Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon)
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. On the west side of the reservoir, used for camping and fishing access. Shelters, hand pumps, fire pits, and two vault toilets. Reclamation notes the boat ramp here "is available during higher water periods" only -- in a drawdown year it may be unusable. 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.
Everything you need — measured from Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT
- DDump1 mi
- WWater9 mi
- FFuel13 mi
- MMechanic20 mi
- LLaundry20 mi
- GGrocery20 mi
- EVEV fast charger20 mi
- @Mail28 mi
- OOutfitter46 mi
- ShShower49 mi
- +Urgent care51 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 13 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 — Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon)
Nearby & resupply — around Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureClark Canyon Reservoir · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townRed Rock · ~7.0 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.8 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~1.7 mi · Interstate 15
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~8.8 mi
- FuelChevron · ~12.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~1.0 mi
- GroceriesDell Merc · ~20.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicBarrett Hospital & Healthcare · ~18.8 mi
EV charging — from Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger20.4 mi straight-line SE — Dell Mercantile (Dell, MT) · Electrify America · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 2 within 50 · 15 within 100 · 54 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)28.6 mi — Lima, MT - Tesla Supercharger, Lima
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO84.1 mi — Island Park City Offices, Island Park
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)19.5 mi — UMW #1 STATION 1, Dillon, MT · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- 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 121712 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletHorse Prairie Campground-Precast Vault Toilet Building · at this camp · BoR
- Vault / pit toiletHorse Prairie Campground-Precast Vault Toilet Building · at this camp · BoR
- Vault / pit toiletCameahwait Campground-Precast Vault Toilet Building · ~0.6 mi W · BoR
- Vault / pit toiletLewis and Clark Overlook-Precast Vault Toilet 2 Building · ~0.9 mi E · BoR
Coming out here — Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon) · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · MT
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Clark Canyon Reservoir as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 18.3% — steep. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~1.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Interstate 15 is mapped ~1.7 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon) elsewhere
Other camps near Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Cameahwait Campground (Clark Canyon)~0.6 mi
- West Cameahwait Campground (Clark Canyon)~1.1 mi
- Hap Hawkins Campground (Clark Canyon)~1.6 mi
- Beaverhead Campground (Clark Canyon)~1.7 mi
Who holds the land at Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon)
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Clark Canyon Reservoir, manager on record: Bureau of Reclamation (federal). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Horse Prairie Campground (Clark Canyon)
What we don’t know about Horse Prairie 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.
- 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