Searching for a tent campsite near Flathead National Forest? Find the best information on tent campgrounds near Flathead National Forest, including sites, reviews, and tips. You're sure to find the perfect tent campsite for your Montana camping adventure.
Yellow Bay-Flathead Lake State Park has 5 tent campsites that are first-come, first-serve.
$9 - $28 / night
“Dispersed camping” is the term used for camping anywhere outside of a developed campground, including in some campgrounds with minimal development. Dispersed camping is free, and permitted almost everywhere on the Flathead National Forest. Camping in undeveloped areas requires you to help keep the sites in good condition. Rules for dispersed camping Groups over 75 people are not allowed. Dispersed camping is NOT allowed near developed recreation areas including campgrounds, trailheads and day-use areas. Water, restrooms, and trash cans are not provided. Pack out all your trash. There is a 16-day stay limit at any site. After that you must move 5-miles away, and you can not return to your original campsite for 7 days. Use existing fire rings. Avoid creating new fire rings. Your fire must be attended at all times and be dead out before leaving. Contact a local office about possible campfire restrictions before you go. Be bear aware and know the food storage regulations before camping. These regulations are strictly enforced. Additional rules or regulations may apply to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and Flathead Wild and Scenic River corridor.
“Dispersed camping” is the term used for camping anywhere outside of a developed campground, including in some campgrounds with minimal development. Dispersed camping is free, and permitted almost everywhere on the Flathead National Forest. Camping in undeveloped areas requires you to help keep the sites in good condition. Rules for dispersed camping Groups over 75 people are not allowed. Dispersed camping is NOT allowed near developed recreation areas including campgrounds, trailheads and day-use areas. Water, restrooms, and trash cans are not provided. Pack out all your trash. There is a 16-day stay limit at any site. After that you must move 5-miles away, and you can not return to your original campsite for 7 days. Use existing fire rings. Avoid creating new fire rings. Your fire must be attended at all times and be dead out before leaving. Contact a local office about possible campfire restrictions before you go. Be bear aware and know the food storage regulations before camping. These regulations are strictly enforced. Additional rules or regulations may apply to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and Flathead Wild and Scenic River corridor.
River access site located on the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Flathead River. This river access site is located adjacent to Bear Creek Trailhead and has designated parking area, vault toilet, and a boat slide for accessing the river.
“Dispersed camping” is the term used for camping anywhere outside of a developed campground, including in some campgrounds with minimal development. Dispersed camping is free, and permitted almost everywhere on the Flathead National Forest. Camping in undeveloped areas requires you to help keep the sites in good condition. Rules for dispersed camping Groups over 75 people are not allowed. Dispersed camping is NOT allowed near developed recreation areas including campgrounds, trailheads and day-use areas. Water, restrooms, and trash cans are not provided. Pack out all your trash. There is a 16-day stay limit at any site. After that you must move 5-miles away, and you can not return to your original campsite for 7 days. Use existing fire rings. Avoid creating new fire rings. Your fire must be attended at all times and be dead out before leaving. Contact a local office about possible campfire restrictions before you go. Be bear aware and know the food storage regulations before camping. These regulations are strictly enforced. Additional rules or regulations may apply to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and Flathead Wild and Scenic River corridor. Human Waste Disposal Dispersed camping generally means no bathrooms. Keep your site clean for the next campers and prevent disease spread and pollution of water by following these rules:
Urinate on rocks and avoiding vegetation if possible, and well away from water and camp. Do not leave toilet paper or wipes on the ground after you pee. Carry a zipper-lock plastic bag and pack out your toilet paper. Dig a cathole 6-8 inches deep and 8-inches wide at least 200-feet away from water, camp and trails to bury feces. Cover all waste with the soil you removed, and sprinkle the disturbed ground with leaves, pine needles, or other organic debris. If you carry a portable camping toilet, treat and pack out all treated waste and dispose of according to instructions on the digestant. The Flathead Wild and Scenic River Corridor rules require all solid human waste be carried out in leak-proof manner and disposed of properly off-forest.
Camping with a vehicle Motorized use is limited to roads and trails designated on the Motor Vehicle Use Map. Know and follow all seasonal closures and never go beyond gates or other barriers on roads. Do not park or camp in front of closed gates. This prevents authorized users, including emergency responders, from accessing the road. Find and select your campsite on foot and scout the most direct route to your campsite for your vehicle. Driving your vehicle more than 300 feet from a motorized route for purposes of dispersed camping is prohibited. You may not cut or damage trees or vegetation to access your campsite. Never drive across wet areas or areas with soft ground.
A dirt parking area located on Forest Road 895A, 8 miles from the town of Hungry Horse. The large parking area has space for 5-6 RVs and offers no services.
Camp on an old trout pond with trees and Mountain Views. It’s best to arrive before sunset and not after dark. We have a lot of water running through the property and campsites are dispersed around the pond. Camp at your reserved numbered post.
