Agency-listedBureau of ReclamationFree

Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)

Drive-up · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT · 45.00347, -112.85640
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U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 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.

Free primitive camping on Bureau of Reclamation land at Clark Canyon Reservoir, about 20 miles south of Dillon, Montana and right off I-15 -- a genuinely free stop on a stretch where most options charge. Reclamation runs this reservoir itself, and its own records show no camping fee, no entrance fee, no boat-launch fee and no parking fee anywhere on it. The ONE exception on the whole reservoir is the Lewis & Clark Campground/Marina, which has full RV hook-ups and a self-pay fee station -- that is a different campground from this one, and it is the only site Reclamation's own map marks with its "$ Fee Area" symbol. Reclamation describes it as "a frequently used site situated immediately below Clark Canyon Dam ... lush with vegetation and is used by anglers, campers, bird watchers, and other wildlife observers", and a popular launch for floating the Beaverhead River. Picnic tables, camping slabs, and a vault toilet. Access is "from a steep, winding gravel road that begins near the top of Clark Canyon Dam" -- scout it before you take a big rig down. Reclamation lists no water pump here, unlike most of the reservoir campgrounds, so bring your own. Reclamation does not publish a stay limit for these campgrounds anywhere we could find -- you will see "14 nights" repeated on camping websites, but that number does not appear in any Reclamation document, so treat it as unconfirmed and ask the Dillon Field Office. This is primitive camping: expect a vault toilet and, at most sites, a hand pump rather than tap water -- treat or bring drinking water. The reservoir sits at about 5,500 feet and is exposed, so it can be cold and very windy well into the summer. IMPORTANT: Reclamation's facilities record was last updated in 2017 and the brochure is undated, so confirm current fees and rules with the Bureau of Reclamation Dillon Field Office at (406) 683-6472 before you go. We have not visited this site.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)
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Weather outlook — at Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 5,463 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)NIFC · 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 Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 10 miWDump · 1 miDChevron · Fuel · 11 miFSafeway · Grocery · 19 miGPerformance Truck and Auto · Mechanic · 18 miMClean Critter Laundromat · Laundry · 18 miLShower · 51 miShSteele Memorial Clinic · Urgent care · 52 mi+FishTales Outfitting · Outfitter · 44 miOLima Post Office · Mail · 29 mi@Dell Mercantile (Dell, MT) · EV fast charger · 21 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • DDump1 mi
  • WWater10 mi
  • FFuel11 mi
  • MMechanic18 mi
  • LLaundry18 mi
  • GGrocery19 mi
  • EVEV fast charger21 mi
  • @Mail29 mi
  • OOutfitter44 mi
  • ShShower51 mi
  • +Urgent care52 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)

Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Elevation
5,463 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
45.00347, -112.85640
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT (OpenStreetMap)

  • Nearest townGrant · ~10.3 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelChevron · ~10.9 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~0.8 mi
  • GroceriesSafeway · ~18.9 mi

EV charging — from Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon) elsewhere

Other camps near Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)

Stay limit
None published
Source
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
Provenance: USBR facilities record for Clark Canyon Reservoir, Fees block verbatim: "Area Entrance no / Campgrounds no / Picnic Areas no / Boat Launch Facilities no / Parking no / Other yes" with "Campgrounds 9 / Campsites 96"; Cooperator (managing entity) = "Bureau of Reclamation, 1200 Highway 41 East, Dillon MT 59725" (usbr.gov/gp/recreation/ccrrec.html, page states "Last Updated: 9/29/17"). Reclamation's own Clark Canyon Reservoir Recreation Area brochure (usbr.gov/gp/mtao/clarkcanyon/clark_canyon_recreation_brochure.pdf) states "Seven campgrounds offer individuals the option to stay on all sides of the reservoir as well as one RV Park with full hook ups", and names a fee at exactly one of them: the Lewis & Clark Campground/Marina, which "offers full service hook-ups ... with a self pay fee station". Reclamation's own recreation map (usbr.gov/gp/mtao/clarkcanyon/clark_canyon_recreation_map.pdf) carries a "$ Fee Area" symbol in its legend and places it on Lewis & Clark Campground ONLY; this site carries the camping symbol and no fee symbol. No stay limit is published by Reclamation in the facilities record, the brochure or the map, and recreation.gov's Clark Canyon gateway contains none of the words free/fee/night/stay/limit. The widely repeated "free for up to a 14 night stay" is aggregator-only and is NOT asserted here. Coordinate from OpenStreetMap node/12112854450 via bulk Overpass pull (data/fetch_usbr_osm_coords.py -> usbr_cache/_osm.json); OSM supplies the coordinate only, never the price. Verified and ingested 2026-07-21 00:37:18.
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 Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)

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 — Beaverhead River Campground (Clark Canyon)

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 →