Palisades Campground

There are only about 8 camp spots but it’s beautiful and creek running through the sites. The vault toilets were clean.

Not a lot of spots but the ones they do have nice fire rings, tucked away spots for tents, bear boxes and picnic tables. The sites are kinda close to one another so if you’re looking for private this is probably not it. A couple of bathrooms. We have not seen a pay station so not sure if it costs or not. One review said it did. Close to town of Red Lodge where you can get supplies, gas, etc. was able to easily get down the road with our 13 ft travel trailer. We had a couple of bars of internet!

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.

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 one of the quickest ways to get out of Red Lodge and into the beauteous surroundings.  The campsite was half full on the Sunday afternoon we were there, and the locals say traffic isn't usually heavy on the Willow Creek Trail.  On the other hand, there are only 6  campsites and the Forest Service website says that part of it is popular during the summer.  We did the Willow Creek Trail up to the ski run - this trail was fairly flat and is a good place to snowshoer in the winter.  The Palisades trail leads to some great views, though there are restrictions on dogs due to the higher elk population.  Overall it has a peaceful, easy vibe.  Social people could camp in the sites near the parking lot, while more reclusive folks could stay in the lower loop.

This is a tiny FREE forest service campground not far from the town of Red Lodge, MT, with only six sites. There are a couple of bear safe storage boxes, but not all sites have them, so be prepared to be open to sharing. The vault toilets are clean and well maintained. The forest service has some pretty detailed rules regarding dogs on the nearby trails due to moose. There are no trash cans, so practice pack in pack out. There is frequently bear activity in these mountains, so be bear aware and carry bear spray.

Love this little campground. Very private. Clean bathrooms. Great trail to stretch your legs. Also has access to good mountain biking and the ski area.