American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedMontana FWPFree

Lost Creek WMA

Drive-up · Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · MT · 46.20183, -112.94345
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

SEASONAL -- this WMA is open only May 15 to Dec 1; it is CLOSED the rest of the year to protect big-game winter range. Do not plan a winter or early-spring night here. Lost Creek Wildlife Management Area, managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, FWP Region 2. FWP's own site record lists a designated primitive campsite here and its fee table shows no camping fee. IMPORTANT -- THIS IS NOT FREE LAND, even though the camping itself costs nothing: Montana requires a Conservation License of every person aged 12 and older to use an FWP wildlife management area FOR ANY REASON, not just to hunt or fish. It is $8/year for residents, $10/year for nonresidents ($4 for resident youth 12-17 and seniors 62+). Buy it before you arrive. There is no separate per-night camping fee. Camping is allowed only in areas FWP has designated or marked for it (ARM 12.12.107), for no more than 7 nights in any 30-day period statewide. Primitive: pack in / pack out, no hookups and no drinking water; no toilet is listed. Quiet hours are 10 p.m.-7 a.m. and certified weed-free feed is required for stock. We have not visited this site. Confirm the current season dates, the travel plan map and whether camping is still allowed with FWP Region 2 before you go.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Lost Creek WMA
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Lost Creek WMA
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,533 ft.
Fire & smokeNIFC · 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 camp

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 11 miWRV Dump · Dump · 26 miDEnergy Partners · Propane · 33 miPConoco · Fuel · 5 miFThriftway Super Stops · Grocery · 5 miGTrifty Drug Store · Pharmacy · 5 miRxHardware Hank · Hardware · 5 miHMechanic · 5 miMSuds Pub Laundromat · Laundry · 5 miLCamp Restroom & Showers · Shower · 24 miShAir Pump · Air-up · 26 miABig Sky Diagnostic Imaging · Urgent care · 23 mi+Sweetgrass Rods · Outfitter · 23 miOAnaconda Post Office · Mail · 5 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel5 mi
  • GGrocery5 mi
  • HHardware5 mi
  • RxPharmacy5 mi
  • LLaundry5 mi
  • @Mail5 mi
  • MMechanic5 mi
  • WWater11 mi
  • +Urgent care23 mi
  • OOutfitter23 mi
  • ShShower24 mi
  • AAir-up26 mi
  • DDump26 mi
  • PPropane33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 mi out.

One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access
Drive-up
Land
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Elevation
6,533 ft
State
MT
Coordinates
46.20183, -112.94345
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureLost Creek (stream) · nearby
  • Nearest townAnaconda · ~5.0 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelConoco · ~4.7 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationnone within 31 mi
  • GroceriesThriftway Super Stops · ~4.7 mi
  • PharmacyTrifty Drug Store · ~5.1 mi
  • Hospital / clinicCommunity Hospital of Anaconda · ~4.8 mi
  • HardwareHardware Hank · ~5.0 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open this spot elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

Source
Montana FWP (wildlife management areas)
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
Montana FWP WMA. Camping flag: fwpLands WMA Locations layer (fwp-gis.mt.gov/arcgis/rest/services/fwplnd/fwpLands/MapServer/7), CAMPING='Yes'. Designated campsite independently confirmed by the Facilities list on FWP's own site page myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/landsMgmt/siteDetail.action?lmsId=39754075 ('Hiking Trail Horseback Riding Trail Pack in/Pack out Primitive Primitive Campsite'). No camping fee: that page's structured `sitefees` table lists only Conservation License rows -- no 'FAS Camping' row (which is $12/$18 per the 2025 FAS Annual Rule where it applies). Conservation License required for any use of an FWP WMA per FWP's conservation-license page and the 2026 Fishing Regulations ('for any reason'). Stay limit 7 nights/30 days per ARM 12.12.107. Coordinates cross-checked between two independent FWP channels -- GIS geometry and the detail page's stated Latitude/Longitude -- agreeing to 0.0006 mi. Open season per FWP: May 15 to Dec 1. Nightshift ingest 2026-07-20 21:28:38.
Field check
Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Likely until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres 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

Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Getting unstuck →Power off-grid →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 →