Camping in Montana: National Parks, State Parks, and Dispersed Sites

Overview

Montana's scale is one of its defining features, and camping here reflects that. The state holds two national parks, two dozen state parks with overnight sites, and more than 16 million acres of national forest open to dispersed camping. You can spend a week moving through different terrain, from the alpine lakes of the Glacier region to the wide river valleys of the Gallatin to the rimrock country east of Billings, and barely repeat a landscape. The Montana Travel Guide covers the full scope of what's available across all six regions.

That variety comes with a planning requirement. The most popular campgrounds, especially in Glacier National Park, fill within minutes of opening on recreation.gov. If you show up in July without a reservation and expect to land a site at Many Glacier or Fish Creek, you'll be disappointed. But with a bit of lead time, or willingness to go where the crowds don't, camping here is genuinely hard to beat.

What to Expect

Glacier National Park has eight campgrounds open to car campers, ranging from large developed sites to small, road-end spots that most visitors never find. Apgar Campground, just inside the west entrance near Lake McDonald, is the most accessible and one of the largest, with around 190 sites. St. Mary Campground on the east side, with roughly 148 sites, is the main base for exploring the Two Dog Flats area and the start of Going-to-the-Sun Road's high alpine section. Fish Creek Campground sits on the west side about four miles north of Apgar and is popular with families for its easy lake access.

Many Glacier Campground in the northeast corner of the park is a different experience. It's smaller, the road in (Many Glacier Road off US-89) is slower, and you're removed from the main Going-to-the-Sun corridor. But the wildlife density around that campground is unlike anything else in the contiguous U.S. Grizzly bears, black bears, moose, and elk move through the area regularly, sometimes at dusk when campers are still cooking. The hiking out of Many Glacier, including trails to Grinnell Glacier and Iceberg Lake, is the best in the park.

For campers willing to trade pavement for solitude, Bowman Lake Campground sits at the end of about 30 miles of dirt road northwest of the town of Polebridge. The road into Polebridge from Columbia Falls is around 25 miles of mostly unpaved surface, and the final six-plus miles inside the park to Bowman Lake are rough. Low-clearance vehicles and large trailers shouldn't attempt it. What you get is a remote glacial lake with a fraction of the crowds. Kintla Lake Campground, several miles further north on the same road corridor, is the most isolated drive-in campground in the park and one of the more remote in any national park in the Lower 48.

In Yellowstone country, the options differ. Yellowstone National Park has 12 campgrounds, and the sites at Slough Creek and Pebble Creek in the Lamar Valley are especially good for wildlife watching. Slough Creek requires driving several miles on an unpaved road and is consistently one of the quieter campgrounds in a very busy park. Outside Yellowstone, the towns of Gardiner and West Yellowstone have private campgrounds and RV parks along the Yellowstone and Madison rivers. The National Parks page has more on navigating both Glacier and Yellowstone for visitors who want to combine camping with broader park exploration.

Dispersed camping on national forest land is free and legal across much of Montana, with standard rules: camp at least 200 feet from water, roads, and trails, and pack out everything you bring. The Bitterroot, Gallatin, Flathead, and Kootenai national forests all have large dispersed-use zones. This is how many Montanans camp when they want distance from organized campgrounds, though it requires map skills and some trip planning. Small towns near national forest entry points, including several featured in our Best Small Towns in Montana guide, are useful resupply stops for multi-night trips.

RV travelers will find full-hookup sites near the larger towns and along I-90 and US-2. Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, and Billings all have private RV parks with hookups. Glacier's campgrounds do not offer electrical hookups, and generator hours are restricted to certain windows during the day. If you're running an RV through Glacier, plan for that. The park also has size limits on certain campgrounds and roads, and large rigs are prohibited on Going-to-the-Sun Road between Avalanche Creek and the Sun Point parking area.

One thing many first-timers overlook: campfire bans. In July and August, fire restrictions regularly go into effect across western Montana, including inside the national parks. The bans can arrive with little notice and prohibit campfires entirely, sometimes for weeks. Bring a camp stove you can rely on as your sole cooking method. Pair camping nights with days out on the trail; hiking and backpacking opportunities are often right from the campground door, especially in Glacier and along the Gallatin and Bitterroot valleys.

