Best Campgrounds near Plains, MT

Easy to get to. Can park a decent size rv in some spots and group camp in s couple. There are only a few spots thought.

You have to “walk down” a steep drop to access the river. When it’s high don’t try or say goodbye. Train runs often across the river and will disrupt your night unless you live in Montana then you’re already used to it. The toilets are stocked but not cleaned regularly. There was a you g lonely moose crossing the river and sleeping in the camp at night during my stay. If you’re not from Montana expect those that are to be unfriendly, that’s a thing here. Fire pits are a joke and burn band are common

Details: Free up to 14 days No water or trash Easy 15 min drive to St Regis, supplies and tourists traps aplenty Expect people to just ignore you as they walk right through your site to access the river Sheep can be seen across the river sometimes Pics are better than reality Uncomfortable atmosphere

Easy to get to. Can park a decent size rv in some spots and group camp in s couple. There are only a few spots thought.

You have to “walk down” a steep drop to access the river. When it’s high don’t try or say goodbye. Train runs often across the river and will disrupt your night unless you live in Montana then you’re already used to it. The toilets are stocked but not cleaned regularly. There was a you g lonely moose crossing the river and sleeping in the camp at night during my stay. If you’re not from Montana expect those that are to be unfriendly, that’s a thing here. Fire pits are a joke and burn band are common

Details: Free up to 14 days No water or trash Easy 15 min drive to St Regis, supplies and tourists traps aplenty Expect people to just ignore you as they walk right through your site to access the river Sheep can be seen across the river sometimes Pics are better than reality Uncomfortable atmosphere

This is primitive off grid camping. No services, no water, no tables, just a bathroom in a field with a few campsites around it near the creek. Great location to stay if you're doing the Hiawatha trail and want to camp in the area. The busses picking up hiawatha trail users go right by the campground multiple times a day in the summer.

Private campground. Level sites, stayed in #6 right by office. Sites fairly close together. Nice pet walk area. Showers clean. Full hookups. Solid, clean, well kept place to stay.

It was a good spot despite that I was in the middle of a windstorm. The only part that genuinely made me concern and what docked points was the fact that I had multiple people throughout the night, pulling up to the spot and like walking around my truck

Loved this spot. Toyota Tundra pulling a 14' trailer. We were able to back into site (flat !) and do a 180° turn ok to exit. We stayed one night 9/23/24 and had the place to ourselves. Nice rock fire pits.

I was surprised how nice this was since it's just about 5 minutes from the highway. You feel miles away - absolutely no noise. It's super clean and pretty. Very clean pit toilets and nice private spaces with plenty of room.  We didn't stay long, but it was nice to be in the forest in the middle of a long drive across Montana.

So gorgeous! Tent camped along the river! Very spaced out campsites, nice for lots of privacy and quiet! Signs to be aware of bear country but took precautions. Rock fire pits at each site. Super easy for quick stop road tripping (0.5 miles off main road)! Stayed in early September on a road trip to Glacier, was able to find our site decently well in the dark! Verizon cell service 3-4 bars! Loved it!

The west is the only safe way to enter onto the road to the campsites. On the map, it looks like you can enter/exit either way from 135… but the east side of the road to get back onto 135 is impossible… so we just had to turn around and exit the same way we came in (from the west).

Found this great little riverside spot while checking out the paid campgrounds along St Joe River. Saw several similar sites that were already taken. This one has a small boat launch and several fire pits. Camping is prohibited from spring to mid July. Not the best spot for swimming due to the current in this section of the river but good enough to wade in and cool off anyway. We slept in a tent and loved the river sounds. There were some mosquitoes but with bugspray it was fine.

Dispersed camping at the "Peninsula" Recreation Area. 6 day stay limit according to the sign. No potable water. Stone fire rings throughout.

We stayed mid week during August. Stayed in a medium sized site on the river. Small steep slope to the water.

Pros:
Plenty of space, both large and small sites. Room for a 30' in a couple of the sites. 3 bars Tmobile. Some sites on the water with a short steep slope down. 12 miles to gas station. Beautiful views.

Cons: No pit toilets (edit: another camper said they are at the end of the campground) No potable water. Road/train noise. POISON IVY (found it... found all of it)

Overall we loved this spot. Being ok the water in a mostly private setting with such amazing views is our goal. Little bit of road noise but hardly noticeable over the wind in the trees.

Sites were clean but well used, so thank you to all the campers that took care of this place!

I was alone while camping, parked my car at the first fire pit I saw open and it was perfect. Absolutely beautiful river, beautiful spot. Great for fishing, swimming, etc.

Reserved this deamy site right on the water. Tent 1 is closest to parking but has the most traffic going by to the other sites.

Pit toilet nearby and a quick drive to flushable toilets. Showers available with tokens from the camphost ($3 for 6 minutes) but camphost weren't around when I was looking so no personal experience here.

Got a walk in site when I showed up in the afternoon. All that was left was an RV site and they let me tent there. Even though I wasn't on the water, still got a water view! Pit toilet bathroom was close by, and sometimes the smell wafted over when the wind changed.

SUP, kayak rentals on water, reasonably priced. The beach was rocky and perfect!

In the morning, I spotted a black bear on a hill. Follow bear protocol well.

Do not follow maps directions to this spot. Click the one a little south east next to the river titled “Dispersed Site - Lolo National Forest Recreation Area”. This is the right location. Good spot.

Turn onto the road, once you reach end of that road, there’s more spots to the left. If you drive far enough you’ll find pit toilets. We had good service on Verizon and T-Mobile to work. River is beautiful. Would definitely come back

Great quiet spot next to the road. Not much traffic, we slept great in our car and felt very safe.

Very nice campground. Rod, caretaker, is the best. We had a wonderful 3 days camping.