$33 - $75 / night
Legend
While this is a typical RV park in many ways, the tent sites are given a FRONT ROW location along the river. The host did say they weren’t going to have tent camping for at least until August of 2020 due to a lack of COVID supply availability. Still, there’s a lot of fantastic space to explore, lots of tall trees AND... hot air balloons take off from here. I kid you not. What could be better than being in a balloon floating over Montana during the summer?
Scout
Small and pretty area but there were big deal breakers for us. We spent 2 nights here tent camping as part of a longer motorcycle camping trip.
First and foremost, the store was closed. They have a store on site but it's closed until 2022. It would have been nice because the closest thing to a grocery store is 15 miles away.
Second, there are no defined campsites. It's first come first served around a little pond on the property. It's nicely shaded and quiet, but there are NO picnic tables for tent sites and no dedicated fire rings. So if you show up later in the day, you might be SOL for a fire. The RV sites have picnic tables. I bring this up because it's a really nice thing to have when you're tent camping. A place to cook, sit, put some of the crap you're hauling (especially if you're like us and on motorcycles with limited storage).
Third, the bathrooms and showers were cleaned up on a regular basis which was really nice but no hot water later on in the day. After a long, hard day of riding I just wanted to wash all the grossness off and was in freezing cold water.
Traveler
This camp spot is a dream come true for a family visiting Glacier. They have a family pool and an adults only pool in a separate enclosed. They have many different options as far as tent sites, hookup sites, camping cabins, luxury cabins, etc etc. Very cute ice cream shop and a wonderful little cafe that has dinners and espressos and coffee in the morning.
One of my favorite things about this KOA is they have a beautiful and private tent camping area away from all the RV people. Also the bbq at the little restaurant is amazing and I think it’s the owner out there on a grill and he’s a lovely talkative dude who wants to ensure everyone is enjoying themselves. The facilities are all well maintained and lovely. Can’t speak highly enough about this place.
LegendFor full disclosure we were compensated for this trip for testing the Dyrt's reservation system.
Our trip to Swan Lake Trading Post & Campground started out by reserving the campground through The Dyrts's new reservation system. Reserving the site was extremely easy and fast to use, way better than other systems we have used before. We had a confirmation from the campground with in a few hours of using the reservation system.
Now for the campground. We were highly impressed by this small campground. The tent camping area was located around a small pond/lake. The site has picnic tables and fire rings as well as plenty of chairs available for siting around the fire or along the little lake. The campground has 8 RV sites, 3 cabins and 3 yurts (the yurts had not been set up for the season during our visit). The trading post has all your basic camping needs and anything you need if you forget something, they even have Ice Cream. If you don't want to cook breakfast the trading post will take care of that for you by cooking up a breakfast sandwich for you. The campground provides clean restrooms and showers. Tent sites were very reasonable at $20, just two more dollars than the Forest Service campground down the road which does not have flush toilets or showers. The camp host are very friendly. We were provided with the camps wifi password, but you do have to be on the trading post back porch to use it. The porch has plenty of table an chairs for sitting at. They also have games you can use to pass the time, we didn't use them but was nice to know they were available. It was nice and quiet at night with very little traffic on the highway, plus the creek running by really muffled any noise from vehicles driving by. This campground will definitely be on our list to stay at the next time we visit the Swan Valley and Swan Lake.
Traveler
Loved staying at this campground as it was right on the water and extremely secluded from all that goes on at Glacier. 20 Miles from anything, located in Flathead National Forest. The only con I have is that the road to get to the camp is 20 miles of rough grated dirt. I recommend Site 12! It’s on the corner of the camp and has decent space from the other camps nearby! You can reach quite a few hikes in Flathead National Forest by driving.
Guide
Great tent camping away from the crowded Yellowstone sites.
Guide
Dispersed spot in the flathead national forest. Did some group camping here. Nice and open, however it was absolutely littered with trash. Some a moose!
Guide
We stayed in a little hut one night and camped the second. It was the first time I had been asked to pay for showers but have since learned it is the trend out West. Hut was crazy expensive for October and the tent site wasn't cheap. Only a couple tent sites are truly flat, just FYI. It was fine but for the money spent, a free hot shower was a no brainer to me.
Guide
In this video we review 2 more of the free boondocking(dispersed camping) sites near Glacier National Park and Columbia Falls, Montana. This time we focus on the Middle Fork Flathead River(Blankenship Bridge) and Glacier Rim River Access Locations. All locations are located in the Flathead National Forest and there is a 3 day stay limit at Middle Fork and 16 day stay limit at Glacier Rim.
Guide
Talley Lake campground is located in the Flathead National Forest west of Kalispell MT. Road heading into Talley is not paved and not well maintained, road is rutted from heavy usage in both summer and winter travel. Campground has about 40 camping locations with a pubic boat launch. Talley Lake is the second deepest lake in Montana with plenty of fishing spots. North American Bald Eagle have been spotted here in the past.
