Melville, MT is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Melville is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Find the best campgrounds near Melville, plus reviews and photos from other campers like you.
A campground in the east crazy mountains on the__Yellowstone District.__Camp sites: 12Maps: Halfmoon Campground Map (527 KB)Accessible Facilities:Toilet6 SitesTrash Pickup: NoFirewood: NoNo Reservations:This campground does not use a reservation system, it is managed on a first-come, first-served basis. Be aware the campground may fill up on weekends & holidays during the summer months and you should arrive in the early afternoon to ensure there is a space available for the night.Information:Livingston Office5242 Hwy 89.Livingston, MT 59047(406) 222-1892
Chief Joseph Park is located in Harlowton in central Montana. Groceries, restaurants, museums, gas stations, a municipal swimming pool, and 7 churches are within a 1-mile radius. Tent sites and RV sites with electricity are available. A playground, fishing pond, and picnic areas with grills are on site.
$20 / night
$5 - $18 / night
Ibex Cabin was constructed in 1939 as a shelter for Forest Service rangers working within the Shields Ranger District of the Gallatin National Forest of south-central Montana. It is available for summer and winter recreational use, and provides a peaceful, remote mountain retreat. Guests can drive to the cabin from June until the snow flies. The cabin is closed April and May due to road and wildlife protection. High clearance, four-wheel drive vehicles are strongly recommended. The access road to the cabin may get muddy in the rain, so guests may want to call ahead for road conditions. In the winter, the cabin is only accessible by a 5.5-mile ski, snowshoe or snowmobile trip. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety. This cabin offers very rustic accommodations with limited amenities, so guests should beprepared to bring most of their own supplies and gear to make their stay an enjoyable experience.
There are a number of trails in the area for hikers, equestrians and snowmobilers. Tresspass Trail and Cottonwood Lake Trail are good trails in the area to explore. Trails in the area may cross private property,so guests MUST stay on the trail. Winter recreation includes snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Big game hunting is also a popular activity in this area.
The rustic cabin is nestled at the edge of a meadow in the foothills of the Crazy Mountains, at an elevation of 6,600 feet. A forest of Lodgepole pine grows behind the cabin, and views from the front reveal the 7,354-foot peak of Ibex Mountain. The surrounding meadow bursts with color from wildflowers in the summer. Mule deer, porcupine and elk may be spotted around the cabin. Several bird species that inhabit this area include bald eagles, owls, jays, western meadowlarks and mountain bluebirds.
$65 / night
Chief Joseph Park is located in Harlowton in central Montana. Groceries, restaurants, museums, gas stations, a municipal swimming pool, and 7 churches are within a 1-mile radius. Tent sites and RV sites with electricity are available. A playground, fishing pond, and picnic areas with grills are on site.
$20 / night
Legend
Deadman’s Basin Montana FWP Campground 10/24 Stopover for one night in 10/24. The reservoir along which this cg lies is low this time of year. Reservoir must be prettier in the spring and early summer when the water level is higher. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(72 yr olds in 27’ trailer.)
Overall Rating: 4
Price 2024: See pricing in photo. Contrary to posted signs the website says that camping is free. Screenshot of website is also provided in photos .
Security: no
Usage during visit: our loop empty.
Visual Privacy Between Adjacent Sites: no
Site Spacing: good
Pad surface: dirt
Reservations: First come first serve
Campground Noise: According to signage some action has been taken.
Outside Road Noise: no
Through Traffic in campground: no
Electric Hookup: no
Sewer Hookup: no
Dump Station: no
Potable Water Available: no
Generators: sb allowed
Bathroom: a clean pit toilet
Showers: no
Pull Throughs: yes
Cell Service (AT&T): 1 bar
Setting: near reservoir
Recent Weather: clear and w highs in70s and 80s.
Solar: very good
Insects: none
Host: no
Rig Size: large rigs should fit in some sites.
Sites: see pics.
Traveler
What a beautiful spot to escape to! A single, private campground surrounded by a cottonwood grove sounds like the perfect place for a peaceful getaway. The 60 acres on Miner Creek offer ample opportunities for relaxation and adventure. Speaking of getting away, if you ever find yourself needing to craft the perfect description or promotional content for your own adventures, consider using lastminutewriting.com writing service. They offer fantastic support in creating engaging and high-quality texts. Enjoy the tranquility of nature and make the most of this beautiful campground! It sounds like a wonderful place to unwind.
Scout
Easy to find off of I90. Nice clean and safe place. Once the rafters and fisherman rolled out in the evening it was peaceful. Will return.
Traveler
We were looking for an easy dispersed site to stay at while visiting a friend in Bozeman. This was an easy option for us with a 20ft camper. We stayed at the first pull off a few minutes off the main road. This site was easily accessible, right off the main road, close to town and close to some hikes.
Guide
This place seemed promising at first. It was hard to find a decent spot at night due to only using headlights of my van. Most of the road is extremely rugged/uneven/full of large holes. The only place I was able to stay for the night was the road leading up to the locked gate. This is about the only nice spot. Other than that this place is • quiet w/occasional traffic along the high way (right next to reservoir) • very few people here, but far enough away from me • no fee required • provides OK view to the mountains • great when you bring along a pet • you will need to be fully prepared for primitive camping
Ranger
Clean quiet at night. Family and pet friendly. Large campsites each with a picnic table and fire pit. Public toilets non-threaded water spigot near the entrance. Water quality is great. 64 outlets on four different light posts near communal bathroom and shelter area. With a long enough extension cord you might be able to get to your campsite but I doubt it. Close to the river. I feel safe here. I got here on August 30th and stay till September 3rd that's why I chose month of September.
RangerRight on the river and lots of shade and roomy camp spots. AT&T cell service is good!
Guide
There are only 2 sites here. It’s a great place to fish, rock hound and there are some trails very close. The road in as well as the pit toilet are well maintained. One morning about 12 people showed up and just walked onto my site and went fishing despite my objections. They were really aggressive and they felt completely entitled to do whatever they wanted.
Traveler
About 7 miles west of Absarokee, 2.5 of them gravel. Sign said tent camping only but I stayed one night in my Sprinter van with no problem. Did not use vault toilet so cannot speak to its condition. Some algae near the shore of river but waded out deeper for refreshing dip.
Scout
Beautiful spot by the Yellowstone River. Train whistles woke us up four times.
Scout
Not to mention the single-lane cobblestone road, I have a truck and was bouncing up and down the whole way! I didn't find one area big enough to set up camp. I definitely would NOT recommend this spot
RangerThis was an ok stay outside of Bozeman. The coordinates took me to a spot which was occupied but looked like the only spot on that stretch of road. It began to get extremely rutted and I didn’t want to push any farther after that spot. I camped in what looked to be a dispersed campsite that they closed off
Traveler
Windy, free range cattle, no trees but beautiful.
RangerA bit confusing with all the no trespassing and no parking on/off the road signs. Felt more comfortable once we saw another van parked, and drove past the coordinate location a few minutes to use a tiny widened part of the road. No services.
GuideAt first we were a little nervous about staying in a public campground, but we quickly felt safe and decided to stay an extra day. There was some trash around but overall it was clean. The city park staff had a strong presence during the day, taking care of the grounds. In the afternoon and evening, law enforcement made a few sweeps through the park. There was wood left by many of the fire pits and even a water fill station for our RV. Sites did not have hookups but we run on solar with generator backup so we survived the 100 degree heat just fine. The river was right there and while beautiful... too swift for us or our dogs to enter. We enjoyed walking there and felt very comfortable. The park manager came by to introduce himself also. This place was a gem. Please leave a donation if you stay and say thank you for such a wonderful resource.
ScoutGreat spot and easy to get to. Exactly where the coordinates are pull off was big enough for my sprinter 170 extended was even able to get it perfectly level a few dirt bikes on the road that stopped at sunset. It’s very quiet and beautiful views and 15° cooler than Bozeman.
TravelerGorgeous campsite only 20ish min from the outskirts of Bozeman. Stopped in for 1 night passing through on a bigger road trip and couldn’t be luckier with this location. Fire rings at all campsites. Very quite road. Level ground for car camping. Would 100% come back just for this gem.
ScoutNice and quiet, lots of room
Guide
We called last minute for an overnight and there was one spot left. We were welcomed and taken care of even arriving after hours. Nice pull through sites, clean bathrooms and showers, (laundry too, although we did not use this stop), and a nice area with horse shoes and another toss game. Trains can be heard occasionally while outside but inside with our fan running we never heard them.
GuideBeautiful space with views and birdsongs aplenty. Spaces are small and right off the road, but for a free night not far from I-94 with solitude and nature, it’s fantastic. There are a few more pull-offs (again, no privacy and right off the Forest Road) if you drive on down toward Skunk Rd, but road gets rougher (high clearance and/or 4WD fine) from especially if it has recently rained. Those spots were also all taken. Went about a 1/2 mile beyond the GPS coordinates for spot with wee bit more space but the pull-off with these exact coordinates ended up getting claimed by an RV at some point in the night—this road gets solid use in the summer—saw at least a dozen vehicles in the 14 hours here.
RangerBeautiful location with several spots. All have fire pits but picnic tables are in bad shape. Going to sleep with sound of Rushing Water 20 ft away from me. Good cell reception on T-Mobile but no trash, water or power hookups. However, only 3 mi from Big Timber and very easy to get here. Beautiful, almost unbeatable spot.
LegendPlenty of room. A few special spots. Beautiful views on the river.
TravelerCampground is what is described; a field where you can choose where you want to set up. Nice and clean pit toilet and looks like a good boat launch. Beware if you are close to the eastern (close to the double-barbed wires fence), the irrigation sprinklers turned on around 1030pm…would have been unfortunate if I was tenting.
ScoutNice place allowing upto 7 days of free camping. Donations suggested. This is a city park just outside of town, so water and rv dump are nearby. Laundromat also nearby. Toilets and potable water are in the park. You can fill your fresh water tank.
TravelerFree campground run by the city of Columbus. They do accept donations. Only a 5 min drive off the highway so it’s very convenient as a road trip stop.
It has lots of shade and is located right next to the Yellowstone River.
In a Monday night in June, the campground was mostly full.
Traveler
Other than BNSF it’s a real cool stop over spot for a day or two
TravelerThere’s a spot down by the water that someone took with a tent who we let by us. We took a spot just above before you drive down to the water. I wasn’t sure if I could turn around my 20’ travel trailer down by the water. Very buggy.
Camping near Melville, Montana, offers a mix of beautiful landscapes and outdoor activities. Whether you're looking for a peaceful spot by the river or a family-friendly campground, there are plenty of options to explore.
Camping around Melville, MT, has something for everyone, whether you're into fishing, hiking, or just enjoying the great outdoors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What camping is available near Melville, MT?
According to TheDyrt.com, Melville, MT offers a wide range of camping options, with 68 campgrounds and RV parks near Melville, MT and 10 free dispersed camping spots.
Which is the most popular campground near Melville, MT?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Melville, MT is Otter Creek Fishing Access Site with a 4.2-star rating from 20 reviews.
Where can I find free dispersed camping near Melville, MT?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 10 free dispersed camping spots near Melville, MT.
What parks are near Melville, MT?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 9 parks near Melville, MT that allow camping, notably Gallatin National Forest and Canyon Ferry Lake.
