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Dispersed Camping

North fork Flathead River dispersed camping

North Fork Flathead River Dispersed Camping, near Glacier National Park, is a fantastic spot for those looking to immerse themselves in nature without the frills of a traditional campground. This area offers a few well-spaced sites right next to the river, perfect for pitching a tent or parking your RV.

Visitors rave about the stunning views and the peaceful atmosphere. Many have enjoyed the clean pit toilets and the fire pits available for cozy evenings by the water. One camper noted, “It’s very clean, open space, next to the river. Beautiful views!”

The location is ideal for those wanting to explore Glacier National Park, with easy access to hiking trails and breathtaking scenery. The dirt road leading in can be a bit bumpy and dusty, but it’s manageable for most vehicles. Campers have mentioned that while it can get busy during the day, the evenings are serene, making it a great place to unwind after a day of adventure.

With the Flathead River right at your doorstep, you can enjoy activities like fishing or simply relaxing by the water. Just be mindful of the local rafters and boaters, as they can add some traffic during the day. Whether you’re a solo traveler or with friends, this spot offers a great blend of tranquility and outdoor fun.

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Location

North fork Flathead River dispersed camping is located in Montana

Detail location of campground

Coordinates

48.56926798 N
114.13008167 W

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Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site
  • Walk-In
    Park in a lot, walk to your site.
  • Hike-In
    Backcountry sites.
  • Boat-In
    Sites accessible by watercraft.

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Site Types

  • Tent Sites
  • RV Sites
  • Dispersed
  • Group

Features

For Campers

  • Toilets
  • Alcohol
  • Pets
  • Fires

For Vehicles

  • Big Rig Friendly

DISPERSED CAMPING

Enjoy dispersed camping on government land and leave no trace. Pack in and pack out. No (or limited) services at this camping area. Permit may be required.


PERMIT might be REQUIRED

We curate permit requirements across the US for our PRO members. Try PRO to see if North fork Flathead River dispersed camping needs a permit.


Reviews

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20 Reviews

Reviewed Oct. 5, 2024

Great stay close to West entrance Glacer NP

I really enjoyed this boondocking site. They have great tent options right beside the river but not too close for flooding. Also they have a hard structured bathroom which was nice. Would stay here again. Also the road was bumpy but I managed it with my Honda Accord.

Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by brandon W., October 5, 2024
Reviewed Aug. 20, 2024

Nice stay near West Glacier

This was a nice site for the night. I came around 6pm and all 4 sites were full so we just car camped in one of the parking spots. The four spots look really nice, but they most likely fill up quick, as we came on a Monday night. It’s a very beautiful place to camp and the bathroom is a perk! I definitely recommend if wanting a free place to camp outside of the West Glacier entrance!

Month of VisitAugust
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2024

Riverside camping

Brought our 24 ft trailer here. Multiple spots that accommodate the size and larger. The gravel road in was a bit bumpy at times but not too bad. Very nice spot.

Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Courtney P., August 1, 2024
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Reviewed Jun. 21, 2024

perfect

about 6 spots to camp. plenty of people close by, felt safe. fire pits. vault toilet. right next to the river - beautiful! some bees around but weren’t bothersome.

Month of VisitJune
Reviewed Jun. 15, 2024

Beautiful

Very clean, open space, next to the river. Had clean toilets, big rig safe. Dry camping/dispersed camping. Beautiful views! 😍

SiteRV pull in
Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Abreon T., June 15, 2024
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Abreon T., June 15, 2024
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Abreon T., June 15, 2024
  • (9) View All
Reviewed Jun. 13, 2024

Close to West Glacier, quiet enough, pretty views

I used this spot for the four days I was visiting Glacier NP. It's pretty easy to find and close to West Glacier. The dirt road is DUSTY, but it is what it is (turn your lights on so you're more visible). The dirt road and driveway is a little rough and pothole-y, but my Town and Country handled it just fine. 

Lots of sites to choose from; I was joined by a couple others each night and there was a bit of road traffic and people coming to put their rafts in the river, but it wasn't bothersome at all for me. 

Right on the Flathead River, surrounded by mountains, and it has a pit-toilet! As a solo female traveler, I would absolutely stay here again.

Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by jess W., June 13, 2024
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by jess W., June 13, 2024
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by jess W., June 13, 2024
Reviewed Sep. 1, 2023

Nice and quiet spot

Stayed here for a night and didn't have any issues with rafters or boaters, etc. There's not a lot of traffic either. Right on the river bank and it is refreshing water.

Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Chad R., September 1, 2023
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Chad R., September 1, 2023
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Chad R., September 1, 2023
  • (8) View All
Reviewed Jul. 4, 2023

Wonderful spot, but dust and heavy traffic

During the evening and early mornings this place is magical. It gets pretty crowded during the day and when people say the dirt road is dusty, you've never seen anything like this. You can't see 5ft in front of you. There are 3 RV sites and several tent sites down by the river. Place was full every night in July.

Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Aug. 26, 2022

Nice views & quiet

Had a great experience here! I found a great spot right next to the river. Peaceful and quiet. They have to main camping arrears: in the open field or in the trees.

Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Jess W., August 26, 2022
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Jess W., August 26, 2022
Reviewed Feb. 9, 2022

Rafters try to intimidate

We loved it here and will for sure be back. But the other reviewer mentioning the locals claim to the spot for rafting is spot on. They try to intimidate and we ended up moving spots. But it was still stunning and once we decided to stay out of each other’s way we were fine.

Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Aug. 30, 2021

Told to move

We thought this was going to be a great place to park our TT while we explored Glacier NP. We had the campsite right by the river. Thought we lucked out. Boy where we wrong, after a long day in the NP we got back to our TT and found a note on our door and written in the dust on our trailer to move. Also found someone had messed with our TT. They turned off the propane and unhooked the hose from the tank. The locals consider this there campsite to port there boats in and out of the water. There is nothing stating this. We felt threatened and would not stay for another night.

Siteby the water
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Mike , August 30, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Mike , August 30, 2021
Reviewed Aug. 17, 2021

Great spot!

Not today far from glacier, very clean and beautiful area. The gravel road leading to the area is one of the best I have experienced(flat, mostly dirt and few rocks that were worrisome) and the site had pit toilets!

Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by grace H., August 17, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by grace H., August 17, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by grace H., August 17, 2021
Reviewed Aug. 17, 2021

lovely campsite on the Flathead River.

We stayed for 3 nights on the North fork of the Flathead river. We had been searching around for a First come First served site and hadnt found anything that looked just right. We wanted to have a little space and be on water. We arrived at the Great Northern Flats on Thursday afternoon and found a perfect site for our Bean Trailer. It was not crowded at this point, 2 other groups camping in designated spots and a few tents tucked  under the trees by the River. I  never ventured over to check out the tent sites, but I would guess they are really nice. during the weekend days, the boat ramp, which is right in campsite area was pretty busy with people putting rafts and kayaks in. this didnt bother us, as we were out fishing or visiting Glacier National Park. The River was perfect for cooling off after being in the sun. One bathroom with no water, outhouse style. Pretty clean. We enjoyed our stay and love this part of Montana.

Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Nancy , August 17, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Nancy , August 17, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Nancy , August 17, 2021
Reviewed Jul. 9, 2021

Close to glacier, free, and beautifill

Stayed here from july 5-8. We packed our tent down the river a little ways for more privacy but didnt really need it. Dusty rough road but you can go in the back door of glacier and not have to wait in lines and you are on the road to polebridge mercantile. Wish i had stayed longer

Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Brandon P., July 9, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Brandon P., July 9, 2021
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Brandon P., July 9, 2021
  • (7) View All
Reviewed Oct. 22, 2020

Great free river Location

Spent 3 nights here. Was awesome to sleep right next to the river. It has 2 pit bathroom whichwas a bonus. Took the back way into Glacier and was convenient especially when the front gate was on lockdown. Highly recommend

Reviewed Sep. 27, 2020

Awesome dispersed set of campsites.

Fire pits. Easy access to the river. Ability to have some privacy from other sites. Pit toilet that was fine for a pit toilet. Stayed there sept 9-12, 2020. Right next to the to river and it’s babbling mini rapids. Standard bumpy gravel road access to Glacier national park. Also easy access to the Flathead national forest. Not too crowded while we were there. Couple RVs in the main lot area, ran generators for brief moments at reasonable times. One night only one other tent there. Another there were 5 or 6. A short walk from parking to sites but no big deal. Left our stuff each day while we went to explore glacier and came back to no problems. Limited wood in the area to burn but you can find it - especially if you have a saw/axe.

  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Tim , September 27, 2020
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Tim , September 27, 2020
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Tim , September 27, 2020
  • (4) View All
Reviewed Sep. 10, 2020

Great sky view at night

There is no sugar coating it, the road to this site is horrendous. It’s so bumpy but doable. Once there we found a site that is in the wide open. We loved the river and the night sky. It is quiet enough so we loved that.

On the drive in I ran over an Allen wrench which gave me a flat. Another camper, a local, helped me out with some equipment that made it easy to fix. The people in this area are great and Doug and his daughter Hope made this stay a lot easier.

Reviewed Sep. 2, 2020

Great spot on Flathead

Dispersed campground right on the Flathead river. Great to hear the river at night. Only downsides are it’s a busy boat launch with people coming all day long and it can get loud on the weekends. Free camping with 3 day max stay. The road will likely cause need for a front end alignment as you drive from Columbia Falls. About another 10 miles (of terrible roads) on North Fork road and you are at the west entrance to Glacier and close to Apgar / Lake McDonald. We stayed for 3 days and loved it. Nature at its best.

  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Chad L., September 2, 2020
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Chad L., September 2, 2020
  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Chad L., September 2, 2020
  • (4) View All
Reviewed Sep. 1, 2020

Glacier Flats

This campground isn't the "most" scenic in the GNP area BUT we really did enjoy the change in scenery and pace. This is a moderately used launching point for floating the river so there are usually vehicles and trailers parked during the day.

At night, it clears out and that's when the magic happens. The stars are so bright and the Milky Way seems so close you could touch it. Sites are rustic but there is a serviceable vault toilet that is regularly maintained.

Reviewed Jul. 25, 2020

Nice area right on the water

About 5 miles worth of very graded dirt road but if you take it slow should be accessible to all. Fire pits at some but not all sites and water is not visible until you get to the edge however it is a nice area right off of Forest road. Vault toilet available but no other services.

  • Review photo of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping by Gail W., July 25, 2020

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the elevation of North fork Flathead River dispersed camping?

    North fork Flathead River dispersed camping is located at 3263 feet.

  • What is the max vehicle length at North fork Flathead River dispersed camping?

    North fork Flathead River dispersed camping allows vehicles up to 45 feet.

  • Are fires allowed at North fork Flathead River dispersed camping?

    Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at North fork Flathead River dispersed camping, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.