Best Equestrian Camping near Gardiner, MT

Eagle Creek campground is a nice small 16 site campground a few miles above Gardiner Montana and only a few minutes from the Yellowstone entrance.  Getting to the campground requires a steep 2 mile drive which the road recommends 4 wheel drive for to help with the incline and to prevent washboard.  Sites sit in a grassy open area with willows and other small trees and bushes around the edge.  Small creek runs along the campground.  Site #1 would the site to get it you can, out of view from the rest of camp and has two picnic tables.  The site has a vault toilet.  All sites have a metal fire ring and picnic table. Bear proof food lockers for food storage at most sites.  No water or trash service.  I filtered water from the creek.  Their is a horse Corral adjacent to campground.  Campground was nice and quiet at night with great view of the night sky.  No cell service.

This is one of the best camping cabins for equestrians that I found so far in Montana. Getting from the main road into the cabin can be a bit tricky for vehicles over 30 feet. This cabin has plenty of room to sleep 6. There are Corrals for horses and pasture. And the trails into the forest service are endless in a couple different directions. There is also a vault toilet for day travelers. The cabin has electricity and running water a fire ring and it's also close to a creek. The only down holes are mosquitoes and you cannot overnight camp only rent the cabin so if you're planning a trip you need to plan and Reserve this cabin in advance as it goes really fast every year.

The campground is usually well maintained. I’ve camped here quite a few times, but this past week I was a little disappointed. The grass at the site was very long. The picnic table hadn’t been mowed under. The bathrooms were mostly clean. The sites here can accommodate larger trailers, but the road up to the campground can be washboard, depending on the time of year. The road within the campground was a little hard to navigate with my Mazda 6 - there was an area with a hole and also a larger bump. Some sites are pretty small, while others are quite large. There is very little shade during the day. You may get lucky with some early in the day or later, depending on your site location. Eagle Creek runs along some of the sites, which can make mosquitos an issue. There is a corral for horses and a large turn around area for trucks with trailers.

Water can be acquired at Arch Park in Gardiner.

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.

My 1st time camping here was better than I expected. We went up with some friends and had gotten 2 sites next to each other. Our site was a good size area, and was next to walking trails, across from the bathroom, and close to the water spigot. The scenery was beautiful. Surrounding trees, butterflies and one afternoon a deer had came close to our campsite. Our site did not have electric hook ups. It’s a nice campground, clean, and have walking trails that we took and caught beautiful scenery photos. Would return most definitely..No store, no firewood to buy, but close enough to head to town to get supplies.

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.