Ovando - free town camping (Brand Bar Museum lawn / Valiton Park)
Ovando is a tiny Blackfoot Valley town on MT-200 that has quietly made itself one of the most traveler-friendly stops in Montana. Its community site states flatly: "Camping is free on the grass next to the Brand Bar Museum, on the gravel near the teepee, or at the Ovando Valiton Park at the end of Main Street." Three free spots, all within a couple of blocks, all in town. The pin here is the Brand Bar Museum lawn on Main Street. IMPORTANT -- DO NOT BELIEVE THE BLOGS THAT SAY THE JAIL IS FREE. The ground is free; the three shelters are NOT. The same page says the Shepherd's Wagon, the Teepee, and the Hooscow (the restored 1800s town jail) are "$5-a-night rentals, all proceeds go to the OVANDO COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT FUND." Five dollars, and it is worth it, but it is not free and travel blogs routinely blur the two. Amenities the town lays on for travelers: an outhouse near the sheep wagon/teepee and by Ovando Park, a porta-potty behind the Shepherd's Wagon, and -- ask at the Blackfoot Commercial Company for the key -- a shower and toilet WITH soap and a towel, plus a laundromat with soap. Clotheslines, mirrors and an LED lantern at the teepee/wagon and hooscow. Horseshoe pits. The Stray Bullet Cafe downtown does breakfast and lunch. The page is written for cyclists (this is an Adventure Cycling route town) and states NO night limit, NO hookups, and NO seasonal dates -- treat all three as unknown. Call Kathy Schoendoerfer at (406) 793-0018 or (406) 793-3474 before you count on anything. Ovando is unincorporated, so this is a community page rather than a town government one -- graded 'med' for that reason, not because the statement is unclear. We have not visited this site.
Everything you need — measured from camp
- @Mail0 mi
- DDump11 mi
- FFuel11 mi
- GGrocery11 mi
- ShShower13 mi
- +Urgent care19 mi
- HHardware20 mi
- LLaundry20 mi
- PPropane24 mi
- WWater29 mi
- OOutfitter41 mi
- MMechanic42 mi
- RxPharmacy42 mi
- AAir-up42 mi
The read: water is a real 29-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 11 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
Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureJones Lake (water) · nearby
- Nearest townOvando · ~0.1 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelExxon · ~21.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump stationnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesClearwater Stop N Go · ~11.3 mi
- HardwareGrizzly Home Center · ~21.9 mi
Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletMonture Creek Trailhead · ~7.5 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMonture Guard Station · ~7.5 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletBig Nelson Campground Complex · ~10.5 mi E · USFS
- Highway rest areaClearwater · ~11.3 mi W
Open this spot elsewhere
Other camps nearby
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Monture 008~5.9 mi
- Mccabe 002~6.2 mi
- Monture 006~6.4 mi
- Monture 001~6.8 mi
How we know this
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.
- 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