Best Dispersed Camping near Glen, MT

Cow Creek Disperse camping area is a large fairly flat grassy area just off the road. Area is in the wide open on a high spot above the Ruby River meaning less bugs as you are unprotected from any breeze that may be blowing. The site has great views of the surrounding mountains and of the Ruby River below. Site has on large rock fire ring. Plenty of room to fit a large group at this location, with no problem finding flat spots for your tents. Disperse camping along FS route 100 is only allowed in designated locations in this part of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. All forest service disperse camping rules are in affect. Stay is limited to 16 days. No facilities at this site(so come prepared. Site is at an elevation of 6428 feet.

Hands down the best spot I’ve found on this app so far!!

Literally was talking to myself as I pulled up making weird noises because I was in so much awe at how beautiful the spot was! The sunsets here are amazing or at least the night I stayed was!

The camping spots are somewhat close together so that’s good to keep in mind.

But omg, the spot is insane. The mosquitoes were not bad at all. The spot feels like a perfect little oasis.

The spot is close to the freeway, but far enough that you won’t hear any of the noise so it’s perfect if you are on a road trip. :)

There are some train tracks that run by it, but I didn’t notice if the train was noisy or going by as I was car camping!

Getting to the spot - you will get off the main road and drive through some dirt roads and past some private property. At the end of one of the roads you’ll see a small bridge you’ll drive over and the camping spots are maybe 30 seconds past the bridge.

Also an incredible spot to fish!

The BLM's Ruby Reservoir is a disperse camping area. The only facilities at this campground is a double vault toilet. There is no signage on the highway to indicated the campground. After passing the dam look for the first paved turn with a stop sign on the right side of the road, this is your turn, the pavement will stop after a couple hundred feet. Lots of campsite can be found by following the web of roads once the pavement ends. Off road travel is not allowed. Their are no metal fire rings, all the fire rings in the area are made of rocks. Being a primitive camping area this is a trash-in-trash-out site, and you will need to bring your own water. This is a nice area, and I have camped here several times during hunting season. The fishing is decent as well. If you want to find garnets just head to the lake shore and start digging. Small ones can be found on the surface, bring a shovel and dig deeper if you want something decent. If you use a gold pan shake the gravel around for several minutes then flip the pan is the easiest way to find them as the garnets are heavy and will settle to the bottom of the pan. Site is free with a 16 day stay limit.

Only 3 miles from the highway, this campsite is at the end of a well maintained, slightly rutted gravel road. It’s wide enough for trailers.

Along the road, there are a handful of pull offs that are big enough for an RV to pull into.

The coordinates bring you to an open gravel lot with nice clean pit toilets. There’s a creek nearby. Big beautiful rocks, some shade, pretty epic views on the way in. Beautiful!

No cell service, unfortunately. Another con is that there’s another road that goes in further, but it’s narrow and eroded. I attempted it in my campervan, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and parked in the open lot instead.

Full disclosure: I didn't camp here as I passed through this area en route to another dispersed campsite a bit deeper in. That said, we stopped here for a snack / water break and to filter some water so I had some time to explore.

The area is BEAUTIFUL. The lake is stunning, and sits nestled right up against some pretty dramatic mountains. Lots of trees and dispersed camping sites throughout. The hike in is about 7 miles, very gentle incline. Not too hard unless you're not used to carrying weight. 

When we went through, there were people camping, but not too many. Once we went beyond this camp area, we didn't see a soul. That's likely because of the really intense pass you have to go over to get to the dispersed site we were aiming for (see my review for that here: https://thedyrt.com/camping/undefined/flower-lake-dispersed-camping).

Tons of great hiking in this area as it is close to the Continental Divide Trail. A lot of it definitely involves going up the sides of mountains, but if you're day-hiking and not carrying a heavy backpacking pack, they're not that hard.

Bring bear spray. Hang your food. This is grizzly country.

For true back-country seclusion you'll probably want to go further in than this dispersed area, but for a less strenuous and equally as beautiful locale, this is a pretty amazing place.