Looking for an adventure where you can explore Custer Gallatin National Forest and then fall asleep in your tent? The Dyrt helps you find campsites near Custer Gallatin National Forest with tent camping. Search nearby tent campgrounds or find top-rated spots from other campers.
The Gardiner district covers the southeast part of Custer Gallatin National Forest, bordering Yellowstone National Park. Both Gardiner, MT and Cooke City, MT are within the Gardiner district.
Many people enjoy the solitude and primitive experience of camping away from developed campgrounds and other campers. Dispersed camping is the term used for camping in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. It also means no services (such as trash removal), and little or no facilities (such as tables, fire pits or toilets) are provided.
$3 - $15 / night
A campground by Hebgen Lake on the Hebgen Lake District.
Camp sites: 7 sites
Accessible Facilities: None Trash Pickup: No Firewood: No No Reservations: This campground does not use a reservation system, it is managed on a first-come, first-served basis. Be aware the campground may fill up on weekends and holidays during the summer months and you should arrive in the early afternoon to ensure there is a space available for the night. Information: Hebgen Lake Office P.O. Box 520 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 (406) 823-6961
Traveler
We stayed for one night and camped in a tent. The river access was nice, as were the campsites. However, there were not many marked tent sites and there was dog poop everywhere. Other than that, it was very nice! They have 2 vault toilets.
Scout
Came in late in the rain…they had cabins available for not much more than a tent site. That was a blessing for us since we have been tent camping. Staff is very helpful and friendly!
Guide
Between the free coffee, breakfast, & hot spring access our stay was worth it. Tent sites were small, no privacy. I wish we would have had our RV. Not an ideal place to tent camp in my opinion. Near a busy (noisy) highway. Clean facilities. Staff were all friendly & helpful.
Legend
This review is specific to tent camping which I don’t think is the focus of KOA locations.
For the good, the facilities we super clean and there were personal shower/bathroom rooms for use. The shower was great after a week of car camping.
The camp store had the basic and was convenient.
The location was very close to West Yellowstone and the west part of the park.
However, the tent camping left something to be desired. Our loop was around the back of the campground, with the basics of a fire ring and picnic table, it there was no tent pad and the ground was generally pretty sloped.
The tent sites overall were sort of fit into extra spaces and had little privacy.
Guide
This is your average family campground with RV park and grass closely packed tent campground (like literally right on top of one another split by single pine trees). Very much like a KOA (pool, shop, WiFi, showers, laundry etc.) but half the price ($26/night for basic tent site). No fire pits, there is a picnic table for each site.
Traveler
Tent camped here. Definitely bring bear spray as this is a remote campground in the woods.
Had great availability last minute. $34 for the night. Sites 1-13 are pretty grassy and good for the tent! Site 14 was tent friendly, but it was harder to find a flat surface with no tree roots. A 2 person tent was used at site 14 and we made it work. If you have a bigger tent I would definitely go for sites 1-13 first. Each campsite had a bear locker to put food in!
Guide
LOUD campground with no help to quiet folks down. This is a largely tent campground and drunks until 2am can really mess up a trip. The tent site we had was right out in the hot sun with no shade or privacy. Ask for the wooded areas! It was a wonderful location with lots of wildlife and very clean! A bull elk tried to eat our clothes which was funny. A Bison stayed behind our tent the entire time too. The showers are not too far and very clean.
GuideVisited here June of 2019. It was first time in Yellowstone, so we didn’t know what to expect. This campsite has mixed RV and tent camping. The only downside is that campsites are very close together and some of the tent camp sites do flood (1”-4” of water) during rain as we saw during our visit. So if you are tent camping, check out your site carefully. Camp office staff was very friendly. The camp office sells firewood. There is a RV dump station at the marina across the street. The marina also sells fishing licenses and does kayak inspections (you have to have a sticker to use kayaks in Yellowstone waters). Big bison roam the campground as do an occasional bear, so use of the provided bear boxes and keeping your camp clean is highly recommended. Nice campground. Very crowded during summer.
Guide
The first clue of how large this campground is, is during check in. A whole row of agent's are checking campers in. Once you enter your loop however things become quiet. I stayed in a tent camping loop, where almost all campers were sleeping in their vehicles like me. The problem is, tent sites have on-loop parking, there is no driveway, so it was literally a string of parallel parked rigs on both sides of the road, and the road was sloped. Each site had a private bear locker for personal storage. Bathrooms have nice, enclosed large kitchen sink for meal clean up to prevent bear attracting smells at your site. This is a high altitude camp and was very cold (high 20s) at night. Great base for explaining Canyon country and Hayden Valley. Nearby lodge, shopping and groceries.
