Best Tent Camping near Bitterroot National Forest, MT

I have only tent camped here. Really nice flat grass for tents. $12 gets you campsite showers and toilets, WiFi and coin laundry. Also really great access to the bitterroot valley if you’re into hikin and river activities. Everyone’s really friendly and it’s a good place to crash when you’re out on the road.

Extra 5$ over other local campgrounds because there is water available and trash. Not especially nice or terrible. Very small sites, most with no room for a normal size tent, sites packed on top of each other. Even the few meant for small rvs have little room. Host on site in a nice beautiful and well maintained site, the public sites are not well maintained. Overgrown with weeds, very disappointing. Hosts don’t do much and are unhelpful. Suggest looking for any other CG in the area, there are several

Details: Toilet and trash on site Tight road, don’t tow anything to big On site managers are unhelpful Minimal room for even the average size tent One car per site at mist of them, nowhere else to park Long but easy drive to Darby, minimal amenities. Hamilton only 15 more minutes

Bear Creek Pass Campground is semi-official dispersed camping at Bear Creek Pass, the location of two trail heads. I surveyed the site during a hike but did not stay over night. 

There are two trail heads, about 1/2 mile apart. Between is a turn off for the“campground” which is little more than a pull out and a turn around. I didn’t see tent sites off the road. A little further on is a large parking area with vault toilet. A little beyond that a small parking area near the second trail head. Between these two is the one place that did look like a camp site. There was one fire ring and vegetation had been pressed down. 

There are facilities for horses: several hitching posts and a loading ramp. These don’t look like they have been used for a while. We did see signs that horses were up here recently but the area is little impacted by horse use. 

The area is in open pine forest with meadows. There is a stream flowing near by. 

I would certainly sleep in my vehicle over night here or set up a tent. You can overnight here before starting on a hike from one of the trail heads. However, this site has little to recommend itself as a destination for an extended stay or overflow if nearby Schumaker is full.

If your a good walker Montana is for you, the water amazes me at how clear it is but very cold, if your lucky you'll find a hot spring.

Camped here over 4th of July weekend. Beautiful, quiet area, camps spots are spacious and well distanced. Dogs allowed, bathrooms were nice and clean, easy access to the river. For how popular it was, it was a nice quiet stay. Easy to reserve a camp spot. We easily fit 4 tents and 3 vehicles in the area. Plenty of space for 3 dogs as well. Firewood was easily found, campfire ring was already there.

This is a cozy little campground about 20 minutes outside Salmon, ID. It's located directly on the Salmon River. It's a well-run site, is clean and has full hookups, laundry, a store, etc... If you're traveling north along the Salmon River, it's a good place to spend the night before heading up over the pass towards Lolo and Missoula, MT. No cell service, but serviceable WiFi, and its location on the river is excellent for anglers and those looking to enjoy the river. Spaces are a little tight, and there are definitely other boondocking sites along the river in this area, Wagonhammer provides a nice spot for those looking for the comforts of home while nestled in the wilderness. It's a quiet, calm, and safe place for travelers staying in everything from tents to enormous RV's.

12 sites with good tables and fire rings. This is a well maintained NFS campground. 3 vault toilets that are kept clean. Sites #1 & #2 get the most sun, are the largest, and can accommodate any size RV. The remaining sites vary in size. #2 can easily hold 5 full size trucks side by side, or three medium size trailers/5th wheels with their tow vehicles. It also has 3 large tables, plenty of open ground for tents, and is ideal for large groups and families. Toilets are located across from site 3, between 5/6, across from 12. #7 is low ground camping you walk down to with minimal shade and perfect for hot weather days.

The exit is at site 12, one way travel thru the campground. Across the street from the exit is the entry to sites 1-4 horse camping. Small sites with table, fire ring, and enough room for a small tent. There are 3 large metal structures with 3 chains each for horses and 2 horizontal tie out bars. No room to park horse trailers on that pull thru. One trailer spot across from site 4 by the “stock water trail” sign, the rest can park 50 yards down the road at the trail head/turn around. There are 2 additional tie out areas here for horses and plenty of room for horse trailers and several other vehicles.

Be sure to read the notice above the envelope box before you pay. From weather dependent dates chosen by the Rangers there is no cost from late Oct to late May. Otherwise it is $10 per night, $5 with golden or access passes.

