Best RV Parks & Resorts near Helena National Forest, MT

This is a typical KOA.  First the good:

Friendly helpful staff until their gone at closing time.  Little mini store with a few essentials.  

Clean bathrooms and showers and clean laundry room with several washers/dryers.  $2.00 per load to wash.  Can't remember how much to dry.  Very cool pinball machine that costs 25 cents per game.  Fun fun fun!  Another bathroom/shower in middle of park but I never looked inside that one.

65 sites that most have full hook-up and pull-through.  A few cool tent sites with gas BBQs.  Some cool looking cabins but I never looked inside one.  I'm here on 8/24/2024 and RV park is sold out except 3 pull-through sites.  All tent sites were full.  I don't know about the cabins.

Cool playground for kids and large mostly gravel dog run.

Edit added:  AT&T has 5G and three bars.  KOA has wifi but slow slow slow I got 3MPS so instead of KOA wifi I used my iPhone Personal Hotspot that worked great.

THE BAD (and reason for only 3 stars):

All gravel roads and sites throughout the park.  Very close together.  Some sites have a very narrow strip of grass.  Some of the picknick tables need to be re-painted.  Unfortunately while eating breakfast you could be 2 feet away from the next RV dumping their sewer.  P.U.  The luxury sites don't have that problem.  They are at the end of each row and only have a neighbor on the drivers side.  I think well worth the extra 17 bucks.

Not ADA friendly.  Very hard for someone with a walker to get around because of gravel roads/sites.  Someone with a wheel chair near impossible.  Has a nice handicap shower in main office building.  Only problem is that once I take my walker in with me it's very tight and no room to move around.

Not EV car friendly.  There is a $250 fine and eviction if you plug in your car.  The person at the front desk told me the $250 fine and eviction is because EVs overload the outdated system and cause a fire.  This KOA is an older one and was wired before EVs.    Each individual site has its own 30 amp and 50 amp circuit breaker.

Some trees but few and far between.  No pool or hot tub.

Final thoughts:  Make reservations well in advance if you can.  This KOA is the best game in town and is mostly sold out in summer.   I think (sorry I don't know for sure) there is only one other RV park in town and from what I can tell, it is a much older one. I would proceed with caution before I booked it.  Good traveling.  See you on the road.

This is a typical KOA. First the good: Friendly helpful staff until their gone at closing time. Little mini store with a few essentials. Clean bathrooms and showers and clean laundry room with several washers/dryers.$2.00 per load to wash. Can't remember how much to dry. Very cool pinball machine that costs 25 cents per game. Fun fun fun! Another bathroom/shower in middle of park but I never looked inside that one. 65 sites that most have full hook-up and pull-through. A few cool tent sites with gas BBQs. Some cool looking cabins but I never looked inside one. I'm here on 8/24/2024 and RV park is sold out except 3 pull-through sites. All tent sites were full. I don't know about the cabins. Cool playground for kids and large mostly gravel dog run. Edit added: AT&T has 5G and three bars. KOA has wifi but slow slow slow I got 3MPS so instead of KOA wifi I used my iPhone Personal Hotspot that worked great. THE BAD(and reason for only 3 stars): All gravel roads and sites throughout the park. Very close together. Some sites have a very narrow strip of grass. Some of the picknick tables need to be re-painted. Unfortunately while eating breakfast you could be 2 feet away from the next RV dumping their sewer. P.U. The luxury sites don't have that problem. They are at the end of each row and only have a neighbor on the drivers side. I think well worth the extra 17 bucks. Not ADA friendly. Very hard for someone with a walker to get around because of gravel roads/sites. Someone with a wheel chair near impossible. Has a nice handicap shower in main office building. Only problem is that once I take my walker in with me it's very tight and no room to move around. Not EV car friendly. There is a$250 fine and eviction if you plug in your car. The person at the front desk told me the$250 fine and eviction is because EVs overload the outdated system and cause a fire. This KOA is an older one and was wired before EVs. Each individual site has its own 30 amp and 50 amp circuit breaker. Some trees but few and far between. No pool or hot tub. Final thoughts: Make reservations well in advance if you can. This KOA is the best game in town and is mostly sold out in summer. I think(sorry I don't know for sure) there is only one other RV park in town and from what I can tell, it is a much older one. I would proceed with caution before I booked it. Good traveling. See you on the road.

