Are you planning a tent camping trip to Lewis and Clark National Forest? We've got you covered. Find the best information on tent camping near Lewis and Clark National Forest, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your camping experience. You're sure to find the perfect tent campsite for your Montana camping adventure.
The Log Gulch Recreation Site provides visitors with 70 campsites with a 7 day stay limit. All but two of the campsites can accommodate RV or tent camping (or a combination of both); two campsites are tent-only sites. While tent camping is available at all campsites, only a limited number have grassy or optimally flat tent camping surfaces. Campsites are primitive, without hookups, but each campsite does have a fire pit and picnic table. Potable water is accessible at various locations throughout the area. Note, quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. (no generators during this time). Do not camp outside numbered sites. Camp hosts or staff members are typically available onsite 7 days a week, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This site has a loading dock with a boat ramp on each side. Two docks with boat slips are also available on a first-come, first-served basis. Boat slips are included in the camping/day use fee. A fish cleaning station is also available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The recreation site also has a beach with an enclosed swimming area, available Memorial Day through Labor Day (no lifeguard on duty). Restrooms are available throughout the site, and the restroom closest to the beach has a changing room. Two ramada shelters are also available for public use. The upper ramada is available if group reservations are not in effect. The lower ramada is available on a first-come, first served basis. Call the Butte Field Office for reservation details. Hiking trails are accessible from the park.
$15 / night
8000-foot elevation. 18 campsites at the top of Kings HIll Pass on US 89. In the summer, this is the hub of huge networks of mountain bike trails. If that's a little ambitious for you, try driving up Porphyry Peak to check out the view from the manned fire tower at the top. In the winter, this becomes a playground for downhill skiers, snowmobilers, and cross-country skiers, who visit the Showdown Winter Recreation Area or the nearby Silvercrest Winter Recreation Area. Bears may frequent the area; keep all food out of sight in approved containers and remove all food from area after eating. Mandatory food storage is required.
$15 / night
The recreation site is accessed by an all-season county road that has a bridge with a 10-ton limit
Traveler
This site is technically just a walk to your tent site. There are places to park, so if you have a van you can go stealth and park and sleep here. There area 6 parking spots and 1 handy capped spot. Of these really only the one right next to the ADA spot is level enough for van sleeping. (This is where we parked.). There was one other person sleeping in the lot near us. The other people were tent camping at the designated tent spots. There are 3 tent spots.
Traveler
This campground is in the mountains. No phone service so you can really get away from everyday life. It is in the lewis and clark national forest so help isn't too far away. There should also be onsite caretakers. You will find running water and outhouses. The creek is nearby as well as great hiking spots. It is just below showdown ski resort. It is a favorite of ours.
Traveler
This is a nice back in the woods campground with spots right on the creek. Our spot was 4 nice table on the creek with lots of sound. A lot if shade. Semi secluded from other campsites. The fire pits are really high so standing up is required for heat. Need chainsaw to gather wood. Lots of birds in the area. Lewis and Clark national forest. Highwood mountains. Lots of potholes drive with care.
Legend
Lewis and Clark National Forest Grasshopper Campground is a nice campground in the Castle Mountains. As you enter this campground you find a trail head to the left and then a picnic area to the right. The campsites start right after the first of two vault toilets for the campground. At the beginning of the campground loop, right behind the registration box you will find the hand pump for the campground. A creek runs right through the middle of the campground. One nice feature of this campground is once the campground gates are closed and locked, you can still drive to sites 1 and 2 as they are before the closure gate, so as long as you can still drive up the road you can camp. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. I did notice at least one site also had a BBQ grill in addition to the fire ring. Sites are $10 per night with a 16 day stay limit.
Legend
Kings Hill campground in the Lewis and Clark National Forest sits at around 8000 feet in elevation. This 18 site campground should be a five star but just couldn't give it the 5th on as the area was recently cleared of dead trees and still bears the scares from the process, most notably the charred remains of at least 3 large slash piles in the campground. Not all the wood was burned and might site had a pile that would have last several days. The site are nicely spread apart and you can still find sites with trees in place. Some of the sites have stairs that lead up to or down to the campsite. The campground has water and vault toilets but no trash service so be prepared to pack out everything you bring in. Each site has a picnic table and metal fire rings as well as BBQ grills. Campground is near highway 89 so their is some road noise. Campground is next to the Showdown Ski Area.
Scout
I went just overnight to go watch the metor shower. I camped in a tent. Deer wandered into the campground throughout the night and morning. You can hear logging creek moving from no matter where you are. The road was a lil rough with the washed out gullies in the road with the cattle guards. But I overall loved it.
ScoutThe host here is great, and the local area is great. But if you are tent camping, beware. There is not really a good tent camping spot, as the sprinkler system will start every few hours and basically ruin your stay.
