Best Equestrian Camping near Custer Gallatin National Forest

About 20 minutes south of Bozeman, MT on scenic Hyalite Canyon Road sits Langohr Campground. There are 19 spacious single sites and the 20th site is a group picnic site for day use. Langohr Campground runs along Hyalite Creek and is tucked inside Custer Gallatin National Forest in a small open meadow with Douglas fir, Lodgepole pine, and Englemann Spruce. 

I was fortunate to find a campsite as a walk-in even after arriving mid-afternoon at the beginning of June 2019 because it was too late to reserve online. Each site does have a picnic table and fire ring, and electrical sites are available. Some are drive-in or back into sites, and a few are literally next to Hyalite Creek which is an added bonus. A heavy snowfall occurred a week before and remnants of it were scattered along the campground. Good thing I brought a snow scraper to clear the picnic table of snow. The fee is $20.00 per campsite for two vehicles and $8.00 for any additional vehicles. The group picnic site is $45.00 for day use. I paid cash for the site, but I believe you may also pay by credit card.

Many of the campers were settling in and had parked RVs and pop-ups. Pets are allowed but must be on a leash as wildlife such as bears, deers, moose, and elk frequent the area. Bear lockers should be used for food storage or properly stored in vehicles. There are huge bear safe trash and recycling containers near the entrance for campers to use. The bathroom is clean, free of odor and bugs, and it is a vault toilet. There are no showers, dump station, or camp store, but you are close to Bozeman.  The camp host was settled on site 11 and sells firewood for $6.00. You can take a walk along the Hyalite Creek or drive 3.5 miles south down to Hyalite Reservoir for other activities such as fishing, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, hiking, and boating. The night sky was pretty spectacular especially with the trees around on a clear day.

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.

The campground is usually well maintained. I’ve camped here quite a few times, but this past week I was a little disappointed. The grass at the site was very long. The picnic table hadn’t been mowed under. The bathrooms were mostly clean. The sites here can accommodate larger trailers, but the road up to the campground can be washboard, depending on the time of year. The road within the campground was a little hard to navigate with my Mazda 6 - there was an area with a hole and also a larger bump. Some sites are pretty small, while others are quite large. There is very little shade during the day. You may get lucky with some early in the day or later, depending on your site location. Eagle Creek runs along some of the sites, which can make mosquitos an issue. There is a corral for horses and a large turn around area for trucks with trailers.

Water can be acquired at Arch Park in Gardiner.

We came in late and it was already dark. That may have contributed to the confusion in where to go when we first got there, but once we were there it was fine. Not a lot of privacy between spots but to pull in, set up camp and leave the next day it was worth it.

We LOVED visiting with the horses and they were very friendly and did not even mind when our dogs barked at them.

Biggest negative is that you can hear all the highway noise and trucks like to jake-break in this area. On the other side of the highway there were railroad tracks. The train blew its horn through this area ‘frequently and when it stopped you could hear all the train cars smashing together. This woke me up a couple times throughout the night but otherwise fine.

There is a pit toilet, with hand sanitizer.

We camped in a tent with our 2 dogs and young toddler.

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

Yellowstone National Parks back country campsite WF1 sits on the edge of a large meadow of wildflowers with amazing views of the mountains to the west. Campsite WF1 is the first back country site along Black Butte Trail in the North West corner of the park. It is about a 2.2 mile hike to the campsite from the trail head. Campsite WF1 is open to backpackers and stock animals, however I could see no evidence of any stock animals using this site recently. The site has a large rock fire ring in the cooking area with logs sitting around it to sit on. An arrow on a tree with the site number points to the sites toilet just up hill in the trees. Don't get to excited about the toilet, think of an outhouse with out any walls, and the hole in the ground is not very deep, but a back country site with a seat to sit on is a rare treat. Just on the other side of the large trees at the cooking area is a meadow full of wildflowers, the meadow slopes downhill making a flat area in the field for your tent hard to find, but you can find spots at the edge of the field just in the trees with flat spots for your tent. Water is no problem at this site, the creek is just next to the cooking area, best spot to filter the water is right where you cross to enter the campsite.

Black Butte Trail head(WK2) is located on U.S. Hwy 191. The trail head is easy to miss, the sign for the tail is on the east side of the Highway where the trail starts, the parking area is just south of the sign on the west side of the highway. You will need to obtain a back country permit to stay at WF1. The closest place to obtain a permit is at the visitor center in West Yellowstone. The cost is$3 per person with a maximum of$15 for the night. Site is limited to one group of ten.

This campground did the job. We wanted to stay close to Yellowstone and it was pretty cheap… it was packed though. I’m sure everything is in the area during august though. Our site was also supposed to have a bear box and it didn’t. It would have been helpful but it wasn’t a huge deal. The campground host was really awesome though and was so helpful. The bathrooms were super clean!

Stayed here for two nights in late June, to facilitate visits to Yellowstone.  Chose site 7, which is on a cul-de-sac so is the most private and secluded of the sites.  Most sites are out in the open and close to other sites.  Creek ran within a few feet of our site, and we were screened by aspen trees.  Great views!  Very quiet, no problem with misbehaving campers.  Decent outhouse.  No water, and you must pack out your trash.  Bear lockers are provided for you to secure your food and other "smellies" away from bears (this is grizzly country).  Access road is steep and rough.  Unfortunately, generators are allowed but luckily no one near us was using a generator when we were there.  The vibe was relaxed and low-key.  We reserved this site online (recreation.gov) six months in advance.  They sent us reminders several times.  Apparently, some bozos reserve a site and then don't show up.

Great, inexpensive campground minutes from the north entrance of Yellowstone.

First come first serve. We got in about 4 on a summer Tuesday and took the last spot. When we left at 8 on Thursday there were 3 or 4 vacant spots already.

Nice creek on one side. Huge variety of site sizes, some fit 3 or 4 tents, some barely 1.

Our site for our pop up was basically a little dirt pull through along the main road. No shade, no privacy, and a barely accessible path to the creek. And nowhere to sit/enjoy the creek. 

Unless your site is directly on the creek seriously don't bother.

Langohr Campground is a nice campground besides Hyalite Creek, it was even better when I camped here about 20 years ago during the summer months, this last visit was in the snow, but we won't let the snow affect this review. The campground has two different sections to it. While most sites overlook the willow lined Hyalite creek, turning to the left or the right once you enter the campground will give you different camping experiences. If you turn to the left you will find most of the campsites are in a grassy open area with little shade. If you want a campsite with two picnic tables a the site then go to the left as sites 17 and 18 have two tables each. If you turn to the right the campsites tucked in among a stand of pine trees and would provide lots of shade. The campground also has a large day use picnic area, and a trail head. The campground and parking pads are paved through out the campground. The campground has 19 sites, water, trash and service. This is bear territory so all food must be locked in a car or the provided bear proof lockers provided. Our October visit was after the mid September shutting down of the campground, but we could still gain access as their was not a closed gate like the other campgrounds further up the road, this was likely due to a trail head located in the campground.