This is a newly developed campground, with two shower houses(rare in Montana) with flush toilets, as well as vault toilets. The sites are all spacious enough to accommodate two vehicles, both towing trailers or boats. There are three types of sites in the campground, Rustic (no water, sewer or electricity ), Electrical Only (no water or sewer) and Full Hook-up (water, sewer and electrical hook-ups). Campground has a store and gas is available. The day use area has a frisbee-golf coarse and beach volleyball. I was very impressed with the campground, leaps and bounds above the old campground.

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

I was staying in Bozeman at the fairgrounds and was tired of being able to"reach out and touch someone", as is my neighbors, so on a whim decided to leave early and give Lost Moose Meadows a try(I'm always skeptical of private RV parks as my preference is more along the lines of state parks/COE campgrounds), and probably the best decision I've made on this trip thus far(3 months in). 

This is a relatively new RV park(opened 6 weeks ago) situated in a valley near a small town(Lincoln, MT) owned/managed by a husband/wife team (Matt& Nichole) who put their heart and soul into building this park (Also, super cool folks, very personable). They built the park from the ground up themselves and it shows they were RVers themselves and built as they would want to enjoy. Each site is like a little oasis with plenty of room to stretch (B3 feels like a 1/2 acre lot, and likely not too far off from it), plenty long enough for even the longest of rigs (some of the pull throughs are over 100 feet long). There isn't a ton of shade however to be expected as the park is new and there will be shade as trees mature. 

Originally I was going to stay here a few nights before continuing west however decided to stay 2 and a half weeks. It's a bit off I-90 however if you're simply looking for a place to stretch out, this is definitely it and worth the trek.

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)

The campground is nice enough, lots of brown grass throughout the park that if irrigated would look fantastic. There is a base rate for your camp spot the an up-charge of $5 a night if you have an electric spot and another $5 a night if your site has electricity. Using the dump station is $10 if you are not in full hookups, fresh water is available at two fill stations, unfortunately you cannot attach your own water filter to the fill stations as they have a hose that is not threaded and you cannot remove the hose.

THE ROAD….I’ve been on LOTS of washboarded roads in the US deserts and Mexico, but never such an unrelenting brutal one as the one to the campground from the highway. I am not the fly over at high speed guy, You may not feel the bumps in your car but your RV or trailer is being trashed. The road is also extremely dusty. If not for that road I would recommend this park, great facilities, launch ramp, docks but I am already dreading the drive back out.

The bathrooms and showers are spotless! Showers are 3 min for 25 cents.

The office staff and campground Hosts can’t be beat, the very best. They helped me immensely finding a spot during a busy summer week.

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.

Nice, level sites.  Not far off the main road.  Picnic tables, fire pits.  Sites pretty close to the water.  Boat access.  Swift current, but nice water to wade in.  Bunnies and lots of mosquitoes at dusk.

Atkinson Park Campground at the north west corner of Cascade offers free camping at the north end of the park. Camping at the park appears to most suited to RV camping as they don't want any camping outside of the parking pads due to not wanting damage to their sprinkler system. That being said it appears that you should have room for your vehicle and a tent as long as you did not have a trailer with you. The park has a pavilion with running water, and BBQ grills. Flushing toilets are also available. The individual camp sites do not have tables or fire rings. Camping is limited to three nights. It appears that the campground has 4 sites, sites 2, 3 and 6 are marked, another spot which I assume is site 1 looks the same as 2& 3, could not find any place that might be sites 4 and 5. Additional recreational activities are available during your stay. The park has a nice sized playground, tennis courts, horseshoe pits and a skate park. For the RV crowd there is a free RV dump at the entrance to the campground. The campground sits along side the interstate so you will have plenty of road noise throughout the night. While this would not be my choice for a location to camp, it is a free camp ground that would be a good spot to stay the night for a tired traveler