Traveler
Great Playground, close to tent sites. Nice staff and great coffee and beautiful setting!
Guide
We decided to not stay here, because we are tent camping this trip. If you have an RV or Trailer, this would be a good stop if you are in Great Falls.
Traveler
This place overall is pretty amazing Parks pool playsets petting zoo it's got all the p's. Perfectly level pad in the trees fire pit and picnic table in your own little grassy area cabins tents glamping RVs tent camping got it all one downside is the internet is super spotty.
Scout
Was a pretty decent campground to camp at. It was mostly TT staying there at the time we went and seen wildlife within the first 30 min of setting up. Swimming area is nice and water was warm however it may have been too hot to tent camp. There was only a few places to find shade to set up a tent but we were unable to fine a shady spot for throughout the day that's the only reason for the 4 and not 5 stars.
Traveler
This is a hidden gem near the west end of Holter Lake. Over 50 sites with views of the mountains, Holter Lake, and the sleeping giant from various points in the campground. Wildlife abound and fishing galore. Most sites are big enough for a camper and level enough for tents. There is a pavilion and group tent site at the back of the campground, too. Trails connect it to other points of interest nearby.
TravelerYou have to drive through part of Great Falls, Montana to get to this campground, but once you are in it, you forget all about the city. You get the full camping (in a campground) experience, but you can easily drive into the city to pick up whatever you forgot to pack.
Our site was in what they call a tent village, which is a nice roundabout of tent sites. There are walls separating the sites for privacy, but the area is big enough for your vehicle and a large tent, or multiple smaller tents. Toward the middle of the roundabout is a covered area, including a table, counter, electrical outlets, and a large cabinet that can be locked with a padlock. The tent villages are very close to a nice restroom/showers that require a key code to get in.
RangerIn an area of mostly open fields, this KOA is filled with nice trees. It is a very large campground with RV sites, cabins, and tent sites. This is a very kid friendly campground, almost too much. Twice within an hour a train full of kids rolled by my site shouting. There is a large playground, volleyball court, basketball, and pools. The wifi was pretty good. The bathrooms could use some updating. They are nice single occupancy toilet/shower combos but some had damage on the tile, missing soap dispenser, non functional paper towel dispensers. Close to town but no city noise.
Scout
I rolled into this place because White Sandy BLM was closed on Nov 1. This CG looks to stay open year round because it has a boat launch. The water was turned off and the main bathhouse was closed for the season. Two pit toilets remain open. The electric service was still on for the sites. The tent only sites were not suitable for van camping and require a walk to the tent site. I used the RV site and about half of them a siamese type sites with gravel pads. I was the only one here so this didn’t matter. Cell service on Verizon is one bar 3G so I set up my starlink.
Legend
Departure Point campground is basically camping in a parking lot. Four "campsites" are lined parking spots in a large paved area with a picnic table and fire ring at the end of the parking spot. The four spots are right next to each other. If you want to set up a tent you will be setting it up on the pavement. The area has two vault toilets, running water and trash service. Down below the camping area is a nice day use area with four picnic tables three of which are covered and right on the edge of the lake. Camping is not allowed in the day use area along the lake. So if you want to tent camp you will want to head to one of the other BLM campgrounds on the lake.
Guide
We were able to get a site for the night in June only because it was a Thursday night. I was told it books up early for weekends by reservation. We got a tent site (parked in lot, walked to site maybe 50 feet). It was perfect with shade and right next to the water. Many sites had little or no shade, though. My son loved finding a few toads in the water. The deer seemed to have a route right next to our site and came out by the water in the evening. It was beautiful. Many places to walk around and explore.
GuideThis 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.
