Crazy Creek

This was the first Forest Service campground I came to that allowed tent camping heading northeast out of Yellowstone and Cook City(mostly due to bear activity in, appropriately enough, the Beartooth Mountains). It’s a beautiful campground that is close to the road, but most of the road noise gets drowned out by Crazy Creek as it flows past the campground on its way to the Clarks Fork River. I think the best sites are 12 and 14 as they are at the back of the loop overlooking the River valley below and looking straight back at the mountains. With the bear activity in nearby campgrounds and in Yellowstone, I went ahead and put everything in the bear box instead of my car (bears are getting good at opening cars like tin cans). I was equally excited and nervous to see the wild strawberries in full fruit all over the ground in a couple sites as well. The vault toilet was clean and the campground host let me know that since there is no water in the campground, I was welcome to fill a water bottle or two at his huge water tank (not sure if this was offered to all or just to me, so be sure to bring your own water just in case).

I stayed in space 11 which was amazing for a car and it was a perfect location to listen to the stream and waterfall. There was a couple next to me playing the fiddle and banjo until about 8pm. BEST NIGHT EVER!!!

The bear containers are clean the firepit was clean and this space could really use a level tent location but otherwise fantastic. Go fish the stream and walk around and look over the back hillside at the horses. Be Bear Aware, they are in the area but none were seen in camp this year.

This campground is amazing. They only have about 16 campsites, but every spot is gorgeous. I stayed in site #10, which I believe was truly the best. If you look to one side, you get picturesque views of mountains. To the opposite side of the mountains is a raging river that you can take a short walk to. The sounds of nature will help you fall asleep with ease! There were plenty of mosquitos, so be prepared with plenty of bug spray. They provide bear boxes to store your food in too, which is handy if you don’t have your own bear canister. The bathrooms are extremely clean, and honestly they were the best campground bathrooms I’ve ever been in. It’s a relatively short drive from Yellowstone, and it’s the first campground outside of the northeast entrance of Yellowstone that allows tents. Cooke City, Montana is about halfway between the campground and Yellowstone and that little town has food, gas stations, and other little shops. It’s definitely a camp ground I’ll stay at again next time I come up here.