Best Tent Camping near Fort Smith, MT

Tent camping here is not very private. You basically pitch a tent in the middle of a bunch of RVs with very little tree cover. Also, we were in T1 and near the bathrooms which made it so people would cut through our campsite often.

That being said all the facilities are very nice and the staff as well.

Tent campers beware but not that ware.

What a gem this find was! Free camping with showers and bathrooms as clean as home, close to restaurants and a cute movie theater, and close to the Bighorn Canyon with great wildlife. I took advantage of its location to head towards Cody to visit the Heart Mountain Internment Camp interpretive center as well as to head up Bighorn Canyon to look for wild horses in the Pryor Range. There are about 8 RV pull through sites and about 5 or 6 tent sites, all with picnic tables available(although some tent sites share a table). The tent pads are not really dedicated pads, but they are covered in wood mulch, so they are nice and soft. You do get a little noise and dust from the nearby ballfields, and it was really windy the afternoon I showed up so I was glad I had extra tie downs for my tent. Once the sun set however, the wind died down. While the campground isn’t a destination site, it’s a great stop off while traveling.

It’s hard to believe that a town creates a free campground for anybody to use. This is well laid out with RV and tent sites. Water, restrooms and showers are all available. There is a donation box for people to offer their own fair value price. Perhaps all towns should offer donation based camping. With the effort the town put into this place, it’s a blessing. 

Town is a wonderful place. There are some unique small stores and restaurants. The families sitting in their yard wave as you pass. Right next to the campground is a great park. 

This is a wonderful community offering.

Reservations: 877-444-6777 or recreation.gov 

Sites: 25 15 single with electric 9 single without electric 1 tent site 

Fee: $18.00 $23.00 for electric $10.00 additional vehicle 

Reservable sites: 16 single (14 with electric) 

Open: June with electric, during winter electric loop is closed 

Limit: 14 days 

Bear Aware, potable water, pit toilets, host on site, bear box, lantern pole, picnic table, fire ring, grill, fish cleaning table. There is a "small" lake in the campground. The pit toilet is very clean. While closed for season the amenities are closed the campground remains open. It runs on a Pack it in, Pack it out. Beautiful pine forest with amazing mountains for the backdrop.

 LNT

 BTYFI 

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General: Upon arriving at this campground (the FIRST Holiday KOA), I felt like we were in Disneyland! Everything was spotlessly clean, the staff was exceptionally friendly and even though there were rain clouds in the sky, it felt sunny! 

Site Quality/Facilities: There are a variety of sites ranging from tent to full hookup with concrete patio, swing, and upgraded picnic table with umbrella. We had reserved a water/electric site. The first site assigned to us had a huge puddle from the recent rain so I went back to the office and asked if we could switch to the one next to it and it was no problem to do so. Sites that back up to the river are, in my opinion, the nicest but they don’t have full hookups if that is what you need. Some of the tent sites will hear road noise. There is a restaurant on-site (Pistol Pete’s) that was not open when we were there (due to Covid) but there was a food truck where you could order breakfast sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, etc. We did not try this so cannot comment on the quality. Coin-operated laundry. 

Bathhouse: As nice as, if not nicer than, our bathroom at home! The tiled showers were very clean (it helped that I snagged one just after it was cleaned) and had a bench, plenty of hooks, a sink, and a toilet in an all-in-one. The water pressure was a little meek but hot. Husband had a shower in the alternative trailer– nice and clean but not as fancy. 

Activities: Pool, hot tub, nice playground, mini golf all on-site. Campground backs up to the Yellowstone River with direct access, although the river was very low when we were there. 

This very family-friendly campground is not our typical place to camp but after a week without, we needed showers and electricity and it was a Friday night in August, so we are glad we made the reservation to stay here!

High desert camping overlooking Bighorn Lake and the marina. I highly suggest you pay the extra couple bucks for a site with the covered picnic table to get some shade. Some sites have been updated with water and electric hookups, some have grills and tent pads and some don’t, but all have fire pits and picnic tables. The bathrooms have flush toilets and were very clean. If you need a shower, head into Lovell and drop a donation in the box at the City Camping Park and use the super clean showers there. I spent a long time talking with the host who’s home is just north in Montana. He had great ideas about taking the canyon boat ride (about $40 for a two hour tour), checking out Devils Canyon, or looking for bighorn sheep and Pryor Mountain wild horses (both of which I saw!).

Stopped for one night tent dry camping on 9/10/20. Clean and quiet. Close to interstate (pros and cons). Parking available next to tent area. No fire rings in the large tent area. Limited picnic tables. Had two bucks stroll within 30 yards of the tent area. Bathrooms and showers were secure and clean. No firewood for sale. Had to buy from KOA next door.

We picked the Lazy R for a quick overnight stay on trip to Missoula, MT.  We weren't expecting much, given that we were tent campers staying in an RV park.  However, we were pleasantly surprised we arrived to find a nice grassy campsite for a our tent and clean restrooms and showers.  The following morning, we opted to skip making coffee and oatmeal for breakfast and instead visited the onsite bakery.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Hard to beat rolling out of your tent, walking 100 feet and getting reasonably priced gourmet coffee and fresh baked pastries for breakfast.  I will definitely stay here again.

To clear things up first this is a single campground that has cabins tent spots and pull in RV and camper spots.

This site would definitely be more suited for TVs but our tent fit in fine and we were able to escape to the nearby Yellowstone River.

There is also gritty sandstone climbing on the trims that surround Billings and one of our favorite ranges in the lower 48, the Beartooths, is very close by and absolutely stunning!

Clean creek side campsite with tent only and RV sites available. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table, utility post and bear-box

Great water and electric hookups with good water pressure. The staff here are very caring and hospitable, and the office has free ice cream and coffee!

We were delayed by a fire and bad storms and we called to say we wouldn’t be there before they close the office at 9:00 pm, but Laura said that she was concerned for us boondocking at Walmart, that there’s nothing available that night in Billings and that she’d stay late to let us in. Their hospitality shows in the nice selection of home-made freezer meals, Montana teas, and Montana honey for sale at homey prices.

This campsite is very flat! There’s no shade, so be prepared to be hot. We stayed two nights. The first night got chilly at night but was perfect. The second night was incredibly windy so we couldn’t have a fire and had to park our truck in front of our tent to block the wind. But we still had a blast. The host was extremely nice and even offered us a place in her tent if the winds became too heavy. We heard coyotes our first night but did not see any wildlife. The campsite is conveniently located next to the horseshoe bend marina, where you can rent kayaks and canoes, and I think they rent boats as well. And a few miles down the road is Devil’s Canyon. Beautiful sunsets and night skies. Highly recommend!

This was an easy 1 night stop off highway. We are not the busy campsite type. This is a busy site a lot of trailers That being said, we were the only tent campers It was quiet and nice to have laundry

It’s big open campground but the sites are so large we didn’t mind---plus you get better views of the amazing colors on the cliffs. Pros: central location, near the marina, incredible views from your tent, water, flush toilets, clean, great caretakers, stargazing, large sites. Cons: only some of the sites have shade pavilions.

Only one spot was suitable for a car camping, the rest were for tents. There is a big waterfall up at the top of the campground, short hike. Spot had a bench, 2 picnic tables and a firepit. The creek was rushing right below the site. 2 bathrooms and trash cans. Only $7/night.

Located right on the South Tongue River, the sites are very nice and the campground is clean. The setting for this campground is spectacular!! The sites closest to the river all have great tent platforms. The only complaint would be the noise from all of the ATV’s driving by on the main road.