Best Dispersed Camping near Stevensville, MT

first dispersed camping spot for Lolo from the entry road for this Forest Service land entry. Just cross the bridge, and be careful of high water (signs stating it's impassable 100 yards past the photo of the bridge when high water.) The grey area is public land the white square at the end of the road is private property by the map legend. 

maps attached are screenshots from the National Forest Service online map as of Sept. 8th, 2023.

The dots show where dispersed camping is allowed for this spot.

Oh man, what an epic camping spot. Getting here is a doozy, but it is so worth it.

In early September, myself, my brother, and our two cousins decided it was time for a long-overdue reunion, and getting lost in the back-country was going to be the stage for it. We struck out from Bozeman, drove as far as we could go (past Lower Seymour Lake) and then once we hit the end of the road, strapped on our (very heavy - remind me not to bring so much food next time) packs and trekked in.

The trek is pretty damn tough if you aim to do it in one go, like we did. It's about 7 miles to Upper Seymour Lake (also very beautiful, and with dispersed camping), which isn't too strenuous, but then you have to cut over a pass to get to Flower Lake. That is pretty much straight up and straight down, switchbacks the entire way. I was struggling. The views from the top are amazing though. Also, don't mistake Page Lake for Flower Lake - once you descend the other side of the pass, you'll hit Page Lake before you hit Flower Lake. Page Lake is also beautiful and has dispersed sites, but keep going. I think you'll find it is worth it.

Once we got to Flower Lake, it was serene. From the time we left Upper Seymour Lake to the time we got back, we didn't see or hear another soul. Five days of just us. The area around the lake is pretty dramatic - it sits in a little valley basically surrounded by steep mountains. Around the lake there are a few areas with rough dispersed sites. Fire pits, a few logs to make "benches", that's about it. Plenty of space to throw tents down, and TONS of firewood from the dead trees in the area. You can camp out in the open if that's your jam, or in trees. We chose the trees for better cover and because that's where we found the best dispersed site. Flower Lake itself is beautiful but absolutely frigid, so we didn't go in. There is a little stream that feeds it where we gathered our water to filter, and I finally decided to take a half-bath. Good god it was freezing, but it felt good once it was over.

Definitely check the weather before going in. We got slammed with a blizzard that lasted all of the second day and night. We were expecting snow that day, but this was more than we were imagining. It was COLD. Intense wind. Lots and lots of snow. We didn't leave the campfire the entire time except to dig out our tents when the snow got too high around them. Given we were running three-season tents, that night was bitter cold (the water bottle in my tent next to me was frozen the next morning) but we all tossed and turned and made it through it. Not gonna lie, the blizzard was a bit unnerving when we were in it, but it made the next four days of sun so much more appreciated. If you're in the sun, it's actually pretty warm, and a lot of the snow was gone a few days after it fell.

Lots of great hiking here, as the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) goes through this area. I recommend the hike to the top of Rainbow Mountain for some truly stunning views. Not too hard either, once you've cleared the initial pass to get in, and you're not carrying your full pack. 

BRING BEAR SPRAY. HANG YOUR FOOD. This is grizzly country and we saw a LOT of signs of them. Fresh droppings. Fresh prints in the snow after the blizzard. We never ran into one directly, but they were definitely around. Be in the habit of making noise so as not to surprise them. I can't possibly imagine how many times I yelled "Hey bear!" over the course of the trip. We noticed that one side of the lake had far more signs of bears than where we were. We avoided it, and I wouldn't recommend camping there. See my photos to get an idea of where.

The hike out was not a cakewalk either, but with lighter packs and having the hard ascent and descent happen at the beginning rather than the end, it wasn't half as bad as going in.

This is a great spot for back-country aficionados. It was my first real pack-in back-country camping trip (other than when I did Outward Bound when I was a teenager), and one I won't ever forget. 100% recommended, but be prepared. If you got hurt out here, or caught in bad weather, or god forbid had a nasty run in with a bear, getting out could be difficult. Definitely let someone know where you're going, and when you expect to be back. That said, don't talk yourself out of it if you want to give it a go. This place is special. Really special.

This is my favorite area for dispersed camping in the area. Lost Horse creek is beautiful. Can get a little tight with campers in peak season.

Many states out west allow dispersed camping on select public lands owned by the Bureau of Land management. You need to pick up a map of exactly where you’re allowed to camp (there are no facilities, obviously). You can also rent “cabins” which are buildings from before the building became ghosted (but have been updated). Even if you don’t want to camp you can tour the town and have a surreal afternoon imagining what it’d be like to be a miner back in the day.

This area allows disperse camping Beyond a certain point (there is a small sign). There is a map provided at the road trailhead. However it is confusing since I believe the map is upside down. On my drive up I did not see any established distributed campsites. However there are some turn offs that you could park at. This area would probably not be ideal for RVs. Four wheel drive does not seem to be a requirement. I ended up camping at a turnoff and walked a bit off the road to set up my hammock. The road was not very busy I did hear an occasional car pass by. Good views and decently private. I was able to get Verizon signal at my campsite. However driving up signal was spotty

From the highway 93 turn it is 4.6 miles to where we camped. The last 2.3 miles of the drive was on a fairly rough, but very manageable, forest road. (Mostly washboard and a few holes) It was 11.8 miles from our camp to Darby, and about 13 miles to the Yellowstone Ranch.

