U.S. Forest Service · Custer National Forest · MT

Jimmy Joe Campground

First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Drawn from the record · 5,570 ft · 0% tree cover · East Rosebud Creek within reach · Bortle 2 sky
5,570 ftElevation
206 ftWater · East Rosebud Creek
16.7 miW of Red Lodge, MT
0%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 193rd darkest of 501 in MT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

Jimmy Joe Campground is a free campground on the banks of East Rosebud Creek in the East Rosebud drainage. East Rosebud is considered one of the more scenic drainages in the Beartooths . East Rosebud Trail (#15), Spread Creek Trail (#13), and Phantom Creek Trail (#17). East Rosebud Lake Campground and Sand Dunes Picnic Ground also located in the East Rosebud drainage. Camp sites: 12 Host : No Max Trailer Length : 30ft Accessible Facilities: Vault toilets Trash Pickup: No Firewood: No For a road map of the area, including campground locations, please see our Motor Vehicle Use Map ( MVUM ). Keep reading

Reservations: No Reservations. This campground does not use a reservation system; it is managed on a first-come, first-served basis. Be aware the campground may fill up on weekends & holidays during the summer months and you should arrive in the early afternoon to ensure there is a space available for the night. There is a 16 day stay limit. Some sites in campground have bear resistant food storage lockers. Individual camp sites vary in size, but the max trailer length is 30ft. Directions from district office: Drive north on US Hwy 212 for 2.1 miles. Turn left (west) onto MT-78 and drive 19.7 miles. Turn left (south) onto Roscoe Rd. Drive 2.3 miles, cross the bridge and turn right (south) onto East Rosebud Rd. Drive 6.5 miles and until the campground, on your right. Information: Beartooth Ranger District 6811 US Hwy 212 Red Lodge, MT 59068 (406) 446-2103

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…Length : 30ft Accessible Facilities: Vault toilets Trash Pickup: No Firewood: No For a road map of the…”
Bear boxes
Yes
Firewood
Mentioned
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek
Picnicking
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

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.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe agency’s record
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 3

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s no total to show.
How we know this receipt · 4

rules read Sep 7, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today65°Sunny
Tonight46°Mostly Clear
Saturday68°Sunny
Saturday Night43°Partly Cloudy

NWS forecast for Luther, 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.

80°32°10°

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.

Measured at: MYSTIC LAKE, MT (USC00245961), 6 miles away and 974 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Roadless
Black Butte871 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Burnt Mountain10,698 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Sep 28, 2026

Who answers for this land

Troy Downing, official portrait

Jimmy Joe 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Luther, MT, 9.2 mi WSW (a census designated place). Straight line.