Best Season

Late June through early September is the main camping window for western Montana. Glacier's lower-elevation campgrounds (Apgar, Fish Creek, Avalanche) typically open in late May, while higher sites like Many Glacier and Two Medicine come online in mid-June or early July depending on snowpack. The full Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor usually opens to vehicles by early July and stays open through mid-October before snow forces closure. Apgar and St. Mary run into late October for fall campers who want the park without summer crowds.

Yellowstone campgrounds vary. Mammoth Hot Springs Campground is the only one open year-round. Most others open from late May through September or October. Fall camping at Yellowstone in September and early October is worth considering: temperatures cool, crowds thin noticeably, and elk are in rut across the park, with bulls bugling through the night from the Lamar and Hayden valleys.

Eastern Montana's state parks and BLM land, including Makoshika State Park near Glendive and the Missouri Breaks country north of the Missouri River, can be good for spring camping in May and June before summer heat arrives on the plains. Temperatures on the eastern prairie run significantly hotter than the mountains in July and August. Spring also brings strong winds in the east; stake your tent accordingly.

Winter camping in Montana is for experienced cold-weather campers only. Mountain valley temperatures regularly drop below zero Fahrenheit from December through February. A few state parks stay open for winter camping, but you need serious gear, a plan for water that won't freeze, and realistic expectations about conditions.

Typical Costs (Estimates)

National park campgrounds in Glacier and Yellowstone run roughly $15 to $25 per night for a standard site. The recreation.gov reservation fee adds around $8 to $10 on top. For Glacier, the timed vehicle entry reservation required for the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor in peak summer is separate from campground fees; in recent seasons it has cost around $2 per vehicle reservation plus park entry ($35 per vehicle for a seven-day pass).

Montana state park camping runs roughly $12 to $28 per night depending on site type: tent-only, partial hookup, or full hookup. Montana residents pay a lower rate. Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park and the Flathead Lake State Park units are on the lower end of that range; more developed parks with modern facilities run closer to $25 to $28 for hookup sites.

Private campgrounds and RV parks with full hookups near Bozeman, Whitefish, and the Glacier entrances in Kalispell and Columbia Falls typically charge $45 to $80 per night in peak summer (late June through August). Rates drop by 20 to 40 percent in shoulder season (May, September, and October). Some private parks near the park west entrance push higher in July.

Dispersed camping on national forest and BLM land is free. You may encounter day-use or trailhead parking fees of $5 to $10 per day at certain managed trailheads on forest service land, but the overnight camping itself costs nothing and requires no reservation.

How to Book

National park campgrounds at Glacier and Yellowstone book through recreation.gov. The most competitive sites, particularly Many Glacier, Fish Creek, and Pebble Creek in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley, release six months ahead of the arrival date at exactly 8:00 AM Mountain Time. They sell out in minutes. Set a calendar reminder, have your recreation.gov account set up with payment info saved ahead of time, and be logged in before 8:00 AM. Glaciers Two Medicine and Cut Bank campgrounds also release a rolling window of spots two days in advance, which gives you a second chance if you missed the six-month date.

Montana state park campgrounds book through the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reservation system at stateparks.mt.gov. Reservations typically open in the late winter or early spring for the upcoming summer season. Popular state park sites, especially the Flathead Lake waterfront spots, fill faster than many visitors expect for peak summer weekends. Booking two to three months out is reasonable for most state parks; booking earlier is better for the most popular sites.

For dispersed camping on national forest land, no reservation is needed. It's worth calling the local ranger district before your trip to check for temporary closures due to fire, trail rehabilitation, or resource protection. The Flathead National Forest (Kalispell-based), Gallatin National Forest (Bozeman-based), and Lolo National Forest (Missoula-based) all have district offices reachable by phone with current conditions.

If you're building camping into a larger Montana road trip, the 5 Days in Montana itinerary shows how to sequence a trip that combines national park camping with regional driving across the western part of the state. For guided backcountry camping that takes the logistics off your plate entirely, browse the Tour Operators and Guides directory, which includes outfitters running fully outfitted pack trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and other roadless areas where the camping is spectacular and the permit system is handled for you.