About this place
A little under 350 acres of public land, in the Greater Yellowstone country just west of the park. The plant list is the reason to come.
Along the creek there is rose aspen, willow, serviceberry and snowberry.
On the slopes there is sagebrush and bitterbrush, with needlegrass, mountain brome, fescue and prairie junegrass.
Through late spring and summer the slopes fill with wildflowers. Lupine, paintbrush, cinquefoil, buckwheat, arrowleaf balsamroot, common yarrow, geranium, gilia, monkeyflower, Oregon grape, pearly everlasting and asters.
Black bear, elk, moose, deer and grizzly bear live here, along with many birds. Grizzlies really do roam here. Carry bear spray, and never leave food lying out anywhere a bear could smell it and come looking for it.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Fremont County, 13 miles north and east of Macks Inn, near where Highways 287 and 20 meet.
Coordinates 44.67194444, -111.3877778
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
This is a good base for somewhere people travel a long way to see.
- Grand Prismatic Spring Directions
- Morning Glory Pool Directions
- Old Faithful Directions
- Yellowstone volcano Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Island Park, ID Directions
- West Yellowstone, MT Directions
West Yellowstone 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.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
One in this guide sits inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Clover Meadows Dispersed Camping and Picnic Area, Montana — 34 miles in a straight line, but a 53 mile drive.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
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 Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.