Best Tent Camping near Sheridan, MT

Arrived on a Saturday afternoon and there were 3 spots open (only 6 sites). My site had a bear box, nice picnic table and fire ring (fire ban currently). There’s two clean vault toilets. It’s just 10 minutes to red lodge but you feel very remote. There’s a creek running through some campsites which drowns out any neighbor noise. There’s a nice trail that starts in the campground (willow creek) and it’s about 4 mi RT with 900 feet elevation gain. Super peaceful trail and wasn’t very busy for a Saturday. There’s plenty of trees around for shade. I had 2 bars of LTE so could work remotely. And it’s free!

This is a nice smaller forest service campground adjacent to grasshopper creek. A great spot to stay if exploring the Pioneer Mountains.

There are 7-8 spaces, most suitable for a trailer or van. We were tent camping as were others. There are vault toilets and the ubiquitous forest service green potable water pumps/drinking fountains.

There are no dumpsters so have to pack trash out. There are campground hosts but they don’t have firewood for sale, so either need to bring or be prepared to do quite a bit of hunting for wood. The area around the campground is picked pretty clean of good firewood.

This is bear country and there are food storage boxes located throughout the campground for shared use. I expect the presence of bears is also why they don’t have any dumpsters on site.

The campground sits at approximately 7000 feet and by late summer gets near freezing temps overnight. Bring your fall/winter sleeping bag if tent camping here in late August or late Spring!

Just a few minutes up the road from the campground is Elkhorn Hot Springs where you can pay a few bucks to use the rustic pool and hot springs.

Palisades campground is a small 11 site campground on the shore of the Madison River.  This campground is in the open as it has no trees in the campground, so you will have no protection from the wind or sun, and minimal privacy.  The sites are nicely spread apart.  While at first glance it does not look like the greatest area for a tent due to the small boulders in the area, on closer look I found plenty of good spots to set up a tent, this is due to the large amount of room either between sites or behind each site.  Two accessible vault toilets serve the campground.  Each site has a picnic table and a metal fire ring,  most sites also have a bear locker for food storage, but some sites will need to share.  Water is available in the summer season.  Nearby day use area has a boat launch.  No trash service is available so be ready to haul out your trash. Cost is $12 a night.

Salmon Fly Fishing Access Site is a beautiful small campground along the Big Hole River. The site has six campsites all nice spread apart from each other, and a decent size day use area. Sites have gravel parking pads, metal fire rings and picnic tables, along with nice grass areas to set up a tent. The fishing access site is with in walking distance to the small town of Melrose. The site has one vault toilet. No water or trash service is available. The site has a concrete boat launch, but be warned that Montana FWP has posted that the water is shallow for larger boats. The campground is nice and quiet, far enough from the Interstate to not really hear the road traffic, there also is a lightly used rail line near by, but did not notice any train noise while at the site. Cost to camp is$12 with a valid MT fishing license,$18 with out, if you are over the age of 62 then those rates drop to$6 or$9 a night.

This honestly was one of my favorite trips/camping experiences I have ever done! There really is nothing like it. The cabin is so cute, tucked away in a forest. It's pretty magically. The best part about this cabin is you can't reach it by car. You can take a 4 wheeler, ATV or you can hike 8 miles. My friends and I love hiking so we chose to hike the 8 miles to the cabin. I think this makes the experience that much better. We were able to take in the scenery as we hiked, and it made us appreciate staying in the cabin. The cabin contained all the basic necessities that you need, but obviously you have to bring your own food, sleeping bags and hygiene products. We also brought sleeping pads to put down on the beds provided. The restroom is outside (outhouse) and there is no water or electricity. We brought our own supply of water and brought lanterns, and a few other light sources. There is a fireplace in the cabin but they don't provide the wood. We were able to gather another wood and branches from outside to build us a fire. It comfortably sleeps 3, however we had 4 people and one person had to make their bed on the floor. There were great trails nearby, which I think most of them are used in the winter for snowmobiling. I would definitely recommend coming here, any time of the year!!

Great park and campground popular with locals for a quick getaway, and ideal for travelers between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.  Yes, it is on a bench above a river valley and below higher sage and juniper covered foothills.  It can be windy, and it can be hot and sunny in the summer.  Locals find it a great early and late season destination for these reasons.  The trails also dry out/stay dry early and late making it a hiking and mountain biking destination when the higher mountains are snowy or muddy.

The campground itself has great facilities, and manicured lawns (good since this is rattlesnake country), but little to no natural shade.  Clean restrooms and clean vault toilets.  Small visitor center at the highway entrance and second visitor center for the cave entrance at the top of the mountain (foothill).  Summer brings intermittent ranger programs. I reserved a star for wind and lack of shade, otherwise it’s great camping.

P.S. spotty cell coverage!

Moose Creek Flat campground is a small campground sandwiched between the Gallatin River and U.S. highway 191. If you are planning on visiting this campground be prepared as you approach as there is little notice that you are approaching the campground while driving down the highway. Moose Creek Flat is a wide open campground, basically a flat open area with campsites along the river and highway. Campsites have no tree cover. The campground has 13 campsites and site 14 is a large day use only site. Moose Creek Flat is a popular starting point for rafting companies and those wanting to kayak the river. All the sites are along the river with the exception of three pull through sites which are along the highway. Sites 6-8 are near a nice beach. All sites have picnic tables and fire rings. ADA sites are available. Two vault toilets serve the campground and water is available at a hand pump next to the first vault toilet. If you want a quiet nights sleep then you are out of luck, Highway 191 is busy all night so bring earplugs if you are planning on staying the night. If you like to fish then be sure to bring your license and pole as the Gallatin River is very popular fly fishing destination. All sites can be reserved for$20 per night.

Harrison Lake FAS campground is a large spacious campground with most campsite being well spread out from each other.  The fishing access site has several vault toilets, which is nice for how large of an area the campground occupies.  Each campsite has a picnic table and a metal fire ring.  Plenty of flat ground at each site for your tent. No water or trash service is available.   The site has a concrete boat ramp as well as several other locations one could put a boat in the water.  The lake is really hurting for water this year, I would say that about only 25% of the lake volume was left on my visit, so this lake and all of Montana could really do with some rain.   The big down point for this campground is that everything is in the open, the site has no trees so you are at the mercy of the sun and wind.

Brownes Island Fishing Access Site is located 6 miles south of Melrose on the Big Hole River. This nice little Fishing Access/Campground has five campsite sitting under large cottonwood trees. The campsite all have dirt parking pads, metal fire rings, picnic tables with a decent amount of room for tents. The campsites are nicely spread apart from each other. The camping area has one ADA accessible vault toilet. The FAS has a dirt boat ramp just down stream from Brownes Bridge. No water or trash service at this campground, but the price to camp can't be beat, the site is free. While this site is near the Interstate and a railroad the campground was still fairly quiet thanks to all the large cottonwood trees.