Best Equestrian Camping near Cooke City, MT

This is one of the best camping cabins for equestrians that I found so far in Montana. Getting from the main road into the cabin can be a bit tricky for vehicles over 30 feet. This cabin has plenty of room to sleep 6. There are Corrals for horses and pasture. And the trails into the forest service are endless in a couple different directions. There is also a vault toilet for day travelers. The cabin has electricity and running water a fire ring and it's also close to a creek. The only down holes are mosquitoes and you cannot overnight camp only rent the cabin so if you're planning a trip you need to plan and Reserve this cabin in advance as it goes really fast every year.

Eagle Creek campground is a nice small 16 site campground a few miles above Gardiner Montana and only a few minutes from the Yellowstone entrance.  Getting to the campground requires a steep 2 mile drive which the road recommends 4 wheel drive for to help with the incline and to prevent washboard.  Sites sit in a grassy open area with willows and other small trees and bushes around the edge.  Small creek runs along the campground.  Site #1 would the site to get it you can, out of view from the rest of camp and has two picnic tables.  The site has a vault toilet.  All sites have a metal fire ring and picnic table. Bear proof food lockers for food storage at most sites.  No water or trash service.  I filtered water from the creek.  Their is a horse Corral adjacent to campground.  Campground was nice and quiet at night with great view of the night sky.  No cell service.

This is one of my favorite places to camp with horses. There is a 40 acre pasture fenced to turn horses in with a creek running through it. There is also a nice little Corral if you have any horse that doesn't get along with other animals or one that you can't catch very easily. There are several places to ride. It's a bit of a tight squeeze to get a big horse trailer in there I would not recommend anything much over 30 feet. If you go a few miles up the road you can go to the trailhead that allows you to go on up to Deer Creek cabin. We rent the two cabins often park at the lower cabin and ride our horses up to the Deer Creek cabin and stay . you cannot drive to the Deer Creek cabin itself only to the trailhead

A small, clean campground. Just a few minutes up the hill from Gardiner. 15+ campspots. Vault toilets, fire rings, picnic tables. Many spots on grass for comfy tent camping and some with big spots that will fit RVs. Upper part of the campground was very open. It was full of campers with their horse trailers as there are several trails around the campground. Eagle Creek runs along one side of the campground providing the only trees in the campground. 2 campspots tucked in the trees, the rest in the open. $7 per night as of May 2018.

We stopped there after a week of Yellowstone action arriving the Friday morning of the Memorial Day weekend with plans to resupply our little trailer, do some laundry, and get a proper shower just down the hill in Gardiner. A few spots were open. By early afternoon the camp was full. We spent Friday afternoon relaxing, reading, and watching the ridgeline above the campground for the occasional Bison that would pop up. Friday evening was a bit chaotic with the steady stream of vehicles pulling through the grounds looking for a place to camp. We spent part of Saturday resupplying at the grocery store and doing laundry in town. The laundrymat had 3 pay showers. $5 for 10min. While that may seem like a lot of money. When you have a weeks worth of camp stink on you, it’s totally worth it.

While the campground itself is not much to write home about, it’s proximity to Gardiner and the North entrance to Yellowstone made it a great place to stop for a resupply. If we find ourselves back in Gardiner, I would stay there again.

 Eagle Creek is a USFS campground just about 5 miles outside of the eastern entrance of Yellowstone. It’s a first come first served campground, and we were easily able to get a spot on a Friday afternoon. It’s $15/night, self pay. 

It’s quiet and peaceful, and though the sites are close together, they are configured in a way that you feel like you have some privacy, at least we felt that in #9.

#9 also has a little walkway to the river with your own tiny private beach. There is road noise, but it’s not bothersome, maybe because of the dense trees and the sound of the river. The campground is split into two separate loops, with #1-10 to the right as you enter, and #11-21 to the left. On the left side loop there is also a paved walkway along the riverbed that might be suitable for wheelchairs. 

Host on site, unisex handicap accessible vault toilets, and dumpsters. Hand pumped water. Each site has a bear box, fire pit, and picnic table. 

No tent camping allowed here due to bear activity. Hard sided campers only. Keep your food and anything that smells like food inside!!

 16 day stay limit. There’s a day use area, appears to be free. There is hiking across the highway, appears to be frequently used for horses. No cell service.

We were in need of a place to stay while attending a field seminar in Yellowstone.  It is about a 30 min drive to Gardiner/Entrance to Yellowstone.  The owners have experience in the hospitality industry and it shows inside the tent.  We stayed in the Elk because we wanted a private bathroom. The room had 2 beds (super comfortable and well dressed), refrigerator, couch,  writing table and electric fireplace (more for ambiance vs really providing a lot of heat) and still very roomy. They provide a little lantern for night walks to bathroom or back to tent if you don't have your own flash light.   The deck off the front was ideal for sitting or practicing yoga.  You do have to walk to the bathroom/showers.  While we didn't have the opportunity to use the 2 community fire pits or horseshoes, butthey were well placed with a beautiful backdrop of mountains.  There is also a small building with a coffee/tea machine and another small refrigerator.  You can park right next to the tent.  

If you want to take a walk, there are some dirt roads to walk by other surrounding farms.  

The tents a pretty dispersed and seemed fairly private.  There was only one other couple on the premises so not sure when it is a full house.  They offer really nice kennels.  

My only ding is they have a few kinks to work out, but I feel they will figure it out.  They will be offering speciality breakfasts in the future, but now they are just store bought muffins with yogurt and orange juice.  The location gets you off the highway, but you do need to navigate a gravel road for about a mile.  Totally drivable for any car. 

I think if I stayed here again I would take one of their guiding trips.

Pack it in Pack it out

FCFS

Open all year

Sites:  10 Fees: $12.00 $5.00 for additional vehicle LIMIT: 16 day One bear box, picnic table on some sites, fire ring.  The gravel road in is very long and the last several miles the road narrows and it is rather bumpy. Nice size trailhead just as you turn into the campground. The pit toilet is right at the entrance and the toilet was very clean. The campground has been bush hogged and the sites are mowed so to speak.  Some sites had amenities and some didn't. I would not make the trip unless I am bringing my horses for the trail. Some sites had full sun, and some sites shade. The backdrop of the mountains is just beautiful.

Directions: 16 miles south of Big Timber, MT on US 298, 6.5 miles SW on County Road 30, 8 miles SW on West Boulder Road. Access is limited due to snow. Bring your supplies with you since it is so far back into the camp.

Pack it in, Pack it out,

LNT BTYFI

Travel safe