Aspen Grove Group Use Area (Helena-Lewis and Clark NF, MT)
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Aspen Grove Group Use Campground sits in forested mountain terrain on the banks of the Blackfoot River in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. At an elevation of 4,800 feet beneath a canopy of cottonwood, aspen, juniper, Lodgepole pine and Douglas fir, this campground is an ideal setting for larger families or groups seeking relaxation and recreation. It is separated from the rest of the campground and offers guests their own private area, bathroom, water spigot, and parking. Keep reading
Recreation
Aspen Grove Group Campground offers outdoor enthusiasts the opportunity to hike, fish, bike, hunt and enjoy a long list of outdoor recreational activities throughout the year. Indian Meadows Trailhead, located approximately 9 miles from Aspen Grove, offers access to a number of hiking trails in the Scapegoat Wilderness. Alice Creek Trailhead, located approximately 15 miles from Aspen Grove, also offers hiking opportunities into the Scapegoat Wilderness and along the Lewis and Clark historic trail to Lewis and Clark Pass. Visitors can also access the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail in several different locations around the Lincoln Valley. The CDT offers sweeping views of the area and highlights the marked change in landscape on either side of the Divide. The Blackfoot River, adjacent to the campground, is renowned for its recreational opportunities, most notably fly fishing. The Blackfoot is a fast, cold river with many deep spots, making it prime habitat for populations of cutthroat, rainbow, and brown trout.
Facilities
The Aspen Grove Group Campground is able to accommodate 75 people total. It has one large group living area with 6 picnic tables, 2 serving tables, and a large fire ring. It also has three smaller living areas connected to the main area via walking trails and the main access road that each have 2 picnic tables and one metal fire ring. Overall, there is back-in parking for up to 8 RVs or trailers, with lengths between 35' and 45'. There is also space for about 20 passenger vehicles to park, and 10-15 more if there are no trailers or RVs. Space is available for 10-15 four-person tents. The site is equipped with picnic tables, campfire rings, drinking water and a vault toilet. Access to Blackfoot River is within walking distance from the campground.
Natural Features
Visitors to the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest are treated spectacular scenery as well as an abundance of natural and cultural resources in the area. Rugged ridges, alpine meadows, forests, grasslands and rivers provide wildlife diverse ecosystems. Grizzly bear, lynx, wolverine, deer, elk, gray wolf, moose, black bear, mountain lion, mountain goat and mountain sheep all call the area home.
Nearby Attractions
Located in Northwestern Montana on both sides of the Continental Divide, the Scapegoat Wilderness-Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is more than 1.5 million acres, the third largest in the lower 48 states. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806 spent many months traveling through the varied scenery of Montana. Many areas of the landscape along the expedition's route on the Helena National Forest look much the same as in 1805-1806. Visit the routes of the famous explorers on public lands in Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. Click here for more information about the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
What the agency tells you
Hookups are not available
This campground is in grizzly bear country; please store food and other attractants properly.
Click here for more information about the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Check out the forest's campground description for specific information to Fish Your National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Water and trash service is not provided during the Walk-In period. Please call the Lincoln Ranger District at (406) 362-7000 for details or current conditions.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…campfire rings, drinking water and a vault toilet. Access to Blackfoot River is within walking…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…guests their own private area, bathroom, water spigot, and parking. Recreation Aspen Grove Group…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek, Meadow
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Winter sports
- Night sky · 270th darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:19 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:19 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA ASPEN GROVE GROUP USE AREA | 001 | group standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 150 ft | $50 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cummings CabinHelena National Forest · 1.5 miCopper Creek CampgroundHelena National Forest · 8.1 mi
Indian Meadows Guard StationHelena National Forest · 8.1 mi
Granite Butte LookoutHelena National Forest · 8.6 mi
Nevada Creek CabinHelena National Forest · 13 mi
Lost Horse CabinHelena National Forest · 16 miFrom Lincoln, Montana, take State Route 200 east for 6.5 miles to the campground sign. Turn right at the sign, onto a gravel road, and go .5 miles to campground.
After entering the campground facility, follow the signs to the Group Use area at the far eastern edge of the campground
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lincoln, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 29°F, day 54°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 12°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Aspen Grove Group Use Area (Helena-Lewis and Clark NF, MT) is in Montana’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Troy Downing (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →