American Adventurer
Agency-listedMontana FWPFree

Beartooth WMA

Drive-up · Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · MT · 46.94523, -111.84363
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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.

SEASONAL -- this WMA is open only May 15 to Dec 1; it is CLOSED the rest of the year to protect big-game winter range. Do not plan a winter or early-spring night here. Beartooth Wildlife Management Area, managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, FWP Region 4. FWP's own site record lists a designated primitive campsite here and its fee table shows no camping fee. IMPORTANT -- THIS IS NOT FREE LAND, even though the camping itself costs nothing: Montana requires a Conservation License of every person aged 12 and older to use an FWP wildlife management area FOR ANY REASON, not just to hunt or fish. It is $8/year for residents, $10/year for nonresidents ($4 for resident youth 12-17 and seniors 62+). Buy it before you arrive. There is no separate per-night camping fee. Camping is allowed only in areas FWP has designated or marked for it (ARM 12.12.107), for no more than 7 nights in any 30-day period statewide. Primitive: pack in / pack out, no hookups and no drinking water; there is a vault toilet. BEAR COUNTRY -- black and possibly grizzly bears use this area. FWP requires food and attractants stored in a vehicle or a certified bear-resistant container. Carry bear spray. Quiet hours are 10 p.m.-7 a.m. and certified weed-free feed is required for stock. We have not visited this site. Confirm the current season dates, the travel plan map and whether camping is still allowed with FWP Region 4 at (406)454-5864 before you go.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Beartooth WMA
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Beartooth WMA
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Weather outlook — at Beartooth WMA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 4,908 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Beartooth WMANIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.

Everything you need — measured from Beartooth WMA · Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · MT

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 5 miWDump · 14 miDExxon · Fuel · 11 miFCanyon Store · Grocery · 11 miGCVS Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 24 miRxAce Hardware · Hardware · 18 miHDave's Express Lube · Mechanic · 22 miMDepot Laundromat · Laundry · 25 miLShower · 31 miShMontana Regional Imaging Center · Urgent care · 24 mi+Prewett Creek Inn and Fly Shop · Outfitter · 16 miOWolf Creek Post Office · Mail · 11 mi@Helena, MT - Tesla Supercharger · EV fast charger · 24 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • WWater5 mi
  • FFuel11 mi
  • GGrocery11 mi
  • @Mail11 mi
  • DDump14 mi
  • OOutfitter16 mi
  • HHardware18 mi
  • MMechanic22 mi
  • +Urgent care24 mi
  • EVEV fast charger24 mi
  • RxPharmacy24 mi
  • LLaundry25 mi
  • ShShower31 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 11 mi out.

Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.

One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗

The site — Beartooth WMA

Access
Drive-up
Land
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Elevation
4,908 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
46.94523, -111.84363
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Beartooth WMA · Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · MT (OpenStreetMap)

  • Nearest townNelson · ~9.0 mi
  • Drinking waterDrinking water · ~4.9 mi
  • FuelExxon · ~11.3 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~14.0 mi
  • GroceriesCanyon Store · ~11.3 mi
  • PharmacyBergum Drug · ~26.1 mi
  • Hospital / clinicOptions Clinic · ~23.9 mi
  • HardwareProtech Steel · ~20.0 mi

EV charging — from Beartooth WMA · Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Beartooth WMA · Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Beartooth WMA elsewhere

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Other camps near Beartooth WMA

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Beartooth WMA

Stay limit
7 nights (Stay limit 7 nights)
Source
Montana FWP (wildlife management areas)
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Montana FWP WMA. Camping flag: fwpLands WMA Locations layer (fwp-gis.mt.gov/arcgis/rest/services/fwplnd/fwpLands/MapServer/7), CAMPING='Yes'. Designated campsite independently confirmed by the Facilities list on FWP's own site page myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/landsMgmt/siteDetail.action?lmsId=39753622 ('Pack in/Pack out Primitive Campsite Toilet (Vault)'). No camping fee: that page's structured `sitefees` table lists only Conservation License rows -- no 'FAS Camping' row (which is $12/$18 per the 2025 FAS Annual Rule where it applies). Conservation License required for any use of an FWP WMA per FWP's conservation-license page and the 2026 Fishing Regulations ('for any reason'). Stay limit 7 nights/30 days per ARM 12.12.107. Coordinates cross-checked between two independent FWP channels -- GIS geometry and the detail page's stated Latitude/Longitude -- agreeing to 0.0006 mi. Open season per FWP: May 15 to Dec 1. Nightshift ingest 2026-07-20 21:28:38. WATER (fire 1740, batch 3, tier F): https://myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/landsMgmt/siteDetail.action?lmsId=39753622 -- Montana FWP's own site record for this WMA itemises its Facilities as "Pack in/Pack out / Primitive Campsite / Toilet (Vault)". Absence is read as no drinking water because FWP's Facilities vocabulary does carry water items and does use them: "Drinking Water" / "Water (Pump)" / "Water (Pressurized)" appear on 10 of the 23 FWP state-park pages read this fire through the same widget. This is a single-channel value -- FWP publishes no second per-site water channel, and no field visit backs it.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.

What we don’t know about Beartooth WMA

A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.

Before you go — Beartooth WMA

Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Camping with a dog →Reading your camp page →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →