Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Custer National Forest

Free National Forest campground in Custer National Forest. Sites include large picnic table and fire ring. Pit toilets available for use. The campground is right off of 212 about 6 miles east of the town of Ashland. We were just passing through for the night and this offered a quick, convenient place to crash. There is a fair amount of road noise due to the close proximity of the road. Campground is popular on the weekends but we had no problem finding a site.

This place is great. Coming from the small town of Ashland you'll follow a well-maintained gravel road all the way to the site. If they don't plow it in winter, good luck, but I had no issues in late September. No 4WD needed.

Three sites in a wooded area with pretty solid views because the area around the campground must have burned not too long ago - dead trees everywhere, so no foliage blocking the horizon. Fire pits, a bathroom, and tables. Hammock lovers, you'll be in good shape. Plenty of wood around you can harvest. With Verizon I had a weak cell signal. You won't be streaming Netflix here but you can check email, etc. There's a cabin right down the way that also appears to be rentable so you might have neighbors there. Did hear what sounded like hunting in the distance so if you want to go exploring or have a pet, might want to wear something loud and give your pooch a bright bandana.

Yes, three sites is very small but the surrounding area looks to have dispersed camping going on, although it is in active pasture land so you might find yourself waking up to curious cows.

Wonderfully quiet. Easy to get in and out. Well spaced sites that are free and serve their purpose perfectly. What more can you ask for? Check my photos and videos and see for yourself! Highly recommended!

I had been driving for 10 hours and when I got there the sun was setting I was pretty tired and stiff from the drive and I bet my dog was to. So I got there and I found a nice spot pretty far from the toilet so I walked my dog there and walked around the trails which are very nice and neat by the way. I was almost expecting it to be too crowded because of how nice it was and it was memorial day weekend but seemed to have lots of available space. I didn't have any firewood with me but I found plenty of sticks and kindling from the surrounding area on the ground nice and dry and had no trouble starting a fire where I brewed cacao. And gave thanks to God for finding this lovely sanctuary! That night was clear and I watched the Stars. I have never seen so many stars! even from my farm house in the middle of nowhere. It was a pretty spiritual experience I had a good night's rest because I did not have rowdy neighbors or hardly any neighbors at all! That morning I packed my garbage gear and I went on continue my journey.♥️♥️

Maybe 10 sites total in a vacant lot next to a run down laundromat in a seedy looking trailer park. Chickens running all over. At least my dog had fun chasing them.

Two of the sites were flooded. The maintenance guy wandered around later in the day and I mentioned it, he said the owner didn't want to spend the money to fix the busted water pipes. That pretty much sums up this place. They got an extra star because the (filthy) shower, believe it or not, had softened water.

Stayed here one night passing through. Set up the security cameras and kept the pistol on the nightstand.

I was looking to split up the drive on my trip and found this perfect stopover with a classic Montana feel. It’s an unexpected find on a long straight road but I’m so glad that we stopped. A ranger happened to be cutting the grass when we arrived. She was very helpful - I was nervous about the rattlesnake warning. She said she hasn’t seen one this year but watch out for poison ivy (and it was hidden in the brush). She pointed us to a good site and went about her work. 

14 campsites in 2 loops with 3 vault toilets. There is also a picnic area if you just want a lunch spot. The loops gave our dog the perfect amount of walking before wanting a water break just when we got back to the site. We didn’t find much else here other than peacefulness. 

Each site has the biggest picnic table I’ve seen. They are 12 feet long! Pine trees provide some shade so pick the right place. Our site looks like we will get shade at the end on the night and early morning. It is free of nearby poison ivy so ‘thanks for watching out for our dog, ranger!’

Everything is so well maintained. The views are perfect. The breeze keeps us cool. 

A stay here doesn’t even cost you - it’s free! I thought we would have the place to ourselves but a couple on holiday from England joined us for both nights. It’s that great of a find.

Found this little place on my way cross country and it was all I needed for one night. Nothing fancy but it does have bathrooms and a picnic table and power if you need it. $25 for 1 night. Cute chickens, a turkey and a bunch of sheep to look at. Free WiFi which was nice.

