Best Tent Camping near Shawmut, MT

Bumped in to this camping area while hunting recently. This Lewis and Clark National Forest designated camping location has one site, one site in that the location has one forest service concrete and wood picnic table and a rock fire ring. Stay limit is 16 days. The camping area is located where Whitetail Creek dumps into Spring Creek. The camping are 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 and the two additional fire rings, just no picnic tables for these two fire rings. If you camp here come prepared, this is a Trash-in Trash-out site, no water, no vault toilet. The road is a little rough in a few places on the way to this site, would recommend a high clearance vehicle to access this camping location.

Hay Canyon Campground is a free six site (Forest service says 7) campsite in a narrow canyon among large mature trees.  This site is broken in to two sections with three sites each.  The first section is easy to find, the second is just around the bend on the main road on a road to the right which has three more sites.  The campground has picnic tables and metal fire rings at all the sites. A vault toilet serves the campground.  No water or trash service so come prepared.  The site nearest to the vault toilet is a amazingly large site, three picnic tables a large metal fire ring and the biggest BBQ grill I have ever seen in a campground.  Getting this site is just awesome even at the high price of nothing to camp here.  The second section of campsites do require a bit of a walk to get to the vault toilet but their is a faint trail short cutting the road walk.

Absolutely breathtaking views with a long, beautiful dirt road in to the campsite. The campground is rural but perfectly well equipped with vault toilets (which needed tending to when we were there TBH), rock fire rings and picnic tables. We were looking forward to exploring this gorgeous area, but Mother Nature had other plans for us. We were able to easily find a private site and set up camp and have a peaceful evening under the stars, looking forward to our hike in the morning. We went to sleep all happy and cozy. We woke up to the craziest wind storm around 1am!!! Our tent took quite a beating, we are estimating that winds were above 50mph!!! Needless to say, we were exhausted in the morning and packed up promptly and promised ourselves we would return!

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.

Martinsdale Reservoir Fishing Access Site campground is a very large campground with out a ton of campsite which means they are well spread apart from each other.  Not all the sites are numbered, some have picnic table (a few of the numbered site did not have tables or fire rings). Some of the sites have metal fire rings, others rock fire rings and others had nothing.  All of the site are along the north shore of the lake (or are when the reservoir has more water in it) .  Numerous vault toilets are to be found.  No water and no trash collection so come prepared.  The problem with this campground is it has no trees so you are at the mercy of the sun and wind.  The wind, it really blow through the area, every time I have visited this site I have found it to windy to attempt to fish.

Ackley Lake State Park campground has no camping fees for Montana residents, for nonresidents the cost is$24 per night. The campground has two vault toilets, but no running water or trash service. While visiting I counted 26 metal fire rings at the campground. Most of those fire rings had picnic tables, but not all of them. Their are 15 numbered campsites with metal fire rings with a cement picnic table with a lean-to to block the wind and provide a little shade. The numbered sites sit along the shore of the lake allowing you to fish from your campsite. The state park also has 2 boat ramps and a seasonal boat dock.

This is a free Montana Fishing Access Site next to the Yellowstone River north of Big Timber. There was one clean single vault toilet for about 5 sites. No water or garbage available but each site has a picnic table and fire ring. There is a boat launch for fishing. It snowed when we were there in very late September 2019. We were the only ones there the two days we waited out the snow. This is a campground where there are few public campgrounds.

I added another star as this is a quiet campground in an area with few public ones available. And, it was free.

Spring Creek Campground is a small campground along spring creek in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. The campground sits is a small canyon making this a potentially good campground to avoid the summer heat, which also means a colder camp in the spring and fall. Spring Creek campground has 10 campsite sitting along the creek among mature fir and pine trees, all sites have picnic tables and metal fire rings. The campground has two vault toilets and one hand pump for water. A trailhead is located in the campground and is for a spur on a 15-mile multiple-use trail. Like bears, then your in luck, bears may frequent the area so a mandatory food storage order is in affect. You'll need to keep all food in approved containers or stored in your vehicle as no food lockers are available. It is reported that Brook Trout can be caught in the creek. Want a little more excitement, the campground is subject to flash flooding so keep tabs on the weather as heavy rains at the site or upstream can result in flash flooding. If the creek starts to suddenly rise be prepared to move.

A ranger review of Ethnotek Premji 20 Liter. Travel Day pack. This is an excellent day pack. Just the right size for a full day out on the trails. The Premji 20 Liter has plenty of room for all the gear you will need for a full day in the wilderness. One of the things I like best about the Premji 20 Liter is the side zipper which allows you to easily gain access to items at the bottom of the pack without having to take everything out. A small pocket at the top of the pack is great for holding granola bars or other small snacks or objects. Another small pocket on the back has holders for pens/pencils, your cell phone and other items such as a note book or maps. The pack has two external pockets, one which is a mesh pocket. Both of these will fit water bottles such as a Lifestraw Go, or Camelbak chute. Two sets of double side straps allow you to strap additional items like a jacket to the outside of the pack. The shoulder straps are comfortable even after a full day of hiking. The pack has plenty of padding which means no gear poking you in the back. The only thing I would add to this pack is a chest strap, but this is just because I like having chest straps on my packs. Overall a great pack for a day on the trail.

ED McGivern Memorial Park Campground sits on the west shore of the East Fork Reservoir. This is a small nice 10 site campground right on the reservoir. The campground is located just past the day use area on a loop at the end of the road. The 10 sites are nicely spread apart giving campers plenty of room to spread out their tents. Each site has a picnic table, metal fire ring and BBQ grill. Two vault toilers serve the area, one in the day use area and one at the south end of the campground. Water is available at a faucet near the campground vault toilet. Easy access to the reservoir all along the campground for those wishing to fish. A boat launch can be found a the beginning of the day use area. This is a small reservoir and their entire reservoir is a no wake area. Camping is$5 for tents,$10 for trailers/campers/motorhomes. Stay is limited to 14 nights. A nice quiet location to camp, but only a short 15-20 minute drive to Lewistown for any supplies you might need.