Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of Ekalaka Park Campground

Montana Custer Gallatin National Forest

Ekalaka Park Campground

Free to campSet campsiteNo water16-day limitSome roads are rough
Free to camp The Forest Service record for this site says there is no charge to camp, as of August 2026. Records get old, so look for a sign when you pull in.

About this place

A campground with 7 sites and two day use picnic sites, near Ekalaka on the Ekalaka Hills Unit of the Sioux Ranger District.

The Ekalaka Hills are cliff drop-offs and cliff-edge views out over the prairie, above ponderosa pine savanna.

A small trailer is fine. A big rig is not.

There is no drinking water, no firewood and no trash pickup. Bring what you need and take it all home again. You can stay 16 days.

The facts

Cost
Free to camp
Roads around it
Fine for small trailers, not for big rigs
Stay limit
16 days
Drinking water
No, bring your own
Type
Specific campsite
Managed by
Custer Gallatin National Forest

The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the US Forest Service, who grade every road by the kind of vehicle it is looked after for. Those records cover the roads nearby. They do not cover the last stretch in to the campsite, and nobody has checked that part. Treat this as a warning. We are not promising what you will find when you get there. If you have driven it, tell us what it was like and we will say so here.

Getting there

Go 3 miles southeast of Ekalaka on Montana Highway 323 and take a right onto Forest Road 3813, Stagville Road. About 5 miles in, go straight through the 4-way junction. About 1 mile further, the road stops at the campground.

Coordinates 45.798611, -104.516111

Open in Google Maps Agency page

What is near here

Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.

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

Baker 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

You can camp here for 16 days. After that you have to move on. This is Forest Service land, and each forest sets its own rule for how far you have to go, so check before you travel.

The nearest other free campsite in this guide is Wickham Gulch Campground, Montana — 26 miles in a straight line, but a 48 mile drive. One more sits closer than 25 miles, if the rule here allows them.

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.

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.