Best Tent Camping near Martinsdale, MT
Tent camping options in the Martinsdale area of Montana include several primitive sites throughout the Little Belt Mountains section of Lewis and Clark National Forest. Camping area 6393A offers a solitary tent site with a picnic table and fire ring where Whitetail Creek meets Spring Creek. Whitetail Camp Campground, located 12 miles north of Highway 12, provides both established tent sites with picnic tables and metal fire rings, plus dispersed camping opportunities in an open meadow area. Most sites are available seasonally from May through November.
Most tent campgrounds near Martinsdale have minimal amenities and require campers to be self-sufficient. The Forest Service designated sites typically include fire rings and occasionally picnic tables, but lack drinking water, trash service, and modern restroom facilities. Whitetail Camp does offer a vault toilet, while more remote areas like Camping area 6393A have no facilities whatsoever. Access roads to many sites are rough in places, with high-clearance vehicles recommended for reaching more remote tent camping locations. The standard stay limit in Lewis and Clark National Forest is 16 days, and all sites operate on a trash-in, trash-out policy.
Tent campers in the Martinsdale region experience a genuine wilderness setting with opportunities for solitude. Many sites are positioned along creeks or in meadows surrounded by forest, providing natural shade and proximity to water for filtering. The higher elevation tent sites in the Little Belt Mountains offer cooler temperatures during summer months. Wildlife sightings are common throughout the area. Dispersed camping areas provide flexibility for tent placement, though established sites often have more level ground for comfortable setup. A review on The Dyrt noted, "The camping area is completely flat. Two additional rock fire rings are in the area. The area has plenty of room for your vehicle and tent at the picnic table site."
