American Adventurer
Home / Forests / Bitterroot National Forest
An imagined scene of Bitterroot National Forest
Imagined scenePhotorealistic landscape photograph at golden hour in southwest Montana's Bitterroot Mountains: a glacier-carved U-shaped granite canyon with sheer walls rising well over two thousand feet, opening onto a forested valley, a clear cold stream over cobbles in the foreground, ponderosa pine and fir, warm low sun, no people, no buildings, no signs. 35mm lens, natural color, faint film grain.
National Forest · ID · MT

Bitterroot National Forest

301 free camps mapped · tap a dot for its page
Three Sisters Group SiteSam Billings Memorial CampgroundBoulder Creek Horse CampSkalkaho Rye Dispersed CampgroundHughesck 3DMartin-02USFS dispersed camp — MT #233USFS dispersed camp — MT #671USFS dispersed camp — MT #154Forest Service Truck1325 Road1303 RoadRye Creek 003USFS dispersed camp — MT #224Sabe Vista-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #2521303 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #325Warm Springs CampgroundMeadow-06429 Road-002USFS dispersed camp — MT #492Porcupine Saddle-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #530USFS dispersed camp — MT #556USFS dispersed camp — MT #567Skalkaho Ck-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #587ParadiseBalsam-5761-A362 Road496 Road429 Road -013USFS dispersed camp — MT #869Drd-Como550Rd-002Lost Horse 008730 RoadSalt Ck-04A362 RoadSchumaker CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #90USFS dispersed camp — MT #96Skalkaho-011Skalkaho Rd- 025630 A RoadClearwater-01429 Road-008USFS dispersed camp — MT #113Skalk 072 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #127Magruder731 Road429 Road -010Skalk072-010USFS dispersed camp — MT #139Salt Ck-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #144USFS dispersed camp — MT #148USFS dispersed camp — MT #155USFS dispersed camp — MT #158USFS dispersed camp — MT #160Salt Ck-04BUSFS dispersed camp — MT #169362 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #175Lost Horse 0045715 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #181Skalkaho 014USFS dispersed camp — MT #188USFS dispersed camp — MT #190USFS dispersed camp — MT #195Meadow-105715 RoadSkalk072 -011USFS dispersed camp — MT #207USFS dispersed camp — MT #2145715 RoadSkalk072-009Hamilton-03Spring Gulch CampgroundSlate Creek Campground5669 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #232USFS dispersed camp — MT #236USFS dispersed camp — MT #237Tin Cup01USFS dispersed camp — MT #244Losthorse-0125720 RoadSleeping Child 002USFS dispersed camp — MT #269Hamilton-02USFS dispersed camp — MT #276USFS dispersed camp — MT #277Sabe Saddle-01429 Road -0055669 RoadLost Horse 007Lt Boulder Bay-03USFS dispersed camp — MT #303Crazy Creek Horse Use Campground5723 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #312Meadow-03Lost Horse 013Indian Creek CampgroundSkalkaho-018Slate Ck-01Crazy Creek CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #366Paradise CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #3725644 RoadLt Boulder Bay-02Hughesck2BLake Como CampgroundMeadow-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #384Hamiton Ck-04429 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #394USFS dispersed camp — MT #398Drd-Como550Rd-003USFS dispersed camp — MT #406USFS dispersed camp — MT #410Meadow-12429 Road-004429 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #422Lost Horse 010Magruder Crossing CampgroundPainted Rocks Lake-03Sheep Head-AUSFS dispersed camp — MT #4475720 Road496 RoadClearwater-02Skalk072Hughes Ck-03USFS dispersed camp — MT #464USFS dispersed camp — MT #467USFS dispersed camp — MT #468USFS dispersed camp — MT #474Skalk072-007Rye Creek 002Lost Horse 015FUSFS dispersed camp — MT #490Lake Como 004Lost Horse 015BLaird Ck-01Lake Como 3USFS dispersed camp — MT #507Deep Creek CampgroundSleeping Child 003Larry Creek Group SiteMeadow-07Gold Creek-001362 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #520MagruderGold Creek CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #539Hughesck2DMagruder-002USFS dispersed camp — MT #545MagruderMagruderJennings Camp Campground13407 RoadNez Perce-001USFS dispersed camp — MT #561362 RoadMartin-01Lost Horse 006USFS dispersed camp — MT #570720 Road 001Robbins Gulch 001USFS dispersed camp — MT #583Rye Creek 001USFS dispersed camp — MT #5855715 RoadMeadow-7255656 RoadParadise-005USFS dispersed camp — MT #608Gold Creek-003Black Bear CampgroundSkalk 072 Road-001362 RoadTrapperobs 0011303 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #622Junction 75USFS dispersed camp — MT #627Indian Trees CampgroundBlodgett CampgroundCinnamon Bear Saddle-02Soda Springs-02Martin-045665 RoadSkalkaho Rd- 01Martin Creek 1USFS dispersed camp — MT #651Woods Ck-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #655Losthorse-016USFS dispersed camp — MT #659Nfork Rye 001USFS dispersed camp — MT #662Soda Springs-01USFS dispersed camp — MT #673737 Road1325 Road5644 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #679Teepee Point-015644 Road730 RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #690Rombo CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #698USFS dispersed camp — MT #700Hughesck 3B362 Road5665 RoadHughesck 1BDrd-Como550Rd-004Rye Creek 004Cinnamon Bear Saddle-01Paradise-004Cinnamon Bear Saddle-03USFS dispersed camp — MT #729USFS dispersed camp — MT #741Magruder-001USFS dispersed camp — MT #742Cinnamon Bear Saddle-04B5723 Road429 Road-001Tr532Yorkcamp5660 RoadMagruderMartin-05Hells Half Acre SaddleUSFS dispersed camp — MT #776429 Road -007429 Road -006Skalkaho Hwy- 00166E RoadUSFS dispersed camp — MT #786Meadow-0962953 RoadThree Frogs CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #804USFS dispersed camp — MT #810USFS dispersed camp — MT #8131303 RoadHughesck 1AUSFS dispersed camp — MT #824Nez Perce-002MagruderSabe Vista-02Skalk072-003USFS dispersed camp — MT #840USFS dispersed camp — MT #841Gold Creek-002USFS dispersed camp — MT #842Skalk072-005USFS dispersed camp — MT #843Sam Billings Memorial CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #853Martin Creek Campground5665 RoadSkalk072-004Skalkaho 020BUSFS dispersed camp — MT #864Balsam 5761 CUSFS dispersed camp — MT #872Lost Horse 011Alta CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #4Salmon Mt Base CampUSFS dispersed camp — MT #20Gold Creek-004Drd-Como550Rd-001ParadiseParadiseUSFS dispersed camp — MT #30USFS dispersed camp — MT #32USFS dispersed camp — MT #34Fales Flat Group CampgroundUSFS dispersed camp — MT #37USFS dispersed camp — MT #45731 RoadLost Horse 014Raven Creek CampgroundLost Horse 009Beaverck05AMagruder -002Charles Waters CampgroundThreemile WMALos AngelesPhoenixSeattleIrvineSan DiegoDenverSt. LouisLong BeachPortland0200 miN
Scroll or pinch to zoom · drag to pan · tap a dot for its page
free camp (tap to open) forest road town

