Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of Cow Creek Campground And Picnic Area

Montana Custer Gallatin National Forest

Cow Creek Campground And Picnic Area

Free to campSet campsite
Free to camp Two separate records both say there is no charge to camp here.

About this place

A campground on the Ashland Ranger District, with 4 camp sites and 1 picnic site.

No drinking water, no trash pickup, no firewood. Bring what you need.

The facts

Cost
Free to camp
Drinking water
No, bring your own
Type
Specific campsite
When it’s open
All year, weather permitting
Managed by
Custer Gallatin National Forest

Getting there

Coordinates 45.309167, -106.246944

Open in Google Maps Agency page

Nearest town and supplies

Lame Deer 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.

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.

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.