including bald eagles, mule and white-tailed deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep and numerous songbirds.
The Alta Ranger Station, located on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, was the first Forest Service Ranger Station in the United States, built in 1899. It remains a popular tourist location and is just minutes from the campground. Hughes Creek, once a vibrant placer gold mining site, is nearby. The historic area accounted for 88 percent of all the placer gold recovered in Ravalli County from 1904-1948. Horse Creek natural hot springs can be found about 18 miles south from the campground, via gravel road with high-clearance vehicle recommended. The nearest town is Conner, which provides some services and is approximately 27 miles to the north. Darby is about 32 miles away and offers full services.
A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation. Late cancellations are subject to additional fees. For full details see NRRS Reservation Policy.
$15 / night
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd737682.pdf
There are many opportunities for dispersed camping on the Bitterroot National Forest. The general guidance is as follows: • Our Forest stay limit is 16 days. After 16 days you must move 5 miles away from your camp site, as the crow flies • Camp in an already used site, do not create a new site o For fire rings (rocks usually), use existing rings before making a new one. Scatter once done and leaving. o Do not burn trash or other items in fire rings to avoid pollution and to not attract animals. o Collect dead and down wood for firewood. o Ensure your campfire is OUT before you leave • Camp 100 feet away from water • Do not rinse and wash dishes/etc. out of the creek or river. Do it on land. • There is a not a set distance for how far you need to be off a trail, but keep in mind other people are hiking and want to enjoy the area as well, so the further away from the trail the better. • Practice Leave No Trace Principles o Plan ahead and prepare o Travel and camp on durable surfaces o Dispose of waste properly o Leave what you find o Minimize campfire impacts o Respect wildlife o Be considerate of other visitors o For more information on LNT, visit: https://lnt.org/ • Do not damage live trees (nails, carving, etc.) • Motorized access to dispersed camping is allowed within 300 feet of most roads. • Know where you are and ensure you are on public lands. Make sure you have an updated map or app on your phone. • Be bear aware and store your food properly.
Deep Creek Campground features 3 campsites complete with picnic tables, fire rings, and a vault toilet. Site will accept RV's or trailers to 30 feet. Stock can be kept in this campground.
Slate Creek Campground is located right near Painted Rocks lake and has 7 sites complete with picinic tables and fire rings, and a vault toilet. Campground can accommodate RV's or trailers to 25 feet.
Three Sisters Group Site is located within the Lake Como Recreation Area on the Darby Ranger District of the Bitterroot National Forest. The group site, which is located across the road from the Rock Creek Horse Camp, is situated among the pine trees and is adjacent to the outlet of Lake Como.______
Boating, fishing, swimming and other water sports are popular on Lake Como. Anglers might see rainbow and cutthroat trout, as well as kokanee salmon, among other alpine species. A boat ramp and parking area are available at the south side of the lake. A large, sandy beach is available to visitors at the North side of the lake. To the West of the site on the North side, a short walk will take visitors to a trailhead that begins a 7-mile loop trail around Lake Como. The Lake Como National Recreation Loop Trail is suitable for hiking, mountain biking and accessing the lake for swimming or picnics. The first quarter-mile of the trail is wheelchair accessible and the trail also crosses Rock Creek at one point. Approximately 3.5 miles from the site, at the West end of the lake, is a magnificent waterfall that cascades over fern-covered rock cliffs. A trail continues from the waterfall, or heads west up Rock Creek, into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area.__
Boating, fishing, swimming and other water sports are popular on Lake Como. Anglers might see rainbow and cutthroat trout, as well as kokanee salmon, among other alpine species. A boat ramp and parking area are available at the south side of the lake. A large, sandy beach is available to visitors at the North side of the lake. To the West of the site on the North side, a short walk will take visitors to a trailhead that begins a 7-mile loop trail around Lake Como. The Lake Como National Recreation Loop Trail is suitable for hiking, mountain biking and accessing the lake for swimming or picnics. The first quarter-mile of the trail is wheelchair accessible and the trail also crosses Rock Creek at one point. Approximately 3.5 miles from the site, at the West end of the lake, is a magnificent waterfall that cascades over fern-covered rock cliffs. A trail continues from the waterfall, or heads west up Rock Creek, into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area.__
The group site is located near the East end of 913-acre Lake Como in the central Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana. It is situated at an elevation of 4,245 feet and is primarily used for meetings, reunions, weddings and family gatherings, as it can accommodate a larger group of people. A variety of wildlife and birds can be seen around the area and its surroundings. Osprey, bald eagles, deer, moose, elk and bears make their home in the area (learn about outdoor safety ).
$75 / night
Traveler
The campground owner Libby was very helpfull and nice to us. Its very close to the city. So you can walk and leave your camper on the ground.