We grabbed a nice big spot right next to Lost Horse Creek late Friday afternoon. Another RV came into the area later in the evening and crowded us a little bit but we still had plenty of room to spread out. The road in is BUSY. We have camped at a number of dispersed locations over the years and this was BY FAR the busiest forest road we have seen. On Friday night we counted 50 cars passing by before we stopped counting. We drove west down the road a ways Saturday and saw a handful of other sites, but not enough to justify the traffic. We found out that “Twin Lakes” is about 20 miles down the rough forest road from our campsite. We didn’t venture that far as we could only go about 8-10 MPH max in our truck on the washboard road. Maybe we should have tried because it seemed to be quite the attraction given the traffic. This place will do in a pinch but if you are looking for a quiet dispersed camping area kept driving. This is not for you!

This spot is not a camping spot.  Day use only.

super easy to get to! just exit off I90 onto Petty Creek Road and go straight for a mile or two. not totally isolated, the site is not too far from the road but not the interstate, so there is a bit of noise but not frequently. service is spotty, verizon and at&t had only 1 bar. found some random bones, saw some deer, and lots of bugs. small area with a few places to park, thankfully nobody was there when we were but could be fun for a group!

Camping is dispersed and a little eerie. This ghost town is complete with still stocked shops, empty hotels with beds left in and slowly aging buildings. It is an interesting look at the mining industry in Montana. There are numerous interpretive signs and information about the building throughout the town and rangers on site during the summer months to answer questions. During the winter two of the cabins (the larger of which is the old saloon) are available to rent through the forest service. Most of my recent trips have been during the winter months, where the town is only accessible by ski, snow shoe or feet. Then it is silent and strange but heart breakingly beautiful.

The dispersed campground near the start of Johnsrud Rd (Mile Marker 28 on Hwy 200) has been removed. However, 2 new campgrounds have been added, and the entire road is now paved making RV accessibility much easier. 

The three campgrounds are as follows: 

Thibodeau Campground- 5 mi in

Corrick River Bend - 11 mi in

Ninemile Prarie- 13 mi. in

A ton of dispersed sites right near the creek, but poorly taken care of by campers. We encountered more trash here than we’ve ever seen camping before. I mean, full trash bags left behind that were of course then scavenged by wildlife and spread all over. We also found human poop and used toilet paper in multiple spots, even though there IS a toilet provided here! We found tampons too…it was seriously disgusting…and obviously a popular spot for burning pallets because we found handfuls of nails scattered around, so be mindful of your tires!! This area just seems to attract a different kind of camping crowd, one that doesn’t respect the land or keeping it clean and better than you found it. It was pretty unfortunate because it really is a pretty and overall peaceful area.

Right off the road and easy to get to. I only saw 2 spots and the other was occupied. Both had fire rings but we were in a fire restriction. I got the site closest to the road and it was not so bad, I was camping in my car anyway. The spot seemed pretty level. The trees were gorgeous. Not bad for a free spot.

Sign says camping permitted to 14 days in a 30 day period. Adjacent to dirt road with a few trees in between. Not the most private but a good option if you need a place for the night if the nearby campsite is full. No amenities. T-mobile cell service is good here.

River access just at the entry of the turn in. Could easily pull a big rig in but may have a hard time turning it around as there is not a pull through. There is a concrete slab that is level and about 12'x25' in size  which could be good for a trailer or van without having to do much for leveling. Many vehicles/tents could fit here in the dirt area but would likely be comfortable for a single group rather than multiple camp groups.

Camp beside one of Montana's best preserved ghost towns!! Garnet!! Learn rich history of pioneer days of Montana and visit cabins among the town. Not many amenities available here. Yes I believe in ghosts!!

Not the best in terms of views, but worth the drive to get out of the city. You will have the occasional driver coming up and dust you a bit, but if you can get past that, it's a nice area to set up camp. You've got to go in at least 5 miles to camp.

Blue Mountain is a great place to recreate! Very dog friendly and tons of trails for hiking and mountain biking. Camping is allowed west of road 365. The area can get busy during the day but is quiet at night.

The recreation area is nice but there’s not actually anywhere to camp unless you want to camp on the road.

It’s a spot to pull up and sleep for the night

Wonderful location near the river. Not too many people

The river was running pretty fast when we were there. Couldn’t play in the water but it was still beautiful. Saw an eagle. Quiet.

Beautiful spot a little ways south down petty creek road, stayed here one night after rock climbing at Alberton. Fire rings and accessible by cat

What a great spot! 3 sites in a beautiful spot, about 5 minutes off the highway. We pulled in about 7pm and we were the only ones there. Someone else pulled in around 9 but the sites were separated by enough trees we could barely tell they were there. Felt very private, and the stars were fantastic! Creek bed runs right next to the back site, but it was completely dried up in late July.