Lily Lake

Make sure to get directions ahead of time, there is no service coming from Yellowstone, luckily we saved the map ahead of time. We pulled in on a Saturday night around 7pm and snagged a spot up top. We didn’t go down by the lake or check out those sites but we saw about 6+ spots up top. All had nice views and were far from the main road. The road was smooth coming up, but looked rough going down to the lower sites/boat ramp.

Better than a lot of the established sites on the Beartooth as it’s pretty spaced out. A couple of notes: • the gravel road leading up to the site is narrow but apparently newly graded so not as rutted as previous reviews stated. • the upper disbursed sites have less shade but more space between neighbors and spectacular views. • do not drive past the boat ramp if you have a larger rig than a van. There’s two really cool sites that direction but no good turn around and you’ll have to back up quite a ways.

We camped downhill closer to the lake. Bear boxes and rock ringed fire pits available. Lots of biting flies and mosquitoes even in mid August. Nice hikes to and around the lake. Definitely Grizzly country so be prepared. No cell

Nice dispersed campground. Terribly rough rutted out road to get to the campground. Would not recommend for low clearance cars. The vault toilet is very rank smelling. The sunrise over the lake is worth it though.

We were kind of skeptical of this campground at first since the dirt road to it was very rough-especially coming in in the dark. Make sure you copy the coordinates in your notes or make note of the directions because we had absolutely no service coming from Yellowstone. There were plenty of campsites open on a Wednesday night in the end of July. In the morning we were able to check out the lake and saw the food storage bins located throughout the campground. There is also a pit toilet near the boat launch. The sites are very clean and well kept. Very quiet campground, I would definitely stay here again. I would have never guessed it would be free, it’s so nice! Lots of mosquitoes though—more than northern MN ;) I had a few bars of Cricket cell service right before entering the campground at the top of the road, but no service at our site.

Really nice, quiet campground. The road in is quite bumpy, I would be careful in small vehicles or large RVs. A loop of sites are nice and level. There are a couple more sites in the area that are much more difficult to access. The lake is beautiful and the Beartooth Highway is spectacular. No cell phone service with Verizon, no trash, and one smelly vault toilet.

Bear Tooth Pass was recommended to us by a local when Yellowstone NP was too packed to enjoy, campsites were full, and we wanted to social distance. I’m so glad we did this because it was my favorite thing we did! I can’t recommend it enough! Nice dispersed campsites with amazing views everywhere. I can’t wait to go back and stay longer! Never really got cell service (verizon) but who needs that when there’s so much wildlife and scenery around?

Lily Lake Campground is pretty sweet, in that it is very private and remote. 

The cattle from nearby farms would come by and visit in the mornings and drink from the lake. 

Our campsite was on the cliff overlooking the lake, just past the boat ramp.  

Great place to stay that is close to Yellowstone, if you have a 4WD vehicle to get to the campsite.  Follow signs to Lily Lake, b/c there are several lakes on the turnoff.

We made the mistake of taking our TT down to the lake but missed the right turn going to the campground loop, wound up stuck at the boat launch area. DON'T make the same mistake we did. There should be a sign because if someone takes the first left, it is a dead end with no opportunity at all to turn around. We got lucky.

After we got turned around & went back up to the dispersed camping area, we found the ultimate spot & stayed 5 nights. There are several of these spots at the top of the hill. The last night dropped a little snow on the higher elevations so we headed down before it got any worse. We were able to get H2O from the visitors center in Cooke City, just a few miles away. We also did laundry in the Soda Butte Lodge. Kind folks in both places.

The stars were astounding at night. The view of the mountains was incredible. We had no wildlife come through during our stay but did make friends with the local chipmunks & gray jays.

This campground is perfect for exploring the beartooth pass or Yellowstone due to its location. The washboard, winding road to the top is one lane at times so use caution. We had cell signal on the top ridge so that was nice for phone calls if we needed.

We will go back again.

Take a gravel road to Lily Lake off the southern end of Beartooth Hwy. It's easily accessible by 2wd and RV, but if you'd like to go towards Crazy Lakes (few more large spots there) more clearance is nice to have (some rocks and ruts). Camping spots start well ahead of the lake, some by the edge of forest, some more open but with beautiful views on Abasoka range on one side and Beartooth on the other. Primitive camping only. Watch fire restrictions, if allowed then there are some rock rings created already. I was there in September 2020 and the colours of autumn (aspens) were stunning with the high mountains in the distance. Loved it. Frequent grizzly area so nat'l forests warnings about proper food storage.