Blacktail Mountain Dispersed Camping
Flathead National Forest
Write a Review Blacktail Rd. (FR 917) Kila, MT 59920 406-758-5208 Official WebsiteGPS: 48.0062, -114.3677
Overview of Blacktail Mountain Dispersed Camping
Accessibility is not guaranteed, always scout ahead before driving down dirt roads.
Learn more: Boondocking 101
Last Price Paid: $0
Reported by ellenmanson on 7/4/2022
Longest RV Reported: 27 feet
Reported by Kate at The Scenic Route on 8/6/2015
Pad Type dirt
Elevation 6,266 ft / 1,909 m
Max Stay 16
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Blacktail Mountain Dispersed Camping
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 406-758-5208
Mike S asked on 11/29/2022
Answer questionReviews of Blacktail Mountain Dispersed Camping 5 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 4 Users
Last reported 7/24/2020
Confirmed by 1 User
Last reported 8/6/2015
Confirmed by 2 Users
Last reported 7/4/2022
“Great spot!”
Reviewed 7/4/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
Overall Rating
Such a wonderful spot. Lots to explore and some privacy as well. There are a couple four wheeler roads so people come on dirt bikes and four wheelers but we never had any issues. People also like to come shoot guns in the area but again no issues. In the spring/summer maybe park away from the flowers cause there were lots of bees. But ... more
Such a wonderful spot. Lots to explore and some privacy as well. There are a couple four wheeler roads so people come on dirt bikes and four wheelers but we never had any issues. People also like to come shoot guns in the area but again no issues. In the spring/summer maybe park away from the flowers cause there were lots of bees. But wonderful spot!
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T-Mobile 5G
ellenmanson would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Long dusty road for what?”
Reviewed 7/24/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 2 |
Overall Rating
To be fair the most recent review is over four years old and the trees could have grown enough to obstruct the view to the level it has now. However, aside from that there is only one hiking trail and one ohv trail nearby. The hiking trail is ok. (Blacktail to lakeside). But the ohv trail (Wild Bill) caters only to Jeep enthusiasts ... more
To be fair the most recent review is over four years old and the trees could have grown enough to obstruct the view to the level it has now. However, aside from that there is only one hiking trail and one ohv trail nearby. The hiking trail is ok. (Blacktail to lakeside). But the ohv trail (Wild Bill) caters only to Jeep enthusiasts and leaves much to be desired for those of us that ride. The Blacktail to Lakeside trail could be used for awesome downhill MTB if you had an assist to meet up at the base.
For most people the long, extremely dusty dirt road and lack of activities upon arrival (aside from Huckleberry picking much closer to the base of the mountain) will prove to be not worth the trip. These negatives along with another traveler's obvious disgust and reinforcement of my beliefs left me with one of the most undesirable camping experiences to date and have collectively inspired me to write this review. By the way, you are basically camped on someone's trashed local shooting range. Huge 2A suppporter by the way and awesome that the option exists here but if you are trying to camp here and that were to go on it would be unpleasant for everyone camped here; not to mention their pets. All of that being said, you can fit multiple large rigs here if you can avoid the hardware left behind by multiple burned pallets; the remains of which are not readily apparent before closer inspection of the area. Verizon was spotty and unreliable for data streaming.
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Verizon 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Beautiful boondocking up on top of a mountain”
Reviewed 8/15/2016
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 4 |
Overall Rating
I actually stayed just a little further up the mountain than the GPS coordinates provided for this one. However, that will only work for smaller vehicles. I did stop by the lot provided and it seemed largely comparable for anything I have to note. Cell reception may have been less at the lot than what I was getting at my spot. The r... more
I actually stayed just a little further up the mountain than the GPS coordinates provided for this one. However, that will only work for smaller vehicles. I did stop by the lot provided and it seemed largely comparable for anything I have to note. Cell reception may have been less at the lot than what I was getting at my spot.
The road in is wide and pretty accessible; there was some washboard surface and some potholes that might cause you to slow down a bit, but nothing that should prevent anyone from getting up there. There was a lot of logging activity going on, and I saw a number of locals hiking and/or OHV riding all around the mountain.
The area was all very clean, and absolutely lovely while I was there. There's some great views as you approach the top of the mountain, although those don't really exist at the gravel lot. Still definitely pleasant.
I actually stayed closer to the communications towers right at the top of the mountain, and I got some noise from happenings there, in addition to the locals coming for recreation through the area. It was never terrible, and I even thought about staying longer than I did.
Verizon was fast and good for me, but spotty. Very spotty. I never did turn on my booster, but I would have to coax it into staying on 4G at times, which can be a real bother. TMobile was great; not as fast as Verizon up there, but I had full bars at all times and it was good enough for some light streaming when I tried.
It's a ways from Glacier NP and a pretty long drive up/down the mountain on dirt roads, itself, but it would not be a bad kick-off point for Glacier adventures, if you're up for waking up really early (or dealing with the massive crowds). I am sure to check this spot out again if I return to Glacier (which I'm sure I will).
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Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
SubaruVagabond would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Outstanding view and very peaceful”
Reviewed 8/17/2015
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
Overall Rating
Access is easy on a decent gravel road but it is 13 miles from the nearest town. We felt the distance was well worth it for the peace and quiet after spending the previous two weeks at the very busy campgrounds of Glacier National Park. The site was gravel and level for quick set up. Verizon data service was not consistent des... more
Access is easy on a decent gravel road but it is 13 miles from the nearest town. We felt the distance was well worth it for the peace and quiet after spending the previous two weeks at the very busy campgrounds of Glacier National Park.
The site was gravel and level for quick set up.
Verizon data service was not consistent despite boosting with a WeBoost 4G-X so remote workers might have to be careful with staying here.
The views of distant hills and mountain ranges were outstanding!
WanderWasi would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Bit of a haul, but peace and solitude at the top”
Reviewed 8/6/2015
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 4 |
| Site Number: | N/A |
| RV Length: | 27' |
Overall Rating
Flathead National Forest has a liberal dispersed camping policy, but the spot of the forest in Swan Lake district west of Flathead Lake, has very few practical places to stay. The secondary roads are all closed for logging activity, the main road up to the mountain has a few small pull outs, but they would be dusty if OHV activity was... more
Flathead National Forest has a liberal dispersed camping policy, but the spot of the forest in Swan Lake district west of Flathead Lake, has very few practical places to stay. The secondary roads are all closed for logging activity, the main road up to the mountain has a few small pull outs, but they would be dusty if OHV activity was going on. There is a road open (Dayton Creek) that would have a spot or two for a small vehicle and some killer views. For us the only real option was to head to the top of the main road going to the Blacktail Mountain Ski Area. There the ground levels off and there is a large clearing before the entrance to the ski area with tons of space
The road up is dusty and uneven, but wide enough that even the hairpin turns are not difficult to navigate. It took us 30 mins to get up to the top from the turn off in Lakeside near Tamarack Brewing, Once up there we were pretty much alone. A few OHVs came by but not very closely, we saw someone looking for huckleberries and that was about it. So quiet. We had tons of space and you can wander around at the top of the mountain to see the great views from the ski area and the nearby Military radar installation.
Cell coverage was good with both AT&T and Verizon (we used a booster) but as is so often the case that wasn't an indication of bandwidth and speed. We found that to be intermittent.
Basically this is a compromise between peace, solitude and space - all good and access to the place along a long, steep windy road - not so good.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
Kate at The Scenic Route would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
- Dispersed Camping
Recreation
- recreation trail
Pets
- pets
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