Agency-listedBLMUnpriced · confirm
Cottonwood Campground
Drive-up · Bureau of Land Management · MT · 46.34942, -111.53298
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Bureau of Land Management lists this as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Cottonwood Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,803 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Cottonwood CampgroundNIFC · 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 Cottonwood Campground · Bureau of Land Management · MT
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- GGrocery2 mi
- FFuel2 mi
- @Mail2 mi
- HHardware2 mi
- ShShower13 mi
- DDump13 mi
- MMechanic24 mi
- +Urgent care26 mi
- RxPharmacy27 mi
- LLaundry28 mi
- OOutfitter29 mi
- EVEV fast charger29 mi
- WWater29 mi
- AAir-up53 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 29-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 2 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 — Cottonwood Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
Bureau of Land Management
Elevation
3,803 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
46.34942, -111.53298
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Cottonwood Campground · Bureau of Land Management · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureMissouri River (river) · nearby
- Nearest townBedford · ~1.3 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~2.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~13.3 mi
- GroceriesTown Pump · ~2.0 mi
- PharmacyBergum Drug · ~27.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~2.1 mi
- HardwareHardware Hanke · ~2.2 mi
EV charging — from Cottonwood Campground · Bureau of Land Management · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger29.0 mi straight-line NW — L146 DC 2, Helena, MT · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 7 within 50 · 22 within 100 · 37 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)29.2 mi — Helena, MT - Tesla Supercharger, Helena
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.4 mi — Silos's Junction - Tesla Destination, Townsend, MT · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 354437 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cottonwood Campground · Bureau of Land Management · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletCottonwood Campground - Single Precast Vault Toilet Building · at this camp · BoR
- Vault / pit toiletIndian Road Campground - Precast Single Vault Toilet Building · ~1.1 mi S · BoR
- Vault / pit toiletIndian Road Campground - Precast Single Vault Toilet Building · ~1.1 mi S · BoR
- Vault / pit toiletIndian Road Campground - Precast Single Vault Toilet Building · ~1.1 mi S · BoR
Coming out here — Cottonwood Campground · Bureau of Land Management · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: Missouri River (river). That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Cottonwood Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Cottonwood Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Indian Road Campground~1.1 mi · fee
- East Elkhorns Gfa - Park Mines Cua~8.7 mi
- Confederate Campground~9.1 mi
- Weasel Rd 405 005~9.1 mi
How we know this — Cottonwood Campground
Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
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
auto: drive (road/trail right there)
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 Cottonwood Campground
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.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Cottonwood Campground
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Cold-weather camping →Leave no trace →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 →