Agency-listedMunicipalFree

Chester City Park

Drive-up · public land · MT · 48.51097, -110.96991
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The land manager 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 overnight camping in the Town of Chester's city park, right in town on the US-2 Hi-Line -- the single verified free overnight stop across 23 Hi-Line towns checked, and a genuinely useful one on a long, thin stretch of northern Montana. The town's own site says it plainly: "While there is no electric, water or sewer services for overnight campers, travelers may stay for up to 3 nights at no charge. A donation box is located on site and donations are very much appreciated." So: 3 nights, no charge, and there IS a donation box -- if the stop saves you a motel night, feed the box, that is the whole spirit of this. The park covers an entire city block and has a bathroom facility, playground equipment, plenty of picnic areas, and a large covered three-sided pavilion built in 2010. NO hookups of any kind -- no electric, no water, no sewer -- so arrive self-sufficient. Chester is also the jumping-off point for Lake Elwell (Tiber Reservoir) about 18 miles southwest, where Reclamation has more free primitive camping. Do not confuse this in-town park with the town's Recreation page listings for Sandford Park and VFW Park -- those are federal Bureau of Reclamation sites out at the reservoir, not the city block. Confirm current rules with the town at (406) 759-5635 before you go. We have not visited this site.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Chester City Park
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Chester City Park
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Weather outlook — at Chester City Park
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,133 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Chester City ParkNIFC · 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 Chester City Park · public land · MT

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 50 miWFairgrounds RV Dump · Dump · 50 miDConoco · Fuel · 0 miFLiberty Quick Stop · Grocery · 0 miGLiberty Drugs · Pharmacy · 0 miRxHi-Line Hardware · Hardware · 0 miHFlat Creek Trucking · Mechanic · 49 miMRiver City Laundry · Laundry · 50 miLShower · 50 miShBig Sandy Medical Center · Urgent care · 46 mi+Chester Post Office · Mail · 0 mi@Tilleman Motors · EV fast charger · 56 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel0 mi
  • @Mail0 mi
  • GGrocery0 mi
  • RxPharmacy0 mi
  • HHardware0 mi
  • +Urgent care46 mi
  • MMechanic49 mi
  • WWater50 mi
  • ShShower50 mi
  • LLaundry50 mi
  • DDump50 mi
  • EVEV fast charger56 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 50-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 0 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 56-mi run (and back).

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 — Chester City Park

Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
3,133 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
48.51097, -110.96991
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Chester City Park · public land · MT (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureCottonwood Creek (stream) · nearby
  • Nearest townChester · ~0.1 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelConoco · ~0.2 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • GroceriesLiberty Quick Stop · ~0.3 mi
  • PharmacyLiberty Drugs · ~0.3 mi
  • Hospital / clinicLogan Health - Chester · ~0.1 mi

EV charging — from Chester City Park · public land · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Chester City Park · public land · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Chester City Park elsewhere

How we know this — Chester City Park

Stay limit
3 nights (travelers may stay for up to 3 nights at no charge)
Source
Montana municipal park records
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
Source: Town of Chester official site, https://chester-montana.com/town-provided-services/ -- quote "travelers may stay for up to 3 nights at no charge. A donation box is located on site" string-matched in the raw page body via data/fetch_town_page.py (no page date shown). Coordinate: OSM/Nominatim 'Chester City Park', addresstype=park, 48.510971,-110.969907; independently corroborated by geocoding the park's street address 234 W Jefferson Ave, Chester MT 59522 to 48.511578,-110.969726 -- the two agree to ~0.04 mi. State pinned via Liberty County + ZIP 59522 in the geocoder result. Verified 2026-07-20 22:55:26. WATER (fire 1740, batch 3, tier T): https://chester-montana.com/town-provided-services/ -- the operator's own page, re-read live this fire, and the quoted wording was confirmed still present. Single-channel: no second publisher describes water at this site. The value states what the page does NOT say as well as what it does, because hookup wording is not a drinking-water statement.
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 Chester City Park

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 — Chester City Park

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 →