No cell service, only 1 mile to the paved road, Ranger station is only about 1/2 mile down that paved road. The Rangers are proactive in sharing any important information such as severe weather, bear activity, or any other notable activity.

Details: Ranger station on the main road less than a mike from the entrance. They show up once a week Ravialli county sheriff is who to call on weekends and holidays, they will respond Be bear aware in season Equestrian specific campsites Trailhead next to the CG So much firewood laying around There are some karens that have been “coming here my whole life” and think they own the place; avoid Only three site requires walking access, the rest are drive right in to. Only a few sites so if its great weather or holiday show up mid week or even a week ahead if you can Free stays out of season, otherwise it’s a daily fee, pay at the entrance sign

It is uncommon to be able to drive this high into the mountains. These facilities and roads to them probably exist because of a history of human activity around this site. Lower twin lake(and some others in the area) are created by human made dams. 

Schumacher is a loop of about 12 sites in open pine forest. Sites have picknick table, fire pit, and a tent pad. Most also have space for additional tents. There are two vault toilets, single seat. No water. Camps on the lake side are about 200 ft away with trails leading down to the shoreline. 

Further down the road that runs west of Lower Twin Lake are three more sites, set closer to the water. Outhouse for these are further along the road to the trail head. 

Lower Twin Lake, though constructed by a dam, is reasonable beautiful. There are pine trees around the lake, some meadows along the east shore, and round, rocky peaks around the basin. 

The road in is 20 miles of dirt in good condition. I could have made it with my Mini but the Honda CR-V was more comfortable. The road is narrow enough that when meeting oncoming traffic both need to come to a near stop and pass carefully. In a few places, one or the other must back to the closest wide spot. We passed a few people pulling trailers. Not sure if they were all the way up tot Schumaker, but could have been. Near Schumaker are some trail heads that people drive stock trailers to. So, it is a long dirt road but most cars can make it as well as people experienced driving their RV on forest service roads. 

Along the road there were multiple places for dispersed camping, including one official dispersed site. On a Sunday afternoon these were 80% full. 

To my surprise, Schumaker was nearly empty. There were a couple day-visit groups. On our first night there was only one other group in the camp ground and on our second 4 other groups. I suspect it was full over the weekend, which would imply it is mainly used by locals. 

If Schumaker is full the near by Bears Creek Pass dispersed camping will probably have space for you. 

We have the enjoyments of a nearly empty campground in sub-alpine terrain. The lake is warm enough to swim in. There are a couple trail heads for hiking near by. 

On the down side, there are lots of bugs and the weather is warm. Horse flies, black flies, and mosquitoes are all out during the day. The evening mosquiting hour is vicious. I can’t speculate about bugs in other times in the season but this year late July is bad. Despite our equipment, hanging out in camp is not comfortable. 

We spend two nights and decide to move on in hopes of finding fewer bugs, maybe at a lower elevation.

I reserved this a month or so in advance, a big recommendation from me, it is around 3 miles to get to the beautiful and majestic Painted Rocks lake. Camp hosts were great, I think it was Rombo Sharon/Shannon and a great guy by her side for managing the ground. Bear containers, pit toilets, potable water is available at a close distance at every camp site. Wood is chopped at host site and given if you ask for it, Lots of room- I managed to comfortably fit three full size sedans and still have room in one camp area.

This area is next to a huge river that runs off of painted rock dam.

This campground is a must for thrillseekers, recreation types, and explorers coming to spend a weekend on the lake and the deep bitterroot mountains. 

Highly recommend. Will be back.

Stayed we with a friend here to do some surficial geology in the Bitterroots Mt. It was a really nice central area to work out of and it had all we needed from a long day in the field. The host was pleasant to talk to and the place was clean.

Spend a night. No cost although that will change next weekend. They’ll start charging $10.

Lake level was super low when we went, and smog from forest fires, but overall a superb campground. Easy access to old firetower trails for dirt biking/quads, great fishing and tons of wildlife. Every morning we saw elk and big horn sheep.

Each campsite is well spaced, with a firepit and grill cover.

Well if your into a camp host that resembles a Nazi SS officer and paying to stay well this would be a great place for you. Way better places to stay close to the lake