Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of Peter's Creek Campground

Montana Flathead National Forest

Peter's Creek Campground

Free to campSet campsiteNo waterToiletSome roads are rough
Free to camp Two separate records both say there is no charge to camp here.

About this place

This campground is free. It sits 42 miles south of Hungry Horse, on the gravel East Side Reservoir Road #38.

The elevation is 3,600 feet. It is maintained from May 15 through September 30.

Peters Creek Campground sits next to the Hungry Horse Reservoir, just off that road.

The 6 units are set back from the road, and the campsites are less than 100 feet from the water.

The trees are second growth.

This is a low use site and there are usually campsites open.

People base themselves here for huckleberry picking or fishing in summer, and for the late hunt in October and November.

Sites take tents and trailers up to 30 feet.

Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. There is an accessible vault toilet.

There is no drinking water. You can take water from the reservoir, but treat it before you drink it.

Stock is not allowed in the campground.

Nobody collects trash here, so take everything home with you.

A food storage order is in effect on all national forest land. Human food, stock food, garbage and anything else that draws bears has to be kept where they cannot get it.

You can camp here for 14 days.

This is a remote spot and there is no cell phone service.

The nearest public phone is 13 miles south at the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Phone, gas and food are 42 miles north in Hungry Horse.

The facts

Cost
Free to camp
Roads around it
Gravel. East Side Reservoir Road 38
Drinking water
No, bring your own
Toilet
Yes
Phone signal
None. The nearest public phone is 13 miles south at the Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Type
Specific campsite
When it’s open
May 15 to September 30
Managed by
Flathead 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.

Rules and restrictions

You can camp here for 14 days.

Food has to be stored properly, and the rule covers more than what you eat. Feed for horses counts, so does trash, and so does anything else with a smell that could draw an animal in. All of it goes out of reach, which usually means inside a hard-sided vehicle or hung well clear of the ground.

Getting there

Coordinates 48.057559, -113.643774

Open in Google Maps Agency page

What is near here

This is a good base for somewhere people travel a long way to see.

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

Bigfork 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.