Legend
Our goal is to leave an unbiased review for future campers. First, don’t check in until 2:00 PM. The billeting office is closed for lunch and doesn’t get back until 2:00. As you don’t have a site number and you’ll need a key for the utilities, it will not do you any good to arrive early. Using our RV GPS, we headed off I-90 onto US-12 into Helena. At West Helena we turned on Williams St., which brought us to the VA Medical Center, then less than a 1/4 mile further to the South Gate. The gate is locked. When we called 406-324-3970(main gate) prior to our arrival, we were told to park in front of the gate and call the number on the post to have security come and let us in. The private security guard checked our IDs, reservation confirmation email, and then called in our names and truck license plate number. We were then told to head to the three story building where the billeting office is located and park in front of the building near the stepped entrance. This is not a large base/post, so don’t worry about getting lost. A lot of reviews talked about going through the North Gate, but as of this writing, they are using the South Gate for arrivals and departures. The main gate barriers are too narrow for a large RV. The billeting office is on the first floor straight a few yards and to the right after you enter the building and also where the free laundry is located. The FamCamp campground (CG) was simple to find, and we went to pull through FHU site 7 with 50/30/20 AMP. Not all the sites in this small CG have 50 AMP. The pull through was easy enough to get into, but its narrow with 9” high cement curbs, which makes getting your sewer up and over a bit of a challenge. They placed a brick thing at each site to help level your sewer hose. Also, depending on how your stairs deploy, dealing with the curb can be a challenge. In our opinion, the cement curbs are a horrible design. This site’s gravel pad was not level, so we had to use our leveler blocks. Water pressure was good at about 50 psi. There’s no CG Wifi, but we had our Starlink, plus we got a 4 bar Verizon signal. There are 12 sites here with row 1-7 being FHUs with 50/30/20 AMP and the back row 8-12 are 30/20 AMP. The sites are close to each other. We had a large class A in the adjacent site and its slideout came to our large cement picnic table. There’s a small restroom building but no showers. There are 6 RV or Tent sites where you could dry camp. There’s no obvious water spigot, but there are grass watering spigots. We saw reviews about a camp host, but we did not notice one. We departed at 10:50 AM and billeting called wondering if we had departed. If you don't turn in your key by 11:00 AM, you are charged an extra day. We were not unsatisfied with our stay, especially the good service and free laundry. But for a three day stay, due to their check in/out procedures, and site challenges, we’ll pass on this CG in the future.
Legend
Small camp area at a Montana Fishing Access site. Sites are at a pull off on Recreation Road. Two sites at the fishing access site. Both have a table and fire ring. One outhouse is at the site, no trash bins. Fee for staying, fee based on if you have a fishing license or not. Good location to cool off on a hot day as the creek is shallow. Some noise from the near by I-15. Better as an RV site than a tent.
Legend
Chinamen's Campground has 30+ sites however most of the sites are small and many tent campers may have a hard time finding a spot to pitch a tent in many of the sites. Good sites fill up fast. Campground has a boat launch area. An ADA spot and Vault toilet is available.
LegendHolter Lake Recreation Area campground is a very nice campground with 52 camp sites. The entire campground including parking pads is paved. The site also has a swimming beach, boat ramp, docks, fish cleaning station, and accessible fishing walkway. The site has several vault toilets as well as water faucets through out the campground. This is a very busy campground with sites filling up fast, especially on the weekends. All sites are first come first serve, no reservations. If you want to avoid the crowd bring a tent and camp in the tent only area, when we visited no one was using the eight tent only sites, yet all the other sites in the camp ground were full. Each campsite has a fire-pit and picnic table.
Ranger
Dry Wolf is a beautiful area of Montana. 4-Wheeling seems to be popular in the area. There are lovely streams, nice mountains and cool cliffs all near Stanford. It's a great get-away in North Central Montana.
Legend
Little Log campground is a small 10 site tent only campground in the Log Gulch Recreation Area on Holter Lake. Located just past the larger Log Gulch campground this small campground sites in a gully above the lake. Flat locations to put a tent are limited due to the slope of the ground in the campground, but each site does have a flat area for a tent, however it may be hard to find room for more than one tent. Most of the choices for tent placement are at the end of the parking pad next the the picnic table and fire ring. The campground cost $15 per night, has trash service, running water and a double vault toilet. Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring. A short distance from the campground and across the street is the day use area for the recreation area, where fishing appears to be good as we saw several large fish taken out of the lake in a short period of time. Registration for campsites is located in the day use area on the side of the road as you enter the recreation area.
Ranger Review of Mountain House's Lasagna with meat sauce freeze dried meal.
Gave this Lasagna a tried and liked it. Did find that it seemed to need something to make it real good, and that would be a packet of Parmesan cheese, if they would include the Parmesan to put on the lasagna after cooking then this would be an awesome meal. Even with out the Parmesan this is a good meal. Following the instructions and stirring well resulted in a well hydrated hot meal. A little on the saucy side, but the texture of the noddles and meat are spot on. At 2.5 servings per bag this is perfect for two people, the meal was a little two much for just me to eat on my own. Can't wait to eat this again on my summer backpacking trips, but will be bringing a little Parmesan to put on it.
TravelerClean. Had outhouses. Pet and family friendly drive to accessible. Tent and camper parking. Right on the water.
Ranger
Good campground for RVs, gets windy and not much shade for tent campers.
Ranger
All sites have close access to water. Nice RV sites and some good shade sites for tents.
Tent camping near Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in nature, with various campgrounds providing essential amenities and stunning views.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Lewis and Clark National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Lewis and Clark National Forest is Mountain Palace Fishing Access Site with a 3-star rating from 1 review.
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TheDyrt.com has all 17 tent camping locations near Lewis and Clark National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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