Indian Creek Campground, near Yellowstone National Park, is a fantastic spot for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of more crowded areas in the park. Tucked away between Norris and Mammoth, this campground offers a quieter experience with a mix of tent, RV, and cabin accommodations.

The campground is known for its clean facilities, including well-maintained vault toilets and helpful staff who are ready to assist with site assignments. Visitors have noted the privacy of the sites, with some being more secluded than others, making it a great place to unwind after a day of exploring. As one camper mentioned, “It was our favorite place in the park,” highlighting the charm of this less-traveled location.

For outdoor activities, Indian Creek is a prime base for hiking and cycling, with designated hiker/biker campsites available. The nearby creeks are perfect for fishing, and the surrounding forest provides ample opportunities for wildlife viewing. Campers have enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, with many appreciating the natural beauty and the chance to connect with nature. 

While the campground does not offer electric hookups or showers, it does provide essential amenities like drinking water, fire pits, and food storage. Whether you're roasting marshmallows by the fire or taking in the stunning views, Indian Creek Campground is a solid choice for a memorable camping experience in Yellowstone.

## Overview

 Located about eight miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs on the road to Norris, Indian Creek Campgroundelevation 7,300 feet (2225 m)sits near the base of the Gallatin Mountains and offers breathtaking views of Electric Peak. The area offers easy access to fishing and hiking. The campground is away from the main road and provides a quieter, more primitive, experience than many other locations. For reservations at the campgrounds managed by Yellowstone National Park Lodges (Fishing Bridge RV Park, Bridge Bay, Canyon, Madison, and Grant Village campgrounds), please visit the Yellowstone National Park Lodges website:[ http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/stay/camping/][1] 
## Recreation

 Fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing are the highlights for this campground. The Big Horn Pass trailhead is on the entrance road to the campground. 
## Natural Features

 Highlights in the area include Obsidian Creek and the Gardner River, Big Horn Pass Trail, Sheepeater Cliff picnic area, and Willow Park for wildlife viewing. 
## Nearby Attractions

 Big Horn Pass trailhead Sheepeaters Cliff picnic area Rustic Falls Apollonaris Spring Obsidian Cliff 
## Contact Info

 This location has limited staffing. Please call (307) 344-2289 for general information.
## Charges & Cancellations

 Changing Reservations: There is no change fee if a visitor extends or shortens a reservation, as long as the change includes dates from the original reservation. Additionally, there is no change fee if the visitor wants to switch sites that are the same price with the same reservation dates in the same facility. If a visitor wants to switch dates that are entirely outside of the original reservation dates, there is a $10 change fee. If a reservation is made that includes dates beyond the maximum booking window, that reservation cannot be changed until 18 days have passed from the original booking date. Once a reservation date has begun, visitors cannot change a reservation using the online system or through the Call Center. Onsite staff will assist with changes or cancellations. Cancellations: Visitors may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's approved rate including tax and applicable add-on. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. Visitors who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days prior to arrival date will pay a $10 service fee AND forfeit the first nights rate. No-Shows: A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. Early Departures: Visitors are requested to notify staff at the facility if they depart early to allow others to use the site. If the visitor chooses to depart early, they may forfeit the approved rate and applicable tax and applicable add-on for the day of departure. If a visitor departs prior to the scheduled check-out date, they may be eligible for a partial refund. Visitors may notify the Recreation.gov call center to request a refund of remaining unused nights. If a visitor requests a refund for an early departure after the facility check-out time (10 am) has passed, the visitor will not be refunded for that night and is eligible for a refund on any additional nights that will not be used. Refunds: Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Visitors may also initiate a refund request through the call center at any time after their reservation has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile. 

[1]: http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/stay/camping/

Indian Creek Campground — Yellowstone National Park

Gardiner, MT is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—Gardiner is surrounded by family-friendly activities. Find the best campgrounds near Gardiner, MT. Read helpful reviews and tips to find the perfect camping option for you and your crew.