Quigley Group Use Area use to be called McDonald Pass Group Use Area, and the names can be confusing as the old entrance still has a sign saying“McDonald Pass Group Use Area” The new and current entrance list the area as Quigley Group Use Area. What ever name you call it, this is a primitive group use area. You will find one vault toilet for the area and that is about it. Their is a loop for the group use area that at times is paved, but most is a dirt two track. Most of the pull offs in the area have become overgrown. You will not find any metal fire rings, several rock rings have been built. Their are no picnic tables here to use. The site has no water or trash service. The closest water will be at Cromwell Dixon Campground which you will need to drive to as it is two far to walk to. So if you have a group planning on using this site be prepared to bring everything except a toilet. Finding information about this group use area is hard as the Helena National Forest web page does not have anything listed for it. What I was able to find out is that the site is currently free, but the Forest Service has proposed that the fee go to$50 for the site. I stayed here about 8 years ago during a Boy Scout camp. During our stay we cleaned up the tree debris in the area, but since then the parking pads that we used have almost disappeared. This group use area is really suffering from lack of use and maintenance.

I I initially found this on free campsites. Com. Though the official website is listed as BLM, BLM actually doesn't have Galena Gulch on their site. However, this is a clean and mowed campsite that is largely grassy field next to the boulder River. The mountainous and forested Recreation area surrounded it though.

There is plenty of space for RVs, though there are no hookups of any kind. There is no water and no electricity and no cell phone service. I have Verizon. I took a star away because there wasn't any water but added it back because it was free!

There were probably a dozen official sites that had fire rings and a parking spur. While there were a couple sizable rigs there, if your RV is so big that you must have a pull through, you will probably find this Campground challenging.

There was a large grassy area and another smaller grassy area that were simply open with no fire ring or parking spur. However, it was very easy to park on the grass and several people could pitch tents there if they wanted. I did this.

There are two side-by-side pit toilets and an information board in the center. They were clean and stocked. Once again, I want to emphasize that there is no water here. The boulder river is directly adjacent but locals in Montana don't consider any water safe.

There were multiple people there with their dogs and a great number of sites filled with RVs. At the time I was there there were only two of us tenting.

Your GPS will get you here, nearly. Take the exit it tells you and follow the directions. However, my GPS told me that I had arrived and I was looking at the boulder River on the right and houses on the left and no Campground. What you have to do is go up the road another hundred feet and follow the sign to turn right to Galena Recreation Area. This takes you on an underpass under the freeway and immediately becomes a gravel road that goes over a one-lane bridge. You can't make any wrong turn here. As soon as you cross the bridge you will see the campground immediately on your right. From the time you make the right hand turn to the campground it is probably a couple hundred feet.From getting off the freeway to the campsite is probably less than a mile

I was there for 3 night and it was full every night. However, the turnover seems high as it appears most people use it as an overnight on their travels, especially since there are not any services there. But it's a pretty area. Some people bring their ATV and use the dirt road that runs through the recreation Area to drive around. You can use that road to hike to , also the radon health mine is right up the road.

Bring water and food as you would have to drive 20 minutes back to Boulder to get services. Boulder's a cute small town with a few restaurants, a grocery store, gas stations and a very wonderful Hot Springs Resort.

This campground is huge it sits on a peninsula jutting out in the the Missouri River. Some spots have trees which provide much needed shade in this dry area. Deer came through the campground while we were there. We had a trailer but the sites seem primitive, no power or water hookups. There was a vault toilet and a place to pump water from but I think we were there right at the end of the season so the pumps might have been off. Trailer was easy to back into our slot, but several places had pull throughs. We would definitely stay here again.

Nice sites, leveled, bathrooms with only a sink. Water available if needed. Quiet peaceful, and a host couple that were very enjoyable. BLM recreation area, so only 15.00 a night. No electric or hookups.

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.

I camped there in spring and there were very few hardy souls camping then. It was a little windy and cold but it was beautiful and not crowded at all. There are no hook ups so it is dry camping but the site was pretty level and it was easy to park my trailer in a spot.