Looking for the best Butte RV camping? Find the best information on RV campsites and dispersed camping near Butte, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your RVing experience. Each RV campsite offers quick access to one or more of Butte's most popular destinations.
$15 - $37 / night
Welcome to the Sportsman Lodge
My family and I just purchased the Sportsman Motel in 2021. This was a 2-year process for us by way of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Our journey with the Sportsman Motel in Melrose MT started over 7 years ago. It all began with our oldest son Cody, who was deployed with the Army at the time, wrote me a letter. In his letter, he reflects on the passion he and his brother Marcus (also serving in the Army National Guard) and I have for the outdoors. Growing up in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, I have developed a love of the outdoors for as long as I can ever remember. We have always wanted to go west to Montana. In Cody’s letter, he spoke of a small town in Montana called Melrose and about one of the best Rivers to fish in the country, The Big Hole, running through Melrose. He spoke about staying at the Sportsman Motel. Almost immediately upon his return to the states after his deployment, we booked our trip to the Sportsman Motel.
We have been coming back every year, multiple times a year, and staying at the Sportsman ever since. We fell in love with the town, the great people of Melrose and of course the World Class Fishing and Hunting.
In 2018 I approached the previous owners of the Sportsman about buying it. I brought my wife Bonnie out so she can experience what the boys and I have come to love. Bonnie grew up in the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area and although she had been a city girl at heart, she has gained the love and appreciation of the great outdoors through my own lifetime passion. We have relocated here from Pennsylvania to Montana living our greatest dream and want to help bring the same joy to others.
No matter what you are in search of — hunting, fishing, camping, or just being one with nature – The Sportsman Lodge in Melrose, Montana is your ideal outdoor paradise and home away from home.
For fishing, Sportsman Lodge is in close proximity to some of the best and most famous streams in the country. Our rivers are legendary. If you’re looking for fly fishing or trout, there’s nothing better than a stay in one of our cabins on the water.
The hunting here is as good as it gets anywhere. If you’re after the big game, trophy-class elk, mule deer and whitetail are out there. You’ll also find black bears, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and antelope. If bird hunting and waterfowl are more your style, there are strong sage, sharp-tailed, and mountain grouse, as well as migratory ducks and geese. Melrose is home to a beautiful diversity of habitats and wildlife!
Sportsman Lodge has accommodations for everyone. Our cozy cabins can serve as your mountainside oasis coming completely furnished with various bedroom options and each with a kitchen, living room and bath. Our cabins by the river offer outstanding access for fishing.
Our RV park boasts seventeen, full-service hookup spots allowing you to enjoy our Montana views with all of your creature comforts. Or if you’re looking to get a little closer to nature, it doesn’t get any better than camping out under the vast and wild Montana sky.
Roaming around this part of the country can’t help but impress. In Melrose, while the surroundings are peaceful, the ability to explore the outdoors awakens a strong sense of adventure.
Melrose is a small town on the Big Hole River. Between our 8 rooms, 6 cabins, 17 RV sites and grass tent spaces, we can suit any traveler looking to experience the best of the outdoors.
$29 - $48 / night
Cardwell General Store and Campground, located off I-90 at exit 256, is locally owned and operated in beautiful Cardwell, Montana. Centrally located between Butte and Bozeman in the Jefferson Valley of Montana, it is nestled in the tiny ranching community of Cardwell. Laundry, restroom, shower and wifi are some of the amenities offered for our guests.
The RV Park is located directly behind the general store, which offers a wide variety of goods and services to locals and travelers alike. Fishing supplies, tackle, & bait are available for purchase, as well as firewood. The gas pumps are open 24/7 for credit card users, and an ATM is on site. Inside the General Store is an Espresso bar with fantastic coffee drinks! a candy store and a ice cream shop with the best shakes ever including Huckleberry!
The Cardwell General Store and Campground is open year round and harbors thirty-eight pull-through RV sites, up to 60' max, and six dry tent sites. We also have one fully furnished dry cabin. It comes with a queen sized bed with included bedding, table and chairs, mini fridge and Microwave. Heat and Air Conditioning also in this cabin! The cabin is super nice and fairly close to the shower house and you will enjoy it!
The facility includes a covered pavilion, and horseshoe pits for summer evening barbecues with family and friends. For campground guests the North Boulder River and Jefferson River are easily accessible nearby. Plenty of log furniture, swing sets and lovers swings to rest and visit!
Laundromat, restroom, and shower services are available to guests. There is a designated pet walk area for campers or travelers with pets. All pets must be leashed at all times. No exceptions. WIFI is available to our guests. A laundry facility is available free of charge to guests.
Copper Court offers a multitude of amenities in our RV Park to accommodate our residents. From WiFi, to showers, washers & dryers, and a community lodge, we’ve got your stay covered here at Copper Court RV Park. There are several pricing packages available depending on your needs. Paved parking, picnic tables, pull-through sites, and decorative fire pits are available with most of our RV sites. We also have cabin rentals available for those seeking that glamping log cabin feel. Sleeping up to 4 guests with a 1 bedroom, 1 full bath, kitchenette and queen sleeper sofa. Log picnic table and fire pit out front to enjoy the big sky country of Montana. Open all year long!
