Emerald Lake Campground
This is how it should work.
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
Emerald Lake is in the West Rosebud drainage and is nestled in the trees between Emerald Lake and West Rosebud Lake. West Rosebud Trail (#19), Pine Grove Campground , Emerald Lake Fishing Access and West Rosebud Lake Fishing Access are also located in the West Rosebud drainage. There is a 16 day maximum stay in all Beartooth Ranger District campgrounds. For a road map of the area, with locations of campgrounds, please see our Motor Vehicle Use Map ( MVUM ). Camp sites: 32 Host : No Max trailer length : 30ft Accessible Facilities: Toilet Trash Pickup: Centrally located Bear resistant dumpster Firewood: No. Keep reading
Don't move firewood to other areas or bring in outside firewood. Prevent the spread of tree-killing insects by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it there. Reservations : No Reservations: This campground does not use a reservation system; it is managed on a first-come, first-served basis. Be aware that the campground is very popular and may fill up on weekends & holidays during the summer months. You should arrive early to ensure there is a space available for the night. There is a 16 day stay limit. Some sites are equipped with bear resistant food storage lockers. This campground is maintained from approximately Memorial Day to Labor Day (call district office for exact season dates). During these dates there is a fee to stay in the campground (listed below). Outside of the peak summer dates (Memorial Day- Labor Day), the campground remains ungated, free, and available for use (no services, not maintained, roads are not plowed). If you visit outside the peak fee season, please bring your own water, toilet paper (outhouse will remain open), and please pack out your trash. Directions from district office: Drive north on US Hwy 212 for 2.1 miles and turn left (west) onto MT-78. Drive 30.0 miles and turn left (west) onto MT-419 towards Fishtail. Drive 4.4 miles (through Fishtail) and turn left (south) onto West Rosebud Rd. Drive 6.5 miles and turn left (south) to continue on West Rosebud Rd. Drive 12.4 miles to the campground, on the left. Information: Beartooth Ranger District 6811 US Hwy 212 Red Lodge, MT 59068 (406) 446-2103
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…outside the peak fee season, please bring your own water, toilet paper (outhouse will remain open), and…”
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
Nothing to book, just show up
One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.
recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.
Every line of the receipt · 3
What you actually pay
How we know this receipt · 4
rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate
Where it is
Woodbine CampgroundCuster National Forest · 12 mi
CascadeCuster National Forest · 13 miInitial Creek CampgroundCuster National Forest · 16 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Roscoe, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 52°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 17°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
Emerald Lake Campground 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 →