Best Tent Camping near Dillon, MT

Arrived on a Saturday afternoon and there were 3 spots open (only 6 sites). My site had a bear box, nice picnic table and fire ring (fire ban currently). There’s two clean vault toilets. It’s just 10 minutes to red lodge but you feel very remote. There’s a creek running through some campsites which drowns out any neighbor noise. There’s a nice trail that starts in the campground (willow creek) and it’s about 4 mi RT with 900 feet elevation gain. Super peaceful trail and wasn’t very busy for a Saturday. There’s plenty of trees around for shade. I had 2 bars of LTE so could work remotely. And it’s free!

This is a nice smaller forest service campground adjacent to grasshopper creek. A great spot to stay if exploring the Pioneer Mountains.

There are 7-8 spaces, most suitable for a trailer or van. We were tent camping as were others. There are vault toilets and the ubiquitous forest service green potable water pumps/drinking fountains.

There are no dumpsters so have to pack trash out. There are campground hosts but they don’t have firewood for sale, so either need to bring or be prepared to do quite a bit of hunting for wood. The area around the campground is picked pretty clean of good firewood.

This is bear country and there are food storage boxes located throughout the campground for shared use. I expect the presence of bears is also why they don’t have any dumpsters on site.

The campground sits at approximately 7000 feet and by late summer gets near freezing temps overnight. Bring your fall/winter sleeping bag if tent camping here in late August or late Spring!

Just a few minutes up the road from the campground is Elkhorn Hot Springs where you can pay a few bucks to use the rustic pool and hot springs.

Palisades campground is a small 11 site campground on the shore of the Madison River.  This campground is in the open as it has no trees in the campground, so you will have no protection from the wind or sun, and minimal privacy.  The sites are nicely spread apart.  While at first glance it does not look like the greatest area for a tent due to the small boulders in the area, on closer look I found plenty of good spots to set up a tent, this is due to the large amount of room either between sites or behind each site.  Two accessible vault toilets serve the campground.  Each site has a picnic table and a metal fire ring,  most sites also have a bear locker for food storage, but some sites will need to share.  Water is available in the summer season.  Nearby day use area has a boat launch.  No trash service is available so be ready to haul out your trash. Cost is $12 a night.

Salmon Fly Fishing Access Site is a beautiful small campground along the Big Hole River. The site has six campsites all nice spread apart from each other, and a decent size day use area. Sites have gravel parking pads, metal fire rings and picnic tables, along with nice grass areas to set up a tent. The fishing access site is with in walking distance to the small town of Melrose. The site has one vault toilet. No water or trash service is available. The site has a concrete boat launch, but be warned that Montana FWP has posted that the water is shallow for larger boats. The campground is nice and quiet, far enough from the Interstate to not really hear the road traffic, there also is a lightly used rail line near by, but did not notice any train noise while at the site. Cost to camp is$12 with a valid MT fishing license,$18 with out, if you are over the age of 62 then those rates drop to$6 or$9 a night.

The BLM's East Bank campground is a small campground on the Big Hole river that has seen better days. Most of the trees in the campground have been removed due to beetle kill so sites are more in the open. The sites are well spread out and a few still have large trees. Each site has a gravel parking pad, picnic table and metal fire ring. The boat launch area is still nice with large trees along the river, a few picnic tables with fire rings are in this area which look like they could be used as a camping site but are small in size. The boat ramp is dirt, but the area has a large parking area. The recreation area and campground has vault toilets(handicapped accessible), but no water or trash service so come prepared. Their is no fee for this site.

Just a few miles out of the small town Lima Montana, this campground sits nestled in the mountains with a beautiful view and very few visitors.

There is a gravel road, which was well kept when we went. We made it fine in our sedan.

The are supposedly 4 sites, but we only noticed 3. We aren't a Friday night up there and we the only ones at the campsite.

There are 2 vault toilets. It looks like there was a pump for water, but it was either broken, or I just don't know how to use it. Be sure to bring water.

The picnic tables are solid and nice. The camp fire rings also come with grills.

Overall, even without running water, we were prepared and had a great, quite, and beautiful stay at East Creek.

Brownes Island Fishing Access Site is located 6 miles south of Melrose on the Big Hole River. This nice little Fishing Access/Campground has five campsite sitting under large cottonwood trees. The campsite all have dirt parking pads, metal fire rings, picnic tables with a decent amount of room for tents. The campsites are nicely spread apart from each other. The camping area has one ADA accessible vault toilet. The FAS has a dirt boat ramp just down stream from Brownes Bridge. No water or trash service at this campground, but the price to camp can't be beat, the site is free. While this site is near the Interstate and a railroad the campground was still fairly quiet thanks to all the large cottonwood trees.

If you’re looking to get far off the beaten path, this is your spot. Vault toilets and trash, very small loop. Possible to fit 30’ trailer. Will be difficult to maneuver. Bit of a drive from Dillon and you’ll want to stock up on supplies. Dry camping for sure. Lots of trees and you’re over looking a like. Only one camp site was being used in early June. Gets real chilly at night and mornings. Long drive through cattle country on mostly dirt roads with plenty of cattle that cross in their time. I’d recommend going for several days, not just a 1 nighter. Plenty of fishing and hiking available. Drivable Forrest paths as well. Tons of wild life to spend time with.

Ennis fishing access site is located on the Madison River just on the south edge of town. This is a First come, First serve campground that is walking distance to the town of Ennis. Some sites sit along the river, some spots are more private toward the back of the campground. It appears not much effort was placed in making this site a campground, sites are unlevel and parking pads vary from gravel, to dirt or grass. This is a dry campground like most FAS sites. A small vault toilet serves the area, site are numbered and have a picnic table and appear to all have rock fire rings. Fishing must be good here as this site always appears full when I drive by. Several spots appeared to have nice grassy areas for tents. If you have a large RV you might want to park at a parking area at the entrance and walk in to make sure there is a place big enough for you as the layout of the campground might get a bit tight for a larger RV. The fishing access site is closed to camping from December 1st through April 31st every year.