Guide
At least 20 lake front dry tent sites, second row back from the lake is tent sites or small rigs with power. There are swimming docks, a boat launch, sunning lawn and a newly added concession stand. The water shallow for a long distance of beautiful colorful rocks (like Lake McDonald) and perfect for swimming of all ages. Camp crowd was quiet and well behaved perhaps because no alcohol is allowed? Great stop on the way to Glacier National Park. Why not 5 stars? Bathrooms and campsites were dirty, potable water is hard to get.
GuideThe road was a little rough if you wanted to go all the way to the river. Fantastic site where you can tent camp, car or RV.
Scout
This campground offers cabin, rv and tent camping. There is a cafe open for breakfast and lunch. The office has cards and games for use and the hosts are always helpful.
RangerTent sites are strange but it works. River access is right there for you and great view of the Bob Marshall mountain range.
Ranger
Camp right along Flathead Lake in a campground with modern amenities (running water, showers). The campground is quite large for my taste (I prefer tent camping in solitude), but it is clean and well-maintained with a killer view.
Legend
2 1/2 stars. Keep in mind, I’m writing this as a TENT camper. While this place is off the road 100 yards, there’s still a lot of traffic noise from two sides. You’re used to this if you have an RV, but here it’s a little worse as the the tent sites are on open land and right off the entrance road. The stream next to the tent sites is nice though. The name of this place was changed to Three Bears RV Park in 2014, according to the friendly desk guy. There’s a lot of pride here - all the buildings are well-maintained. It’s also close to a great fishing hole down the road and a winery around the corner.
Ranger
The location of the campground is great, very close to the mountain town of Whitefish Montana and right along Whitefish Lake. The sites are small and the road is narrow but it is beautiful. I would be cautious about bringing any large campers to this area but the tent sites are nice. Be aware of ticks. Some sites are nice and level but others have a heavy slope.
Guide
Ashley Lake never disappoints. The camp sites are a bit rough to get too but as long as you're tent camping or have a very small and agile pull behind you'll be okay. It can get a bit windy later in the day but it's still beautiful.
Traveler
It was a nice stay for a couple days. Showers and bathroom were clean and front desk was very nice. Seems like more people live there than visit though. Tent sites were very small and bunched together. Price was descent.
Guide
We camped at Fish Creek Campground during our visit to Glacier National Park - it was a good experience. The only comment we had is how tightly packed the campsites were. Think it was a result of the campers staying in the "tent camping" spots - the tent spots are just smaller so the presence of campers made things feel tighter. Clean and quite during the night - we'd recommend again.
ScoutThe staff are very friendly and helpful with hiking trails throughout West Glacier. The tent sites and even cabins are well spaced from neighbors, eco-friendly and kept very clean. The noise level is also minimal and no one is disturbed by RVs or restroom noises.
GuideThis small campground packs a tremendous punch! RVs (if I had to guess, accommodates 8-12 total), rustic cabins, two yurts, and pondside tent sites - there are no defined tent sites; anywhere along the pond perimeter is fair game.
We stayed just one night in one of the yurts ($35 summer 2021), which is equipped with two cots and a battery-operated lantern. After checking in with the camp hosts (who are lovely!), we got a key to the showers, bathrooms, and laundry room. The hosts keep these areas immaculate, cleaning often. There's also very limited wifi on the porch just outside the bathrooms/showers.
The campground has a great vibe and everyone is very friendly. Between the pond and Swan Lake just across the street, it is buggy, but you cannot beat the location!
The general store is still closed due to flooding last summer, but new construction is well underway.
Guide
Not the most luxurious camp site, but was great for tent camping. Had a water spiket and electricity on site. The bathrooms and showers were nice. The owner was great. Loved that it was close to Glacier but also close to town for easy access to groceries and gas. Was only going to stay for one night but ended up staying for 5.
GuideThe price ($30 for tent site) was great for a private campground with showers/running water. The campsites were not that spaced out but somehow it still seemed pretty private with all the trees and different levels of sites on the hills.
Staff was very friendly and helpful.
TravelerMinutes away from Glacier National Park, this camp ground has it all. From cabins to RV sites to tent camping, there is something for everyone. We stayed in a tent. The bathroom's we're not too far away. It was nice to have a restaurant on site (that doubles as a coffee bar). The play structure is great for kids. We did not use the pools, but they looked nice from a distance.
RangerWe have loved camping here, we have returned multiple times! The tent sites are generous in most spaces, just specify your needs when you reserve. There is an adult pool, family pool and hot tubs! There is a camp store and the bathrooms are always nice and clean. Plus the KOA is just 10 minutes from the West Glacier entrance!
Guide
During the evening and early mornings this place is magical. It gets pretty crowded during the day and when people say the dirt road is dusty, you've never seen anything like this. You can't see 5ft in front of you. There are 3 RV sites and several tent sites down by the river. Place was full every night in July.
Tent camping near Flathead National Forest in Montana offers a unique blend of stunning natural beauty and outdoor adventure, making it a perfect getaway for nature enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Flathead National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Flathead National Forest is Blankenship Bridge - Dispersed Camping with a 4.3-star rating from 26 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Flathead National Forest?
TheDyrt.com has all 57 tent camping locations near Flathead National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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