Arrived late in the evening, I made dinner with a brisk wind. Later that night I experienced a dandy of a lightning storm. Nice clean toilet but be aware campsite overlooks some fire damage.

Great place to stop for a night of free camping. Spacious sites fire pits, vault toilets, and picnic tables.

Very cute campsites, with large wooden tables and firepits with new grill grates. Bathrooms somewhat clean. Nice sunset views.

What a gem of a campground (in my opinion). There are two loops, each loop having 6-7 sites and it’s own vault toilet. I camped in both loops while the loop to the right is more preferred due to being further from highway noise and the views! Each site has plenty is space. A long picnic table, nice fire ring with grate and gravel drive to back in. There are no pull thru sites. No trash, electric or water so come prepared and pack out your trash. Had a sheriff drive through a couple mornings then the NFS came to clean out the trash people left in the fire pits. Arrived on a Saturday, one loop was full, the other empty. Sunday evening, a little more traffic but still at least 5 spots open. You can stay up to 10 days (free). There isn’t much to do in the area but it is peaceful and relaxing. Ashland doesn’t have much of a grocery store (small merch for smaller hauls) so come stocked with all the food you need. Definitely would stay here again! Had 2-3 bars LTE via AT&T and could work with no issues.

We stayed here for a weekend in April. It’s was such a quiet place. There were only a few other people in the whole campground. It’s right off the highway, but not noisy at all.

We stayed here for one night while driving across Montana. There are two main areas with about 12 (?) sites total. We arrived at 5pm and had no trouble getting a spot although it did get quite full before dark. Some spots were too small for big rigs and there are no drive thru sites. We did have to level out a bit. Very quiet spot even though it’s right off the Highway. Enough space to explore for kids too.

This is a little gem for a FCFS free campground.

Some sites are more level than others, but it was nearly empty when we rolled in so we had no problem finding a site that worked for our class C. We were impressed with the space between sites. It offered a lot of privacy.

More campers rolled in by early evening but the campground was far from full and remained wonderfully quiet. Any road noise heard during the day was gone by nightfall.

Bonus for having a geocache near the entrance if you are into geocaching.

This was a cool spot for the night. It was free and far enough away from the road not to be too loud. There were about five other spots taken when I was there, so not too crowded. Beware, you can hear herds of cattle moo-ing at night. My big con is no hiking nearby really that I could find.

Needed a quick place to setup camp driving across the country. Pull straight in and up to a sight. Bathrooms, but nothing else. Simple tables and fire pits at each site. Beautiful property, mountains in the distance, wood for fires laying around. Perfect for a quick trip or passing through. And free:)

Quiet, right off highway, little to no road noise. Vault toilet only. FREE! Nice level sites, fire pits, huge picnic tables which I estimate to be about 14 feet long.

A very quiet campground near Ashland. Beautiful view from the top of the hill. Vault toilets are clean but bring your own TP

14 spots available, decently spread out. There are bathrooms with vault toilets and no running water. Great for a quick stop!

My pup and I had a good time here (aside from a sudden thunderstorm). There is no water sources and only vault toilets. The camping sites are well spread out and there is enough room to pull in a rig and park.

Nice little (and free) campground right off of the highway. Sites were mostly level. There are 2 loops, one which is right next to the road, and the other away a bit. Vault toilets. No trash pickup. No water.

This is a dry campground. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. There are pit restrooms that were clean. We camped in the first loop in a 35’ fifth wheel. We would have been able to fit in most of the sites in the two loops. Access from the highway was easy and the dirt roads are in fairly good condition. We could hear some highway noise, but it wasn’t excessive. We were here the end of August. We were the only ones in this loop. Four rigs in the back loop.

We drive 25’ truck camper with Jeep Rubicon in tow. Camp road has two loops. No pull through so we unhooked. Sites are nice size. One clean pit toilet. Road noise was minimal on second loop. Road going in you cross cattle grate and road is doable with some ruts and pot holes. Nice spot.