Guide
Great hidden gem off 12. It has enough spots to accommodate 5-6 campers. We had no issues on a Sunday night. Very peaceful next to the river.
Guide7 spots off the beaten path, small creek lehmi. On the Lewis and Ckark trail. Bathroom is ADA.
Traveler
Pretty small and basic campground. I counted what I think was 9 sites? There are no numbered sites, just designated fire rings to indicate the different sites I suppose. One large accesible pit toilet is available. Most sites back up to the river which is pretty nice. FREE and pretty quiet for the Saturday night I stayed - 4 open spots at 8:30pm. Only downside is it’s rather close to the highway and you can hear cars driving by pretty regularly.
Scout
Go ANYWHERE but here The park is in a perfect location and Rebecca works endlessly to keep the place beautiful. However, I truly believe maintenence is her only asset. Her public relations and personality are in NO way appropriate for management. That being said I want to thank her for being rude and abrasive. Thank you for yelling at all my friends. Thank you for coming out with your hands are your hips interrogating anyone for coming into the park. Thank you for yelling at my 85 year old mother when she was confused on how to get out of the park. Thank you for never ever putting your dogs on a leash, breaking park rules. Thank you for allowing your friends in the park to allow their dogs to bark all day long when they are gone. Thank you for playing favorites and allowing your friends to play loud music while YOU party with them down by the bonfire. Thank you for screaming my name through the park and BANGING in my door when I forgot to pick up my dogs poo one time when you KNOW I pick up others people's more than 10 times. Thank you for driving your cart and your husband driving the bobcat WAY over 5 mph yet SCREAMING at me and my friends going 4 mph(I have video) I Thank you because without you doing all of those horrible things Embarassing me and my family and friends, I would have stayed there missing an opportunity to find a loving caring landlord on horse property that I will gladly pay rent for a very long time. I am not surprised that you have to advertise that place. Every other RV park is PACKED with no openings. When I left, there were 8 open long term parking. Sad, in this economy I know people that are homeless because they will never stay there. I am a travel nurse and speak to hundreds of travelers and I will never recommend this place. Infact, I will go out of my way to detour them. If the owners actually read this..... seriously reevaluate your management choices she is not appropriate for this position. Signed Happy to be ANYWHERE but Black Rabbit RV park. PS have your husband please stop hitting your poor puppy!
Guide
We appreciated with fire ring and picnic table at this small rustic campground. It was a moist spring, so lots of bugs to contend with, but overall a lovely experience.
Ranger
Great sites big enough to back a trailer in. Sites are close but feel secluded with trees and ferns. Running water was a bonus, after rafting for a week it felt luxurious!
Guide
This is a nice little camping spot. Not full on memorial Day weekend. I can only assume it will be busy for the Four of July. There are some nice trails nearby.
Guide
The camp grounds were not busy, and no mosquitoes right now. Fishing was slow but we caught fish. Saw lots of animals even a video of a Grizzly not but 3 miles from the camp grounds. Another camper had the video of the Grizzly from the night before!
Scout
They cut all the trees down some years ago and then closed it.
I passed by last year and still closed.
Raise the prices and close our swell campgrounds.
Way to go!
Whoever...Arrg matey..Keel haul them in 10' of water, salt of course..
Oh well.......................(:+(......................
ScoutThe Host is a Mean, Rude Nasty, foul mouthed B**ch. It's a no go by any means. like a prison camp.
RangerNice little campground some spots right on the river. Tucked in a little so has a little privacy. Not busy at all.
Scout
A ton of dispersed sites right near the creek, but poorly taken care of by campers. We encountered more trash here than we’ve ever seen camping before. I mean, full trash bags left behind that were of course then scavenged by wildlife and spread all over. We also found human poop and used toilet paper in multiple spots, even though there IS a toilet provided here! We found tampons too…it was seriously disgusting…and obviously a popular spot for burning pallets because we found handfuls of nails scattered around, so be mindful of your tires!! This area just seems to attract a different kind of camping crowd, one that doesn’t respect the land or keeping it clean and better than you found it. It was pretty unfortunate because it really is a pretty and overall peaceful area.
Traveler
I would not recommend end of July/ August. Temps 100 and no breeze. Plenty to see if traveling in vehicle like bighorn sheep, whitetail deer and bald eagles. Recommend a visit to the firefighter memorial at Indian river FS training camp.
GuideFrom the highway 93 turn it is 4.6 miles to where we camped. The last 2.3 miles of the drive was on a fairly rough, but very manageable, forest road. (Mostly washboard and a few holes) It was 11.8 miles from our camp to Darby, and about 13 miles to the Yellowstone Ranch.
