I booked 2 nights on Recreation.gov less than 3 weeks in advance. I was camping while working an event in Big Sky.

The campground is quite large, and this time of year, completely full every night. It is right on the river and very close to the highway. This means it is not quiet. Still, it’s 10 minutes to Big Sky, clean and well equipped. Overall a good choice in this area if you can make a reservation.

There are bear-safe food storage lockers, fire rings, and picnic tables at each camp site. Long before the bears eat you, the mosquitoes and deer flies will. Bug spray advised. Pit toilets are well-used but reasonably clean. The on-site hosts make sure to mark reservation cards on each site, and put signs at the entrance when the campgrounds is full. This kept traffic inside the campground to a minimum. Much appreciated.

I stayed at Whispering Pines for three nights in a July heatwave. It was a work trip, and I tried to book a hotel but was offended at the high prices in the Flathead, so I opted to take my teardrop and camp.

This place was great. It is a really nice place with plenty of space, a very clean porta-potty and an outdoor shower. No electric hookups, but there is great cell reception and it’s only 10 minutes from downtown Kalispell.

The price was reasonable, compared to nightly hotel room rates, but for camping, anything over $35 a night really should have power. But, all things considered, this place does what it does really well, and that’s fine. Bottom line: if you are looking for a clean, quiet place to camp in Kalispell, give this place a try. Proximity to Whitefish, Glacier NP is excellent.

Antelope is a strange and beautiful little place. Part ghost town, part living community, it is often a welcome oasis on the Oregon Outback cycling trail. The path north out of Prineville is a beautiful ascent-descent of the Ochoco Mountains, which is pretty exhausting. If weather is a factor (we arrived in cold, wet and punishing wind) Antelope is a much better place to camp than Shaniko which is 8 miles up on a plateau.

The RV Park is a work in progress. We arrived without a reservation and were given a very nice spot to camp behind an old diner. Some small a-frame cabins are available with more being built, and a few spots to park campers with sewer dump and 30 amp hookups.

Overall I give this campground an outstanding rating. Hospitable, well-equipped, well-situated… great spot.

One of several BLM (fee) campgrounds along the Crooked River. Post Pile is one of the smaller sites. Only 7 designated spots. I stayed here one Saturday night in June, to connect with someone cycling north along the Oregon Outback route. This area is a good place for cyclists doing that ride to camp (night 3 if you do the full ride in 5 days, Klamath Falls to Biggs Junction).

These campgrounds were full of trailer campers, most who were there for multiple days. Rocky Canyon, and the Crooked River below Prineville Reservoir and the Bowman Dam is very popular being about an hour from Bend. Because of that camp sites are hard to come by.

Along the Oregon Outback cycling route, there are few options for anything but rugged bush camping in this area. The roads are dusty and the scenery beautiful.

Driving into Fort Rock, I saw the sign for RV Park but it was not on any map or service. I went into the bar at the Waterin’ Hole and asked if they had a spot. $35 a night with a 30 amp shore power. No bathroom, but a rather nasty porta-potty. The bar serves bar food and cold drinks. Simple solutions, never a bad thing.

No frill Forest Service campground in the Fremont-Winemaker National Forest. On a warm June night, it’s a pleasure to have a campground like this entirely to one’s self.

I stayed here on the first night of the Oregon Outback. It is a very small simple designated camping area with a very clean pit toilet and a few picnic tables but nothing else.

A few loggers and Forest service trucks passed on the road, but mostly traffic was cyclists.

Listened to birds and coyotes and enjoyed being under the canopy of stars. Great little spot.

This is not a fancy place, but it is clean, well tended, quiet and beautiful. After 10 hours driving, I just wanted a quiet place to sleep. This was exactly that. I paid $35 for a pull through and a 30amp hookup for my teardrop. There are bathrooms which are immaculately clean. All in all, this place is a great find.

I have been to Coal Banks Landing to put in on river trips. It can be a busy spot at times with people starting canoe trips on the Missouri River. But it is a great destination on its own. I arrived on a Saturday night in August looking for a place to camp. I found the campground mostly empty and very quiet. It was a stormy day with rain and strong winds up on the plateau above the river. But the campground is down by the river and sheltered from the wind. It was very quiet and comfortable. The campground is also clean and well tended. All in all, a great spot.

This is a good Forest Service campground in a beautiful spot on Holland Lake. The only issues we had were that it is not terribly remote so there are a lot of huge fifthwheelers who think they should have the best spots and they are willing o fight for them. (It’s always other campers that lower the tone…)

The campground is well off the beaten path (MT Hwy 200) and therefore quiet and rarely full. There appear to be only 3 camping sites, and the trail down to the Blackfoot is steep. But it’s a beautiful, peaceful site.

There are notices all over about bears, which should be taken very seriously. This is definitely bear country, especially in the Fall.

Russell Gates is located on Hwy 200 and the Blackfoot River just on the Missoula side of the Missoula/Powell County line. The campground follows the south shore of the River in one of it’s most picturesque spots. Unfortunately, it is also very close to MT Hwy 200. This means it’s almost always full, and noisy. Considering the options near by, it’s really not the best choice in the area.

Lost Creek is in a beautiful canyon spot, with numerous (25) sites to accommodate all types of campers (huge RV’s to tents). Camping spots are nice, but close to one another and the campground is often full. This means, if you do find a spot, you will have to deal with neighbors . There is a beautiful hiking trail that starts at the top of the campground and there is a beautiful waterfall and rushing creek that is a pleasure to listen to at night. (It almost drowns out the noise from neighboring campers if you find a spot on the creek.)

This is a clean, quiet, out of the way campground about 20 minutes drive off Interstate 90. It has numerous camping sites that are dispersed, and is close to several excellent hiking trails.

Access not well suited for large RV’s or 5th wheels (narrow roads/bridges and lots of low hanging tree limbs). Smaller trailer campers are great.