Best Campgrounds near Hamilton, MT

Extra 5$ over other local campgrounds because there is water available and trash. Not especially nice or terrible. Very small sites, most with no room for a normal size tent, sites packed on top of each other. Even the few meant for small rvs have little room. Host on site in a nice beautiful and well maintained site, the public sites are not well maintained. Overgrown with weeds, very disappointing. Hosts don’t do much and are unhelpful. Suggest looking for any other CG in the area, there are several

Details: Toilet and trash on site Tight road, don’t tow anything to big On site managers are unhelpful Minimal room for even the average size tent One car per site at mist of them, nowhere else to park Long but easy drive to Darby, minimal amenities. Hamilton only 15 more minutes

12 sites with good tables and fire rings. This is a well maintained NFS campground. 3 vault toilets that are kept clean. Sites #1 & #2 get the most sun, are the largest, and can accommodate any size RV. The remaining sites vary in size. #2 can easily hold 5 full size trucks side by side, or three medium size trailers/5th wheels with their tow vehicles. It also has 3 large tables, plenty of open ground for tents, and is ideal for large groups and families. Toilets are located across from site 3, between 5/6, across from 12. #7 is low ground camping you walk down to with minimal shade and perfect for hot weather days.

The exit is at site 12, one way travel thru the campground. Across the street from the exit is the entry to sites 1-4 horse camping. Small sites with table, fire ring, and enough room for a small tent. There are 3 large metal structures with 3 chains each for horses and 2 horizontal tie out bars. No room to park horse trailers on that pull thru. One trailer spot across from site 4 by the “stock water trail” sign, the rest can park 50 yards down the road at the trail head/turn around. There are 2 additional tie out areas here for horses and plenty of room for horse trailers and several other vehicles.

Be sure to read the notice above the envelope box before you pay. From weather dependent dates chosen by the Rangers there is no cost from late Oct to late May. Otherwise it is $10 per night, $5 with golden or access passes.

No cell service, only 1 mile to the paved road, Ranger station is only about 1/2 mile down that paved road. The Rangers are proactive in sharing any important information such as severe weather, bear activity, or any other notable activity.

Details: Ranger station on the main road less than a mike from the entrance. They show up once a week Ravialli county sheriff is who to call on weekends and holidays, they will respond Be bear aware in season Equestrian specific campsites Trailhead next to the CG So much firewood laying around There are some karens that have been “coming here my whole life” and think they own the place; avoid Only three site requires walking access, the rest are drive right in to. Only a few sites so if its great weather or holiday show up mid week or even a week ahead if you can Free stays out of season, otherwise it’s a daily fee, pay at the entrance sign

…unless it's late & you’re desperate for a camp site. 

Plenty of available sites in October— other campers were mainly hunters (or fishers).  No camp host; ADA pit toilet only one open (comfort station closed); all water was winterized & no elec hook-up available.  (Fees sign— see photo-- left no indication that fees were seasonal; we were ready with our contribution but since nobody to collect, we didn’t leave it.)   24 sites (1 ADA) + 2 tipi sites, all nicely spaced & shrubbery for privacy; #1-12 by the river. 

The biggest deterrent to this CG is the many trains that came through during the night— 3-4/hr, all night— and they all blasted their whistles 3-4 times each!  I guess if you are immuned to that, this would be a great campsite.

The campground owner Libby was very helpfull and nice to us. Its very close to the city. So you can walk and leave your camper on the ground.

This area allows disperse camping Beyond a certain point (there is a small sign). There is a map provided at the road trailhead. However it is confusing since I believe the map is upside down. On my drive up I did not see any established distributed campsites. However there are some turn offs that you could park at. This area would probably not be ideal for RVs. Four wheel drive does not seem to be a requirement. I ended up camping at a turnoff and walked a bit off the road to set up my hammock. The road was not very busy I did hear an occasional car pass by. Good views and decently private. I was able to get Verizon signal at my campsite. However driving up signal was spotty

Pinter Lake is 10 miles from the main road hwy 43. The mostly gravel road is far from smooth with uncomfortable washboard feeling much of the route. Three spots are available, although people did make two ad how sites down by the river. Both were RVs. No water pump here, so must bring your own. The lake is lovely but covered for the most part with lily pads on the backside of the lake. A creek coming from the lake also is adjacent to campground. Because of its remote location, it seems many appreciate the quiet, so I wouldn’t recommend it for those who have noisy activities like ATVs. It’s buggy with only a slight breeze to keep flys away. Overall nice but remote with only one bathroom facility. Fairly clean but lots of flies.

This spot is not a camping spot.  Day use only.

A nice off the road spot in the Lolo National Forest. Pretty quiet and a nice view of an open field from the campground. Just off South Fork Lolo Creek Trail Road before the South Fork Lolo Creek Trailhead. There was enough room to fit our 23' long Sprinter Van.

There are boulders that prevent vehicle from driving into the field which is good. A few unofficial stone fire pits people have created and we did see a few gun shell casings around the campground which is kinda expected of a place like this. The campsite overall was quiet and beautiful. There is a stream/creek that runs just 50ft from where you would camp/park.

We don't usually do RV parks but didn't want to fight for camp spots during the 4th of July long weekend. We ended up booking here on the 4th and 5th of July and had a great time camping along the river, going to the hot springs across the street and walking the area. This is a beautiful resort and a little more on the campy side which we liked.

The fireworks show was spectacular and from site 7 which sits right on the bend of the creek where there is a brush clearing. This was perfect for our golden retriever as we could tie her on a long lead and she could swim her heart out. Site seven also seemed really large compared to other as there was a large tree between the next site where we tied up a hammock.

One thing to mention on camp 7 is that its one of the few areas with the brush cleared wide open on the creek. If you don't put a camp chair or something to the side of the picnic table, we found other campers will come and hang out there in your campsite as they must think its an open space to get to the water. After putting a chair there, we were disturbed less.

The hot springs accross the highway are $12 a person and we took a hot soak in the 106 degree enclosed mineral bath/pool area and rotated to the 86 degree pool outside. Kids and families all seemed to stay in the pool area while adults in the mineral bath area. Its more rustic hot springs but we did find it nice and someone told me they drain the mineral bath nightly and pressure wash it for the next day (unconfirmed)

If you are coming on the 4th of July, I'll let you know the music starts around 4pm where the have a DJ playing music till about 10pm on the other side of the highway near the restaurant were the majority of people watched and shot off fireworks of their own. We enjoyed the camp site knowing that it was just for that day and planned it would be a loud night which it was. The fireworks started around 8/9pm and went to about 1 am. The show seemed to wrap up around 10:30 but was hard to tell what was the show vs people shooting off their own. We ended up going to bed around 11pm but booms and crackles kept us up till the crowd died down. We didn't mind but thought I'd mention if you plan to come for a quite evening over this holiday.

This site is one of the best sites if you want a bit of privacy. As with the rest of the Georgetown Lake sites, there are a number of people, but you have many options to try and limit contact.