Best Glamping near Gardiner, MT

We were in need of a place to stay while attending a field seminar in Yellowstone.  It is about a 30 min drive to Gardiner/Entrance to Yellowstone.  The owners have experience in the hospitality industry and it shows inside the tent.  We stayed in the Elk because we wanted a private bathroom. The room had 2 beds (super comfortable and well dressed), refrigerator, couch,  writing table and electric fireplace (more for ambiance vs really providing a lot of heat) and still very roomy. They provide a little lantern for night walks to bathroom or back to tent if you don't have your own flash light.   The deck off the front was ideal for sitting or practicing yoga.  You do have to walk to the bathroom/showers.  While we didn't have the opportunity to use the 2 community fire pits or horseshoes, butthey were well placed with a beautiful backdrop of mountains.  There is also a small building with a coffee/tea machine and another small refrigerator.  You can park right next to the tent.  

If you want to take a walk, there are some dirt roads to walk by other surrounding farms.  

The tents a pretty dispersed and seemed fairly private.  There was only one other couple on the premises so not sure when it is a full house.  They offer really nice kennels.  

My only ding is they have a few kinks to work out, but I feel they will figure it out.  They will be offering speciality breakfasts in the future, but now they are just store bought muffins with yogurt and orange juice.  The location gets you off the highway, but you do need to navigate a gravel road for about a mile.  Totally drivable for any car. 

I think if I stayed here again I would take one of their guiding trips.

I would love to give this campground 5 stars - the hosts were lovely. It's a beautiful, peaceful piece of property. Lots of trees, surrounded by mountains and a glass lake. If you are tent camping, there are gorgeous sites along the water and you get amazing sunset views each night. HOT showers, laundry facilities, and an outdoor kitchen for cleaning your catch if you head out on the lake. Ladies bathroom needs some better ventilation, but the showers were a nice size.

If you are RVing and staying here to spend your days touring Yellowstone… you just have to take note. It's a long, bumpy 5 mile drive into the camp (making it wonderfully quiet!). It was fine the first day, but it got old, especially after driving around Yellowstone all day. They also, if needed, pack the RVs in some weird spots. Where we thought it was a through road next to us, ended up being a RV spot later in the week…and we lost our pretty sunset views. It also was awkward for both of us as we were perpendicular to them.

If you plan on spending more than 4 nights there, you will love the serene getaway of it! If you are only there to sleep while visiting Yellowstone, you will find its location a bit of a hassle.

Let's be honest, Campfire Lodge & RV is not the cheapest place to stay. And, it's obvious why when you stay there. The upkeep is top notch. The RV pads are graded roadbase. Fire pits and tables for each spot. the spot we stayed in had full 30 amp hook-ups. Tall pine trees. And, a stones throw from the Madison River. What an amazing place to sit and relax. 

The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch. Bring your appetite and prepare yourself for an amazing breakfast or lunch. If you're a fly tyer the collection of hackle is off the charts. 

Close to Yellowstone NP, fishing on the Madison River, exploring West Yellowstone to Ennis Montana and so much more! What a great place. We'll be back for sure.

Cherry Creek Campground comprises a total of nine campsites, per Recreation.gov and seeing for myself camping here for almost a week. The campsite is first come/first serve, and as of June to July 2024, there is a $23 per campsite fee for a max of 8 people and one vehicle. This fee is relatively low compared to other NPS campgrounds, honestly. It is very well-maintained and clean and consists of one vault toilet (aka: “outhouse”, as well as one large garbage container that is bear protected located at the end of the dirt road/entrance to main campground. There are also several bear protected containers located for every two sites allowing storage for campers’ food and food-related items and supplies helping campers stay safe from frequent bears in the area by storing their food, spices, herbs, pots, pans, dutch ovens, anything aromatic that would attract bears (perfumes, cologne, toothpaste, etc. included, FYI) set away from the campsites, at the end of the vehicle parking for each campsite, so close to the site’s fire pit to use, but also at a good distance away from your tent. There is also an information board next to the campsites’ vault toilet and bear protected garbage container with notices on any warning or alerts in the area, bear education, and policies and rules of the campground. There is also small containers to retrieve envelopes with attached receipts to pay the site’s fees with cash and deposit it in the dropbox next to the board, or else you are able to scan a QR code to pay online. It is a pack in/pack out (including all garbage) campsite. It has a lovely meadow area, allows pets on leash, and right off the banks of Hebgen Lake. It’s so beautiful! We will come again!

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.

After spending the day driving between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, we were anxious to arrive, set up camp and crack a beer. Unfortunately, our plans of an early arrival were delayed significantly due to animals near and or/on the road leaving on the park. Oh well - if you’re going to be stuck in slow traffic, Yellowstone is the place to do it!

From West Yellowstone, the campground is about a half hour drive along the beautiful Hebgen Lake. The camp hosts were very kind and accommodating. They gave us a few tips about tenting in bear country, and advised us to look out for a few moose who inhabit the grounds. 

Our site (C22) was surprisingly quiet and secluded despite being in the middle of the loop. While we didn’t have our own bear locker, there was one nearby which appeared to be communal. Our site was large, with lots of options for tent placement, and a nice picnic table. Don’t forget to pack bug/bear spray!

This campground is always open, but how busy it is always seems to change with the season.

Right by the north entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs (which is awesome) and you'll almost always see some elk, but not as close to other "main" attractions so people will pass it by. Sites are a bit open, so you're not as secluded as some of the other campgrounds in the park, but they make up for that by being bigger than the other sites (which unfortunately can attract some pretty large RVs).
Because you don't have the shading of the forest like other sites it can get pretty warm. You have picnic table and fire ring with potable water and running water facilities.