Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree

Cow Coulee Boat Camps

Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MT · 46.99036, -111.29143
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U.S. Forest Service lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Cow Coulee Boat Camps
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Cow Coulee Boat Camps
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Weather outlook — at Cow Coulee Boat Camps
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,984 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Cow Coulee Boat CampsNIFC · 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 Cow Coulee Boat Camps · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 25 miWDump · 33 miDFuel · 26 miF468 Market · Grocery · 27 miGBig Sky Managed Care · Pharmacy · 35 miRxThe Home Depot · Hardware · 34 miHMike's Window Tinting & Auto · Mechanic · 35 miM10th Avenue Laundry · Laundry · 35 miLShower · 34 miShBioLife · Urgent care · 34 mi+Couger Canyon Lodge · Outfitter · 23 miOMonarch Post Office · Mail · 23 mi@Great Falls, MT - Tesla Supercharger · EV fast charger · 34 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • OOutfitter23 mi
  • @Mail23 mi
  • WWater25 mi
  • FFuel26 mi
  • GGrocery27 mi
  • DDump33 mi
  • ShShower34 mi
  • HHardware34 mi
  • +Urgent care34 mi
  • EVEV fast charger34 mi
  • RxPharmacy35 mi
  • MMechanic35 mi
  • LLaundry35 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 25-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 26 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 34-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 — Cow Coulee Boat Camps

Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
3,984 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
46.99036, -111.29143
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Cow Coulee Boat Camps · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureSmith River (river) · nearby
  • Nearest townMillegan · ~4.2 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelFuel · ~26.5 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Groceries468 Market · ~27.4 mi

EV charging — from Cow Coulee Boat Camps · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Cow Coulee Boat Camps · Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Cow Coulee Boat Camps elsewhere

Other camps near Cow Coulee Boat Camps

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

The unit that manages Cow Coulee Boat Camps

Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Cow Coulee Boat Camps are set by Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.

How we know this — Cow Coulee Boat Camps

Source
U.S. Forest Service recreation data
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
USFS/BLM authoritative: free & dispersed. Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
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 Cow Coulee Boat Camps

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 — Cow Coulee Boat Camps

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 →