Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Helena National Forest

This is the 3rd and final disperse site that the Helena National Forest has marked along the little Blackfoot River.  It is nice to be sure that you are on public land when in an area checker boarded with private land.  This is a large flat camping area with plenty of room for tents and several RV's.  Site has a large rock fire ring, and the river is only a few short flat feet away.  Plenty of wood can be found for making a fire.  Site is near the road, but very little traffic comes this way as you are almost at the roads end.  Water can be easily filtered from the river (more like a creek at this point)

Indian Meadows Trailhead is the trailhead for two trails in to the Helena National Forest  Scapegoat Wilderness Area, plus it features a camping area with picnic tables and metal fire rings along with a vault toilet.  The camping loop has five developed sites with tables and fire rings.  The area serves as the trail head for two trails,  Mainline Trail #481 and Landers Fork Trail #438.  Each trail head has a small parking area, but a very large parking are is between the two to allow for additional parking and for horse trailer parking.  No water or trash service is available at the site, but can be obtained at the Copper Creek campground a few miles away.  Cost is FREE!

Bumped in to this disperse campsite while heading out for a hike.  This is one of three disperse campsite along the Little Blackfoot River in the Helena National Forest that have been marked by the Forest Service as a disperse camping area. This is a nice large flat right next to the creek with plenty of room for multiple tents or RVs.  The site has a large rock fire ring and the big bonus of having a picnic table.  A short trail leads to the river, but does require a little bit of scrambling.  The River (more of a creek at this point) has a nice spot if you need to cool off from the summer heat.  Another short trail goes up a small hill and leads to an area with lots of fallen trees which can be cut for firewood if fire restrictions are not in place.  The only bad thing about this disperse site is that it is right next to the road.

This is the second disperse camping sit along the Little Blackfoot River that has been marked as a disperse campsite by the Helena National Forest.  It is nice having these sits marked by the Forest Service as their are several parcels of private land along the road.  This site is small with only one small level area for a tent of mid sized RV.  The site has a large rock fire ring in the center.  Their is no easy trail access to the river.  Plenty of down trees in the area for firewood if you have a way to cut them, their is also plenty of small stuff that can be easily collected for a fire.   Site is right next to the road, but road noise should be little to none as a few curves will slow vehicles down and their isn't much more road left until the campground and trailhead at the end of the road.

Kaden Campground is a Helena National Forest Campground just about at the end of the road, the trail head for Blackfeet Meadows Trail is just a short distance past the campground.  Kaden Campground is across the road from the Kaden Cabin which can be reserved.  The campground has 11 sites, all quite roomy and nicely spread out.  Each Site has a picnic table and metal fire ring.  The campground has running water from two faucets.  Two Vault toilets serve the campground.   This is a Trash-in Trash-out campground.  Two feeding areas are available for horses, and A small public corral is located across the road from the campground.  The little Blackfoot River runs along the campground and is easy to access.  If you are in the need for a hike, take the short trail at the end of the campground to the Blackfoot Meadows Trail head.  A 5 mile hike (10 round trip) will take you to Blackfoot Meadows and some very good fly fishing.

Helena National Forest's Park Lake Campground sits next to the beautiful Park Lake. A day use areas sits along the east side of the lake. The campground sits above the lake and features 22 campsites with metal fire rings and picnic tables. The campground is paved with paved parking pads. The campground has two vault toilets(a third one sits at the entrance to the campground in the day use area). Water is available from two hand pumps in the campground. This is a very nice campground with the sites nicely spread out from each other. The kids will love all the large boulders to climb on. Unlike a lot of other forest service campground that are off the beaten path, you will still get cell service at Park Lake since you sit on a high spot in the area. The lake provides fishing for Arctic Greyling, and Cutthroat trout. The lake is open to non-motorized watercraft. Follow the speed limit on the way up to the campground as the road can be very bumpy.

Cooper Creek Campground is a nice quiet campground in the Helena National Forest. Cooper Creek Campground offers 20 sites with metal fire rings and concrete picnic tables, and has three vault toilets and potable Water is available from a hand pump. For those who like to fish, the campground is along Cooper Creek and Snowbird lake is just across the road from the campground. Like to hike, the trailhead for Snowbank Creek/Sucker Creek trail is just across the road next to Snowbird lake. The trailhead has plenty of parking space and a Vault Toilet. Like bears, good, this is grizzly bear country so Food Storage Order is in effect. You will have to store your food in your vehicle as storage lockers are not available. Campground does have trash service. Cost in 2018 was $8 a night put this is planned to go up to $15 next year, but still well worth the price.

