About this place
A free campground in an old growth stand of trees, beside the Spotted Bear River.
It sits at 4,200 feet, 63 miles south of Hungry Horse on the gravel East Side Reservoir Road 38. The last part of the way is off Spotted Bear River Road 568.
The season runs May 15 through November 30.
There are four units, set back from the road. Every one of them is under 100 feet from the river.
Use is moderate. Midweek you will usually find something open.
Most people here are fishing in summer, or out for the late hunt in late October and November.
Tents and trailers up to 32 feet fit. All the sites have tables and metal fire rings.
There is an accessible vault toilet.
There is no drinking water. The river is right there, but treat anything you take out of it before you drink.
Stock is welcome. There is an unloading ramp, hitchrails, and feed bunks to tie to.
The campground doubles as trailhead parking for stock users when the Silvertip Trailhead is shut. That happens May 15 to June 30, and again September 1 to November 30.
Silvertip sits at the end of Spotted Bear River Road 568.
Nobody collects trash here, so take everything home with you.
It is remote out here. No cell phone service at all.
The nearest public phone is 10 miles west, at the Spotted Bear Ranger Station.
For a phone, gas and food, it is 63 miles north to Hungry Horse.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Gravel. East Side Reservoir Road 38, then off Spotted Bear River Road 568
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Phone signal
- None. The nearest public phone is 10 miles west at the Spotted Bear Ranger Station
- Type
- Specific campsite
- When it’s open
- May 15 to November 30
- Managed by
- Flathead National Forest
Rules and restrictions
You can camp here for 14 days.
Food has to be stored properly, and the rule covers more than what you eat. Feed for horses counts, so does trash, and so does anything else with a smell that could draw an animal in. All of it goes out of reach, which usually means inside a hard-sided vehicle or hung well clear of the ground.
Getting there
Coordinates 47.923948, -113.372898
Open in Google Maps Agency page
Nearest town and supplies
- Swan Lake, MT Directions
- Bigfork, MT Directions
Bigfork is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026; a second independent record also says there is no fee.