Gardiner

The Best Camping Near Gardiner, Montana

I accidentally found myself in Yellowstone on what must have been the busiest weekend of the year. Two hours of stop and go traffic to get into the park, and no camping available that day. I resolved myself to waking up at the time the reservation office opened the next morning to try to get any cancelled reservable spot that opened up, but no luck. A nice ranger told us that Indian Creek is almost always the last campground to fill up, so we booked it over to the campground to try to get a spot. Note that Indian creek has non reservable spots, as do many campgrounds in yellowstone, which means you need to get there in the morning and get your spot before they fill up. We rolled into indian creek around 7 am and got one of the last 2 spots available in Yellowstone.

This campground is quiet, has bear boxes for your food, and has a few vault toilets available. Each site has a picnic table. Not much in the way of shade or natural barriers from your neighbors, but when you need a cheap place to stay and you don't want to drive hours to get out of the park, this place is great.

One of the quietest campgrounds in Yellowstone

I believe this is supposed to be the Indian Creek Campground in Yellowstone National Park (which would put it in Wyoming), so I'm going to put that review here.

This is one of the best campgrounds in Yellowstone. It is seculded, and recently renovated. It is close to Mammoth and everything on the North end, plus most people ignore it's existence. Unfortunately (or fortunately) you cannot reserve here.

Indian Creek campground in Yellowstone

Getting reservations at Yellowstone National Park is tricky, so unless you've managed to grab a spot one the exact right day about 6 months in advance, you'll be stuck trying to grab a "first-come, first-served" camp site. In larger campgrounds like Norris in Yellowstone, this means getting there around 6 or 7 am and hopefully getting lucky.

Indian Creek, on the other hand, still had one spot left around 11am when we got there. Looking at their booking calendar, that may have been a bit of a fluke for mid-week July (yesterday it says they booked up at 7:30 am), but it's definitely a better bet than other, more popular campgrounds.

[https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm](https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm)

Decent spots, not a ton of privacy, asboluetely beautiful waterflowers, meadows and creeks surrounding the campground. There's pit toilets instead of flush, which matches the cheaper price of $15.

In theory you can have 35-foot RVs here, and the road is nice enough they should be fine, but when we were there is was almost all tents and smaller vintage or canned hams. Generators are not allowed to run at all, so that might be a deciding factor keeping the bigger rigs away.

All-in-all, a nice enough spot if you want to try out the east side of Yellowstone and/or want to get away from the larger campgrounds with more difficult bookings.

Basic, Cheap First-Come First-Served Camping on Yellowstone's East Side

A great simple campground inside Yellowstone. we were there the weekend before July 4th and found a site easily. Many of the other campgrounds had fIlled early each mornIng. There are bear proof boxes in each site for your food items, be sure to use them. Tent camping is okay, and they have nice pads to set the tents up on in the sites. There’s vault (pit) toilets and no other hook ups for RVs. 

Simple campground 

No light or noise pollution. We heard wolves and moose during the night. No flush toilets or showers, but those are available in the center of the park at guest services. Smaller RV and tent sites. No generators allowed and no electricity. Fires were allowed in rings. Located in a forested part of north Yellowstone Park

Great for tent camping with lots of shade 

Indian creek is probably my favorite campground out of all the Yellowstone camps. It felt more secluded and a lot less busy than the main ones offered in the park.

Great Campground

A variety of site types (some great for RV's, others better designed for tents).  A huge sand beach with swimming area, docks with boat slip rentals.  Campfire programs both during the day and night, plus the ranger station has fishing poles and nature backpacks to check out for kids for free.  Camp store with basic essentials and ice cream.

Great camping

We made a reservation here by calling them a couple weeks before we left for Yellowstone National Park.  We were driving from the Seattle, WA area and figured this was about half way.  There are several mountain passes to cross and we did not want to fill our water and propane tanks before leaving and carry a bunch of extra weight.  This place offered full hook ups and propane sales on site. 

