Best Tent Camping near Clinton, MT

Aawesome indoor pool and hot springs has tent camping RV spaces and motel room and much more awesome place overall

We planned on tent camping at Lola Creek campground but we were a weekend too early. It wasn’t open yet! Down the road there was an RV Park and they were very nice and allowed us to set up our tents near the river. It was stunning!

Wonderful little campground located just south of Whitefish Montana on highway 93. This KOA has a lot to offer from cabins to RV parking and several tent camping locations. Just a few minutes drive north and you will enter the small ski town of Whitefish Montana. Plenty of places to eat, shop or buy your groceries. During the summer months be sure to visit Whitefish Lake. 20 minute drive east and you will arrive in West Glacier Park. This RV park is located in a wooded area and is very family friendly with a local pizzeria on site.

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.

Harper's Lake north of Missoula on Hwy 83 and Hwy 200 right along the Clearwater River.the campground sports two small lakes Blanchard Lake and Harper's Lake which are within walking distance to the campground. The sites are mostly for tent camping, but there are sites large enough for trailers. There is no water, electricity or sewer hook-ups.

Well managed, clean, and pretty campground with views through the trees of Salmon Lake. Best access to the lake is from the day use and boat ramp area south of the campground. We enjoyed exploring all the trails leading down to and along the lake. The park manager was very friendly and helpful. We lucked out and got a site with water and electricity. The only down side was we could hear the highway during the day, but it quieted at night. The sites closer to the lake probably didn’t have that issue. The walk-in tent sites are really nice above the lake.

We stayed at Salmon Lake on 2 different occasions in June 2021.  We were lucky enough to score last minute reservation on the lower loop. The lower loop is right on the water and has only 2 campsites, #22 and #23. These two sites are farther down the hill so we did not hear the street noise that other campers complain about in the upper loop. We were tent camping when we stayed in site #22 and #23,  Site #22 has a very nice covered picnic table and is large enough to accommodate a large RV or trailer. This  lower loop only has pit toilet but the upper loop has flush toilets and  very clean showers.  We did appreciate that they sold firewood at the campground for $4. This campground also has very nice walk-in campsite for cyclist and hikers.  We enjoyed both of our stays and would highly recommend the lower loop since the sites were right on the water and you had more privacy.

we planned a last minute trip (2weeks in advance) to Glacier NP in mid July. These guys still had tent sites available for the four nights we wanted. it’s a bit of a trek to the NP (40 minutes) but it’s not horrible time.

our site was nice and tucked off in the trees on the edge, but near the showers. they also provide free breakfast in the morning. newish washers/dryers were great too since we were starting a two week trip.

would definitely stay again if we couldn’t get something closer to Glacier.

we didn’t use the pool or hot tub but they looked nice and clean. they have a nImber of games outside and vIdeo games If you need entertaInment. the showers were good, lots of hot water.

All the forest service campgrounds in the area were full and we happened across this place. We stayed 3 days & it was very peaceful. Each day a few sites opened up mid-day. There is a beautiful flat water river with two access points and locals tube and paddle here. There are tent sites, back-in sites, and pull through sites. Our site was on the river though separated by a thin strip of woods. At night we could hear coyotes. There are a lot of people who drive through looking around and kicking up dust, but that's the only negative. There are no hookups, only a central hand pump for water and no dump station. Prices are cheaper for residents and those with state fishing license (who have already contributed to the up keep).

A loop off the road in open evergreen forest with grass ground covering. Tent sites are well spaced, about 150ft, but the open forest means you can see several neighbors. The forest floor is generally shaded with some sun patches so most sites have good shade. Sites on the river side have trails down a 15ft bank to the river. Some trails are good and some steep. Because of the bank, you can’t see the river from camp. From sites on the road side you can access the the river between river side sites. Our site had only a small beach and we did not spend much time at the river. 

There are 3-4 outhouses, mainly placed near the road. 

The one water pump was locked up and marked as non-portable. 

The road is near enough that you can see and hear passing traffic. 

We arrived on a Wednesday in late July, about 4:00 pm, and found the campground about 75% full. Temperatures were upper 70’s to 80’s and we found the shade comfortable. Light bugs. Moderate mosquitoes in the evening. Generally it was pleasant to sit outdoors.

https://www.camppaxson.org/app/

*Must rent entire facility*

"Camp Paxson sits on the shores of Seeley Lake, one of a chain of five lakes nestled between the Swan Mountain Range and the Mission Mountain Range in Western Montana. It is a 15-acre peninsula of land that Salish, Blackfeet, and Crow tribes cared for, hunted, and fished for centuries prior to European colonization and we recognize their time-honored traditions and connections rooted in the earth. While the history of the land reaches centuries back, the buildings on this Forest Service landmark are just 80 years old. Camp Paxson originally consisted of a tent camp with six small frame structures. By the 1930s, a larger facility was needed. The Depression-era Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps began building the current facility in 1939, and the bathhouses and cabins were completed in 1940. Because of its unique architecture and as an example of the contributions of the WPA and CCC during the Depression years, Camp Paxson was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The camp was originally used by a variety of groups including the Boy Scouts and the Forest Service for their Smokejumper training housing. Camp Paxson is a Lolo National Forest Service site administered by the Camp Paxson Preservation Project, a non-profit organization that operates with the mission to preserve and improve historic Camp Paxson and to advance the public’s appreciation of this cultural and natural resource both locally and regionally through expanded appropriate use. The facility is used by schools, churches, weddings, family reunions, and other gatherings of large groups.