Scout
We just returned from a stay at Madison Arm resort on Hebgen and I was very impressed. They had showers, a small store, fish cleaning station and plenty of bear proof garbages. They offer cabin, RV rentals, Rv and tent sites. We enjoyed our stay and the view from our tent site.
TravelerAs mentioned in other reviews, trains were loud. There was also a child messing with our tent early in the morning and being super noisy. Tent camping is crowded and unorganized, but neighbors were super respectful. Something to mention with tent camping: you will NOT get a view like the plug in sites do. Nice showers and bathrooms. There is a pool that isn’t super crowded. Price was about $40/night which was high for a site with no view, and no privacy, but I understand the appeal of the pool and showers!
Guide
I don’t like to leave bad reviews where I have not stayed. But, any review of a place should start with customer service.
I emailed this KOA requesting a tent say. I half-hour later I received an email back saying there were two sites but that I needed to call to reserve. I called promptly spoke to a person named Judy, her demeanor was less than encouraging. I relayed to her what the email had said and she barked at me and said we don’t send emails concerning availability. I said but I have one right here saying that you do have two tent sites. She said maybe we do have two tent sites but we don’t take emails, then she promptly slam the phone down and hung up on me. I emailed back and explain the situation at which point I was told sorry all tent sites are now unavailable.
Times like this I wonder, was it me? But I also realize that the year 2020, social distancing, pandemic, is also causing a rush on outdoor tent sites. There is stress all around. But, common courtesy should always prevail when you are customer facing.
Guide
A private campground just north of Yellowstone national park which offers for hook ups for larger rakes as well as tent sites along the Yellowstone River. A little pricey but very convenient. We took a tent site for $30 a night for our VW van. I can’t post was nice enough to allow us to recharge our house battery in the morning while we took showers.
Traveler
Plenty of space here with a beautiful lake view. Mountains on all sides of you. Very little tree coverage. Some rodent holes surrounding the tent site. Tent faired well and wind was not a serious issue by any means. There was fire ring already made at the tent site we chose. Few others camping in RVs but plenty of space/privacy between them. 45 minutes from Old Faithful and Yellowstone
RangerTent camping in yellowstone was great. Loved seeing the mountains, geysers, bison, hot springs, sunsets, and waterfalls.
Guide
Nice roads and huge beautiful sites. Being a small female solo tent camping I felt safe. There are lots of elk and rabbits.
Scout$60 for a late check in tent site. Pass
Guide
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.
GuideNice camping close to Bozeman - which is home to Montana State and a couple good microbreweries. Really liked this campground - but didn’t get enough sleep. Tent camping is nice here, some trees for wind cover and flat ground with picnic benches. But the trains roll through the entire evening, with horns sounding their arrival. Made it pretty tough to sleep. Nice amenities with a pool, showers, water, etc.
GuideGreat little KOA. Awesome views of the Absaroka range. Book early. Tent sites were great. Nice dog park, small though.
Scout
Lots of available sites. Not far from Yellowstone. Room for large tents. We had an 8 x 15 tent. Camp host was extremely helpful. You can buy wood from host. No showers. Toilets are vault toilets but extremely clean. Nice place to stay for $15 a night.
RangerOK this place is awesome. Great hotsprings. Greatly needed after hiking in the area. Clean rv and tent camping. Supurb staff. Lots of things to do for the kids. Free breakfast. Lots and lots to do in the town.
Traveler
Small quite park sites with electric, non electric, tent sites. Good first come first serve but also take reservations. Half an hour from west Yellowstone gate off hwy 20.
Guide
Madison is a nice campground. Our tent site was kind of on an incline. Only downside is its fairly busy, however I don’t think there is really anyway around this in Yellowstone.
RangerTenting inside Yellowstone was a real treat. Facilities all top notch. Wished our tent site had more tree coverage with the heat, hopefully the conservation efforts including keeping hammock ropes off direct contact help to keep the trees healthy. Hope to return again in the future!
Traveler
The location and views were great and it’s hard to beat free. That said, this is not an ideal place for tent camping. The wind was brutal all night, one of the RVs ran their generator constantly so it was loud, and there were a lot of large rocks in the ground. It’s a great location in general, but just not ideal for a tent.
GuideWe got a nice tent site in the park campground. Our site was small and there are many neighboring campsites. There was a nice bathroom with hot water and toilets. There was also water and dumpsters.
Tent camping near Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in nature, with stunning views and a variety of outdoor activities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Custer Gallatin National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Custer Gallatin National Forest is Travertine Road Dispersed - Yellowstone with a 4.5-star rating from 31 reviews.
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