We grabbed a nice big spot right next to Lost Horse Creek late Friday afternoon. Another RV came into the area later in the evening and crowded us a little bit but we still had plenty of room to spread out. The road in is BUSY. We have camped at a number of dispersed locations over the years and this was BY FAR the busiest forest road we have seen. On Friday night we counted 50 cars passing by before we stopped counting. We drove west down the road a ways Saturday and saw a handful of other sites, but not enough to justify the traffic. We found out that “Twin Lakes” is about 20 miles down the rough forest road from our campsite. We didn’t venture that far as we could only go about 8-10 MPH max in our truck on the washboard road. Maybe we should have tried because it seemed to be quite the attraction given the traffic. This place will do in a pinch but if you are looking for a quiet dispersed camping area kept driving. This is not for you!
TravelerNice little park in Hamilton. If you were wondering why its called "Black Rabbit" RV park, take a look at some of the photos below. Contactless check-in if you don't arrive during business hours. The park is on the river. It was a short walk from our RV to a cool spot with chairs and a fire pit on the river. The park is quiet and the RV spots are generally pretty wide, all pull throughs.
The park is in town, so very convenient if you want to get groceries. The staff was friendly and helpful!
ScoutDue to vehicle problems and not being able to get it repaired in time for our trip I called to cancel our reservations. It was a couple of days beyond their 2 week cancellation policy. I explained the situation to the lady who answered the phone and she said it wouldn’t be a problem, they had had a few other last minute cancellations. She said she had some customers and would talk with someone and get back to me. More than a week went by and I realized that I hadn’t heard anything back from them so I called again. Nobody answered and I left a message. A not so polite person left me a message message that basically said I SOL. I certainly wouldn’t have expected a full refund but would have hoped that they would have worked with me a little bit being their employee said it wouldn’t be a problem. I tried calling again and received an answering machine so decided to email them because that how we communicated and they were very responsive. Absolutely no response back. Based on my experience I can’t recommend them or will I ever book with them again and I will certainly be sharing my story with friends who ask for a place to camp in the Bitterroot.
GuideThis is my favorite area for dispersed camping in the area. Lost Horse creek is beautiful. Can get a little tight with campers in peak season.
Guide
Spent two nights here along the river. Nice Camp store with everything you would need and it’s close to town.
TravelerWonderful location near the river. Not too many people
ScoutThis spot was Amazing! Our room was stunning. So charming, spacious, cozy, Fun, and had everything we could ever need. On top of the wonderful accommodations, the STAFF! The staff and owner went Above and Beyond for us when my boyfriend left behind a beloved baseball cap in our room. Totally our fault, and we figured we’d never see the sentimental item again. On a whim, I called Travellers Rest and they couldn’t have been nicer. They found the hat and mailed it from Darby to Bozeman and we had it back in no time. It was so kind and truly showed the heart of this cool spot. We would Love to stay here again when in the area!
TravelerGreat little campsite with the roar of the river.
Found it by accident a few years back. It sits above the Lochsa River, just north and west of the Wilderness Gateway Campground.
Both campgrounds are great, but this one is a little more rustic and provides easier access from the highway for camp trailers and stock trailers.
Have to look carefully because it is easy to miss: not well marked...
TravelerGreat little campsite. There are actually two campgrounds across the road from each other. The newer one is a wide open area while the older one is not conducive to larger 5th wheels.
I camped at the older one with my little 1960 Rolls Royal camper. Fun trails all around to explore and I've heard you can pan in the creek.
It is reported the 2022 fire pretty well wiped out the area so camper beware...
Guide
It is a long gravel road to get there but worth the trip! It’s beautiful! We fished off the dock and was visited by a large otter!
Traveler
This site has the cleanest and most amazing campground bathroom i’ve ever seen. The showers are hot, and the entire bathroom stayed clean for the length of my stay.
Beautiful campground right off the 93. Site 15 is right on the river. The campground had access to water and trash. Gas station and store on site. The hosts were very kind and welcoming.
ScoutI stayed 3 nights in July- They were very helpful with where to go in the area, the showers/baths were brand new- clean. They had activities over the weekend- music over the weekend. Trees created privacy. Right on the river.
Traveler
The access is via a steep and narrow road with at least 15 switchbacks. The campground appears to be used by horseback hunters in the fall. I have stayed here twice and shared the campground one time with another couple. Nice easy trail up or down the river from here. Lots of rafters and occasional jet boats on the river. Pit toilet is maintained by the USFS. No garbage service, pack it in pack it out.
Discover the perfect spots for camping with your furry friends near Bitterroot National Forest in Montana. These pet-friendly campgrounds offer a range of amenities and activities to ensure both you and your pets have a great time in the great outdoors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Bitterroot National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Bitterroot National Forest is Travellers Rest Cabins & RV Park with a 4.8-star rating from 4 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 41 dog-friendly camping locations near Bitterroot National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