Placed between Yellowstone National Park & Glacier National Park, Copper Court is the perfect resting stop. With tons of recreational adventures within 30 minutes we are a prime area to visit. From mining sapphires in Philipsburg to boating fun at Georgetown Lake Anaconda is a great location to visit. Copper Court is year around open so you can also hit Discovery Mountain for optimal skiing and snowboarding. Anglers love the area for our prime fishing at Big Hole River, the only river in Montana that has all 5 species of fish. Old Works Golf Course designed by the one & only Jack Nicklaus borders along Copper Court RV Park and guests get a discounted rate to play.
$66 - $100 / night
Guide
We have always loved coming out here to camp. The mosquitoes can get pretty thick at times so be prepared.
Guide
For a dispersed BLM camping area, this is lovely. Plenty of sites that each have a picnic table and long gravel spot to park an RV. There’s a cute little river and some interesting rock features. Close to the freeway so an excellent stop for a night spot.
GuideThis place looks like a paid campground, only free! All the spots have a picnic table, fire pit and bear box. The mountain views all all around you are gorgeous. Some other folks camping here went trout fishing - so that's an option. Only downside is that my dogs had some trouble walking on the gravel.
GPS: 45.702416, -112.736869
Legend
Our goal is to leave an unbiased review for future campers. First, don’t check in until 2:00 PM. The billeting office is closed for lunch and doesn’t get back until 2:00. As you don’t have a site number and you’ll need a key for the utilities, it will not do you any good to arrive early. Using our RV GPS, we headed off I-90 onto US-12 into Helena. At West Helena we turned on Williams St., which brought us to the VA Medical Center, then less than a 1/4 mile further to the South Gate. The gate is locked. When we called 406-324-3970(main gate) prior to our arrival, we were told to park in front of the gate and call the number on the post to have security come and let us in. The private security guard checked our IDs, reservation confirmation email, and then called in our names and truck license plate number. We were then told to head to the three story building where the billeting office is located and park in front of the building near the stepped entrance. This is not a large base/post, so don’t worry about getting lost. A lot of reviews talked about going through the North Gate, but as of this writing, they are using the South Gate for arrivals and departures. The main gate barriers are too narrow for a large RV. The billeting office is on the first floor straight a few yards and to the right after you enter the building and also where the free laundry is located. The FamCamp campground (CG) was simple to find, and we went to pull through FHU site 7 with 50/30/20 AMP. Not all the sites in this small CG have 50 AMP. The pull through was easy enough to get into, but its narrow with 9” high cement curbs, which makes getting your sewer up and over a bit of a challenge. They placed a brick thing at each site to help level your sewer hose. Also, depending on how your stairs deploy, dealing with the curb can be a challenge. In our opinion, the cement curbs are a horrible design. This site’s gravel pad was not level, so we had to use our leveler blocks. Water pressure was good at about 50 psi. There’s no CG Wifi, but we had our Starlink, plus we got a 4 bar Verizon signal. There are 12 sites here with row 1-7 being FHUs with 50/30/20 AMP and the back row 8-12 are 30/20 AMP. The sites are close to each other. We had a large class A in the adjacent site and its slideout came to our large cement picnic table. There’s a small restroom building but no showers. There are 6 RV or Tent sites where you could dry camp. There’s no obvious water spigot, but there are grass watering spigots. We saw reviews about a camp host, but we did not notice one. We departed at 10:50 AM and billeting called wondering if we had departed. If you don't turn in your key by 11:00 AM, you are charged an extra day. We were not unsatisfied with our stay, especially the good service and free laundry. But for a three day stay, due to their check in/out procedures, and site challenges, we’ll pass on this CG in the future.
GuideBlm camping on the big hole river, montana, free up to 16 days. About 15 spots. Boat ramp, fishing hiking fire pits, no wood available.
Legend
Was able to snag a primitive spot for one night. This campground isnt too far off I90 near 3 Forks, MT. No cell service (ATT) at the campground but 5g at the caverns. Hosts were super friendly and nice. I was in A7 which had a nice shade tree. Did not use the facilities so can’t speak to that. They had a guest speaker that night share about the bat population in MT. Very interesting!! Be sure to unhook and get to the caverns early in the morning to get a reservation to tour. We did the Paradise tour as my son is in a wheelchair. The classic tour looked super cool though!
Scout
I called 30 minutes before our arrival for a tent camping spot and the host was easily able to accommodate us. Two men met us in a golf cart and drive us to our nice grassy site. The campground had coin showers with hot water and a family friendly rec room.
Guide
Great easy access spot! This area is free to use and is well maintained. Each site has a fire pit and a picnic bench. Also, each site has lots of space and decent privacy. Toilet, water, and food storage is provided. Lots of spots have creek access which is nice.