  

We arrived almost too late for in person check in.  Since we were hoping to leave early the next morning, we didn't want to wait for the office to open again in the morning.  We called ahead and the really nice lady in the office stayed a few minutes to wait for us.  They have a nice office with some local items for sale that make cute little gifts.  

  

Sites are typical for an RV campground.  Everyone is very close together.  Picnic tables and full hook ups are available.  There are also tent sites.  The bathrooms are great.  many stalls and several private showers.  The grounds are beautiful.  Green and watered.  Covered picnic shelters are available.  

  

Campers were quiet for a Saturday night.  Lots of folks out and about, everyone was so friendly!  The only downside is it's right next to the freeway.  Even in the middle of the night, it was loud.

Perfect halfway from Seattle to Yellowstone NP

FCFS. This campground is less well-known so there aren’t as many people and it’s fairly easy to get a spot. We got there around 9 a.m. and had plenty to choose from. Lots of trees- perfect for hammocks. You have people kind of close, but spots are spaced out well so you still feel private. Fire pit, bear box, a picnic table at each site. And there’s bathrooms. There’s a river really close that we walked along and fished. And the camp hosts were really nice people! Firewood available at the store at the front. 

One of my favorites!

Everyone needs to at least visit and potentially camp Yellowstone at least once. However, I have never been impressed with the Yellowstone campgrounds. They seem to care more about fitting in the vast number of tourists than spreading anything out so it does sort of resemble an RV Park (with great views and fresh air). 

They have great facilities, and this seems to be one of the less crowded campgrounds, I just wish the sites gave you more space.

By the way. Don’t be the idiot that thinks park wildlife is tame 

The atmosphere of Yellowstone, in a crowded park

We were nervous about trying to find a campground in Yellowstone without a reservation as all the reviews made it seem impossible, but as we pulled into Indian Creek we were pleasantly surprised to find a first come - first served campground with almost nobody there on a Friday afternoon.  The hosts were extremely helpful and asked about our site preferences before assigning us a spot. 
This was a great base camp to explore the park for the day and had food storage, picnic tables and fire rings at every site.  There are also bathrooms, trash / recycling at the entrance and firewood for sale. 

Quiet, convenient, friendly base camp

Camped here many times over the years, it was our favorite place in the park. It's a bit more like a National Forest CG because it's somewhat off the beaten path and quiet. It is certainly more crowded these days than it used to be, back then it rarely filled.  

The site are good, some more private than others. It is NOT a place for Big Rigs, I think the length limit was 35' last time I was there (vehicle + trailer or whatever you're pulling) and they strictly enforced that. The volunteers at the entrance cabin actually brought out a tape measure and measured my 4Runner and 17' Casita at 31' so we got in. Many rigs behind us in line were too big and were turned away.

The creeks (Indian &amp; Obsidian) contain small Brook Trout. For supplies, Mammoth is the closest place. 

Have been the in June, July August &amp; September.

The campground is totally on the reservation system unlike a few years ago. No 1st come, 1st serve anymore.

Far from the madding crowd

For cyclists and hikers … Indian Creek does have a hiker/biker campsite, but please note: it is limited to TWO pitches with a strict policy of not sharing a pitch. I just turned up and both pitches were free so I was lucky. As of June 2023, I could not find any other campsites on the northern loop of Yellowstone between Madison and Canyon campgrounds. Back country camping for cyclists is ‘illegal’ (according to the park ranger at Tower), so plan accordingly. At Indian Creek there is food storage, picnic tables, and fire pits. Pit toilets only. Very helpful staff in the reception building.

Review for Cyclists and Hikers

The staff was very professional and got us in a last minute tent spot on Memorial Day weekend. Beautiful campground, just a little crowded. 

Clean and professional 

This was a nice campground between Norris and Mammoth. Pretty tight on space but we still had privacy. Vault toilet was very clean and had a purell dispenser.

Photos of Indian Creek Campground — Yellowstone National Park

Real photos from real campers