Big Nelson Campground is anything but big. This is a tiny cramped campground. I found 6 campsites, but the Forest Service website list this campground as having four. With the exception of site three, all the other sites require you to park in a parking area. Site 3 was the first site I noticed on arriving at the campground and was located to the left of the parking area. Sites 4, 5 and 6 require parking in the parking area and walking down a set of stairs to access. Sites 4, 5, and 6 can only be accessed from the stairs, driving down the road to the boat launch will only get you to the boat launch. Site 4 is on the left at the bottom of the stairs. Site 4 is tiny, it is a picnic table next to a metal fire ring, if you want to pitch a tent at site four you would need to do it next to the fire ring and skip making a fire or pitch it in a small flat area above the picnic table near the parking area on the opposite side of the fence. Site four really doesn't have much room for a tent. Sites 5 and 6 are fairly roomy, especially when compared to site 4. Site 5 is on the right side of the stairs, plenty of room for a tent, nice view of the lake and has a metal fire ring and picnic table. Site 6 can be reached by walking through site 5 or from the boat launch road. You could unload your gear at site 6 right from your car, but would can not park next to site 6, you will need to drive back up to the camping area. Site 6 has plenty of room for a tent and also has a picnic table and metal fire ring. The campground has one small vault toilet and is at the beginning of the road to the boat ramp. The boat ramp isn't really a ramp, but the shore of the lake with a gradual entrance in to the water. Campsite 2 I found as I was leaving the area, it is just past the vault toilet as you leave. Campsite 2 requires a walk down a few stairs. It is a tight campsite with just enough room for a small tent next to the picnic table. A metal fire ring is on the opposite side of the picnic table. What I guess would be campsite 1 is further down the road and down below the road, I would not suggest using this site as it is a bit of a walk from the parking area, the road is two narrow to park here. Site 1 does not have a picnic table but does have a fire ring, odds are you won't even notice the site coming in or out. During my stay the campground did not have a fee, but the information sign indicates a fee may be coming next year. This is a dry campground, your only source of water is the lake so come prepared, this is also a trash-in trash-out site.

If you want a beautiful campsite and unbelievable hostility and belittling treatment, this is the place for you. I use KOAs frequently. I booked and prepaid for a premium tent site at this, where the description stated a pickup camper was acceptable. I have a newer model F250 with a camper shell that I built out/converted into a very nice camping setup. Apparently that doesn’t qualify as a“pickup camper” in their books and instead qualifies as“vehicle sleeping”. They told me my options were to buy a tent- which I wouldn’t be allowed to set up because it was after dusk- or get a refund and leave. To quote the man behind the counter who spoke to me like I wasn’t there,“Well there’s a Walmart across the street. She can get a tent there or she can park in their parking lot overnight if you’re going to sleep in your vehicle”. Another staff member stated,“They’re strict you know, trying to keep out the homeless people and riff raff”. 1. Thank you nameless staff member for confirming that these rules are arbitrary and discriminatory by design 2. How does that at all explain why I couldn’t stay in my**already paid for** site and sleep in a camper buildout? They still checked me in, gave me a parking tag, bathroom codes and map. Said nameless staff member still led me by golf cart to my campsite. I, mistakenly, believed this was them giving me the go ahead to stay in my camper and that they were going to let it slide. It was one single night after all. I was showered, lights out, and in bed by 10pm. Wrong. At 11:15pm someone starts tapping on my window. It’s another KOA staff member telling me I have to have a tent. Except the Walmart is now closed and there’s nowhere to buy one. I explained I was traveling solo, out of state, had nowhere else to go, only there for the night, and asked what it was he wanted me to do in the middle of the night. He didn’t respond and walked away. I thought this meant they were just going to be decent human beings for the night. Wrong again. 12:15am police are pounding on my camper door.“The business wants you trespassed, you have 20 minutes to leave” 20 minutes to leave in the middle of the night, from a site I paid for, was checked into, and was already asleep in because I didn’t have a tent? Because I was sleeping a customized camper that locked from the inside because Im a woman traveling alone? Yep. The police explained my options were a truck stop 10 miles down the road or Walmart. I was traveling solo, staying one night after traveling from Arizona. It was the college homecoming so there were no hotel vacancies. The staff had absolutely no care for that fact or the fact that I was traveling alone. Again, I had booked and prepaid for this site 2 weeks prior. I read the rules. Thought I understood said rules. Still don’t understand how they considered that violating the rules. The staff and this KOA have absolutely zero concern for where you’ll end up when they turn you away.

Extremely rustic and totally gorgeous small camp along the Rock Creek in Montana.  The drive in was beautiful, with a road that passed south from Missoula/Clinton through a small valley with private properties that would be the envy of any aspiring Montana property owner.  Deer, Moose, and other wildlife are all present as you cross into the forest land there.  The road does become a bit less maintained as you go further South.

The campsite is small, but picnic tables, fire pits, and pit toilets are on site.  We did have our bear spray handy, but no bear were spotted.  We only stayed only one night on our road trip West, but have I have recalled this location often as one of the best sites we have ever stayed at.  The magic of watching fly fishermen work their way up the creek has stayed with me for many years.  Total magic in beautiful Montana.