Traveler
We had a lovely site that was close to the Wise River. Even with a full camp, the ambient sound of the river shielded the sounds of people talking or kids playing. The bathroom facilities were clean. Most campsites had some shade for either sitting or having a tent. Most people were in self sufficient RVs since there are not hookups. The campground also had a water pump with clean and very cold water.
Guide
So the road is gravel and pretty far with private property signs on both sides til you get there. Directions take you there with no problem. Two bathroom locations and spots along the creek. No wildlife while we was there. A few other campers but all spaced apart well so it was secluded. It is 15$ and you have a QR code to scan to pay, however there is ZERO signal there to get online to pay so we paid once we left and got back into town for the night we stayed.
Traveler
We stayed four days here and it was great! From Wednesday through Friday, we basically had the entire place to ourselves. Even in July, the mornings and evenings were cool and pleasant. The camp has three clean toilets stocked with toilet paper, and a pump water fountain with clean and cold water to enjoy. Overall pleasant but ATV campers showed up Saturday, driving around the camp, but they were polite after quiet hours. Short trail in the campground, and about five miles from entrance was the Continental Divide Trail. We didn’t know about that until we were leaving, so we will come back to explore. 20 spaces. Will accommodate RV off grid, but no generators after 10 pm, which is good. So quiet at night!!
Traveler
Big rigs have a great space at the bottom of the hill... but if you're in a truck, van, etc., head on up the hill. The road is in great shape. There are some pullouts, but look for a road on the right (veer left at the private drive; you'll see a sign) and you'll find a great site with a fire ring and somewhat level ground. Chances are it'll be COVERED in cow poop, but hey. It's quiet, aside from the mooing of cows, and totally private. There's probably more up the road, too, I just didn't go further. Solitude.
Guide
We didn’t stay at this exact site as it was taken but there one more dispersed site about a mile or so down the road.
Was nice being close to the creek and there was lots of fallen trees we used for firewood.
Quiet spot with a small amount of traffic on the road.
Didn’t see any wildlife but the horseflies were a bit out of control this time of the year.
Guide
I made the mistake of picking one of the 2 spots at the end of the camp loop. Sites 16 and 17 site right on the swamp and are infested with mosquitos. You can see standing stagnate water bog on both sides of site 16 where we stayed.
I tried 3 different bug repellants, burned multiple mosquito coils, started a fire and had the large 20ft Thermacell lantern running for hours. They never cleared out and ended up with so many mosquito bites. We ended up hunkering down inside our van with the bug screens on. We did come on a dry hot July day.
The state park, campgrounds and trails are so beautiful its hard to fault the campground on the mosquitos. We are going to request to move sites away from the swamp area. Walking around the campground, the mosquitos are less at other sites but still around. I think our typical protection might work better over there but was ineffective at site 16.
My partner likes to run and the paved trail is really nice and is far enough off the road for a great morning run. I find it super quiet here and the 5G UC T-Mobile signal is plenty to work and stream content.
GuideThe Paradise tour was really easy and it was spectacular!
ScoutGreat sites by a stream,,,just beautiful.
ScoutCarter Lake south shore. NIce pull through sites with electric. Dump station with easy access. Many sites on the lake and more with lake view. Many shaded sites. Boats allowed. Very pleasant experience.
Traveler
Quiet busy on weekends NFS rules 14 day stay
ScoutFew sites, best suited for smaller campers. Beautiful area. OHV and horseback riding.
RangerGreat hosts, clean and well maintained. They do have drop in non reservation sites, but recommend getting reservations as well as cave tour reservations on line In Advance. Walk in for the cave tours without reservations best between 9 and 11 am. Beware, it's a 2mi hike uphill from the campground of you don't want to drive your rv up the caves! Deer visited camp at night! Check weather report, strong winds and we had thunderstorms. Warm showers $3. (Cave tours not included in camp fee, dump is $5 also). Some hiking in area, but .. bears!
TravelerVery nice stop. Just a few others here on a weekend.
Guide
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!!
GuideEasy over night stay. Free.
GuideWe found this beautiful small campsite while we drove up to Georgetown lake and decided to camp up next to this beautiful creek. Very wide campingspots with firepit and picknick table. Vault Toilets are at the entrance of the campsite. Campground is not recommended for RVS. Its next to a road so keep in mind some noise from traffic.
Guide
Nice Level Campground,Great Hosts, Right on the River with Water And Bathrooms,can’t Beat this
Guide
The road to the campground was terrifying. Steep drop offs, sharp rocks, narrow lanes, and just really scary to be honest. The campground was nice, it was very pretty but the bugs were overwhelming for some.
Scout
Beautiful facilities and friendly helpful staff. Lots of trees, minimal road noise
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular RV campsite near Butte, MT?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular RV campground near Butte, MT is Fairmont RV Resort with a 4.2-star rating from 13 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 72 RV camping locations near Butte, MT, with real photos and reviews from campers.