A Ranger review of the Vivobarefoot Primus Trail SG / Soft Ground.

I really like these shoe, but when I first pulled them out the box I wasn't sure. My first experience with these shoes was a little hard, hard as in, these shoes were hard to get in to. I though I was going to have to send these back, but I finally got them on. These shoe need to be broke in as they are very snug around the ankle. Luckily the shoes get easier to put on as you wear them, but still a bit of a challenge. That snug fit at the top of the shoe has its advantage, you don't get debris in your shoe as there is no room for anything to make its way into the shoe.

I was concerned at first that these shoes would not provide enough protection from rocks, but after taking them out on the trail my mind was changed. I was able to hike a rocky trail easily and comfortably, I even purposely stepped on loose rocks to see how it would feel. While I could feel the rocks, the shoe was tough enough to protect my feet, even the front of the shoe has enough material to protect your toes if you stub your toe on a rock.

A few things to note when you take the shoes out of the box, be sure to put the inserts in the shoes. I missed them at first and wore the shoes for several days before noticing them. While they are slim, those inserts made the shoes so much more comfortable. The shoes have elastic laces, but also come with a set of traditional laces, but the shoes fit so well I could probably go without the laces at all.

Clean. Had outhouses. Pet and family friendly drive to accessible. Tent and camper parking. Right on the water.

Very friendly. Campground store, campground hosts.

Lake access, boat access.

Pet friendly.

Picnic tables and gazebos throughout the park.

Clean bathrooms, outhouse and showers available.

Full electric, sewer hook up spots available.

 A lot of water stations.  The boat dock parking area allowed camping along the perimeter. A few paved walking paths near the beach area.   The narrow paved roads made life interesting. The fish cleaning station is closed due to vandalism.  Our first day was 105F which made the lake more inviting.  Evening low of 76F.  No pets on the fairly small swim beach.  All other water access has large rocks for erosion mitigation.

Our Saturday departure was delayed by FWP boat inspection at the entrance and a long line was inbound to Holter Lake.

There were some of the cutest cows on the way in. It took me over half an hour to locate the owner and get a calf's head unstuck. The water was pretty and my dogs loved all the beach wood. My neighbors were friendly and didn't mind the dogs running around.

My dogs and I went here for a day trip. It was super pretty, neighbors were friendly, though it was busy. Good spot for a bonfire.

Easy access from 15 and nice RV spots. Boat launch ramp and small beach for swimming, fishing and for dogs to play. A sweet gem! No hook up but a pit toilet

Beautiful spot on the lake! The campsites are walk-in so be aware of that. There is a handicap spot that is next to the toilet you don't have to walk in to. Not a lot of privacy but there is a good distance between sites. Picnic tables and established fire rings here, dogs welcome!

I took my dogs here midwinter. It was cold (obviously) but very pretty next to the water. The mountains reflected the sunlight perfectly and it all was surreal at times. Nice for a little getaway. Don't expect quiet, that river is raging!

Great place to camp right along the water for tents, RTTs, or campers. The problem is there were a ton of people. I arrived on a Thursday with only one other person camping within 100 yards of me. By Saturday, there were 12 different campers packed in like sardine along the same 100 yard stretch. Loose dogs were running all over and generators were running all night. If you don't mind the crowd, it's a great place to camp and enjoy the water

We rolled into the last spot which was the only spot with no tree coverage. So that stunk.

But it is a cute campground. Just off the highway so it is easy access. A toilet, a boat ramp, and several trails down to the water. Great spot to SUP and play around.

This is a high traffic area though. Lots of fisherman's and their boats coming and going. They drove a bit fast for y liking with kids and dogs.

But we would stop again for the water access

First road dispersed has no vault toilets but rings/tables each site. I went down second road for more dispersed sites. only toilet open was #3 but it was stocked & clean. Stayed at end of this road & was stunning! Lots of bugs when first arriving but none the next day. Was around 30 at night & 40-50 degrees during day. Extremely windy & no sites really covered. Water was too cold for me to swim, but dogs had no problem enjoying the river. Plus, Not a single soul was here & I’d definitely come again!