Where the camps cluster

The place

Bitterroot National Forest straddles the spine of the northern Rockies along the Montana-Idaho line, gathered around the Bitterroot Valley in southwest Montana. At about 1.6 million acres it is a forest of contrasts: the sawtoothed Bitterroot Mountains throw up a dramatic granite wall on the valley west side, slashed by deep U-shaped canyons, while the gentler, forested Sapphire Mountains roll up the east side. Down the middle runs the Bitterroot River, a blue-ribbon trout stream flowing north toward Missoula. It is classic Montana high country -- big peaks, cold clear water, and a whole lot of room to disappear into.

History

The forest takes its name from the bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva), a low pink wildflower that became Montana state flower. Its root -- bitter raw, better cooked -- was a traditional food harvested by the Bitterroot Salish and other Interior Northwest peoples, who called the plant something like spetlum; Meriwether Lewis collected a specimen in the valley, and the plant scientific name honors him. This is famous Lewis and Clark country: in 1805 the Corps of Discovery struggled over the Bitterroot Mountains on the ancient Nez Perce trail across the Lolo, one of the hardest and hungriest stretches of their whole journey, before resting at a spot near present-day Lolo they named Travelers Rest. The Bitterroot was established as a national forest in the early 1900s, part of the wave of forest reserves set aside in the Theodore Roosevelt era, and the great fires of 1910 that swept the northern Rockies left their mark here as they did across the whole region.

Wildlife & plants

This is prime northern-Rockies wildlife country. Elk are the signature animal, alongside mule deer and white-tailed deer, black bears, and mountain lions; up in the high rock you will find mountain goats and bighorn sheep, and the wetter bottoms hold the occasional moose. It is also home to some of the West most elusive predators -- gray wolves range the forest again, and it is rare but real habitat for wolverine and Canada lynx, animals most people go a lifetime without seeing. The rivers and creeks carry native westslope cutthroat trout and threatened bull trout, which is a big part of why the Bitterroot River draws fly anglers from all over. And of course there is the little pink bitterroot itself, blooming low to the ground in late spring once the snow pulls back.

Notable features

The forest high point is Trapper Peak, at about 10,157 feet the highest point in the Bitterroot Mountains and on the forest. Its most photographed feature is probably Blodgett Canyon, a glacier-carved gorge whose sheer granite walls rise well over 2,000 feet -- locals often call it the Yosemite of the Bitterroots. Lake Como, tucked between Darby and Hamilton below the peaks, is one of the busiest recreation spots on the forest, good for swimming, boating, and camping. Nearly half the forest is designated wilderness: it holds a large share of the vast Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness (one of the biggest wild areas in the lower 48), plus pieces of the Frank Church-River of No Return and the Anaconda-Pintler wildernesses -- connecting into some of the largest unbroken wild country left in the lower 48.

Camps are sourced from public U.S. Forest Service recreation data and have not been personally visited. Roads shown are Forest Service passenger-car routes (maintenance level 3–5) and may be seasonal or gated. Always confirm access, fees and fire rules with the ranger district before you go. Found a fee where we show free? Tell us on the contact page.