About this place
A small campground high up among lodgepole pine, near Van Houten Lake. There are 7 units.
The toilets are accessible. There is a boat launch and fishing access.
Trailers should be 20 feet or shorter.
There is no water and nobody collects trash. Take everything home with you.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Type
- Specific campsite
- When it’s open
- June to September
- Managed by
- Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
Rules and restrictions
You get 16 days, and that count covers every campground in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Move on after that.
Getting there
From Jackson, go 1.5 miles south on Highway 278. Turn onto Forest Road 181 and follow it for 10.5 miles.
Coordinates 45.248030, -113.476420
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- Big Hole National Battlefield Directions
- Bloody Dick Peak 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
- Jackson, MT Directions
- Salmon, ID Directions
Salmon 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. 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 Smokey Cubs Recreation Site, Idaho — 39 miles in a straight line, but a 53 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.
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.