Lakeside Lolo Campground (MT)
1Heads up1 fire 29 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $10From, per site
- Sites
- 85 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lakeside Campground is located at the south end of Lake Alva, in Montana's Lolo National Forest. The campground offers a chance to camp and enjoy recreational activities such as swimming, fishing and boating. The lake is home to a loon population and has protected nesting areas. The birds' mesmerizing calls can often be heard in the campground. All boats on Lake Alva must operate at a "no-wake" speed year-round. Keep reading
Recreation
Lake Alva is in a great spot for boating and fishing. Anglers will find a variety of freshwater fish, including Kokanee salmon, whitefish, pike, trout and perch, among other species. A boat ramp is available at nearby Lake Alva Campground, one mile north on Highway 83. All motorized boating must operation at a "No-Wake" speed year-round. Many non-motorized boaters find solace during early evening/morning hours on the lake. Swimming is also a popular activity.
Facilities
1 group camping site, 3 individual RV/tent sites, and 1 tent site are available for reservation the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day, when the campground closes for the season. The accessible group campsite can accommodate up to 25 people and up to four RVs and six vehicles. All campsites are equipped with picnic tables and a campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets are provided, there is no drinking water available at the campground. Trash collection is not available- Please Pack it Out. Campground hosts onsite 24 hours a day. There is no day-use area at Lakeside Campground. Day-use access to Lake Alva is located a mile North on Highway 83, at Lake Alva Campground. The area is equipped with a boat launch, boat trailer parking, and a swimming beach. Lake Alva is a No-Wake lake.
Natural Features
The campground is situated at the south end of Lake Alva, and offers shade and lake access. At an elevation of approximately 4,200 feet, temperatures are relatively cool on summer days. The lake is home to a loon population, and has protected nesting areas during May and June. The birds' mesmerizing calls can often be heard in the campground.
Nearby Attractions
Seeley Lake is about 10 miles south of the campground, with boating, water skiing and fishing opportunities. The town of Seeley Lake lies on the southeastern tip of the lake. A variety of services are offered there, including boat, canoe, kayak and row boat rentals. The Mission Mountain Wilderness Area is about 15 miles northwest of the campground. The area is popular for its scenic views and abundant wildlife. Active glaciers, alpine lakes, meadows and clear, icy streams, along with vertical cliffs and jagged peaks, make up the area.
What the agency tells you
Notice: Beginning in 2024, check out time is at 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Check-in is at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Please check-out on time so that attendents may prepare the campsite for the next guest.
Bears frequent the area; please store all food and attractants in a locked vehicle, or in a certified bear resistant container. Click here for more information.
Lake Alva has a "No-Wake" regulation at all times.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Drinking water is not available; please bring your own supply.
No trash collection services avaliable. Please Pack it Out.
Campfires must be completely extinguished before leaving campsite unattended.
Parking is allowed in designated areas only. No parking along roadways.
Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. This includes external and onboard gas-powered generators.
Dogs must be leashed while in campgrounds.
Reservations cannot exceed 7 nights.
Access to the campground in the early spring and late fall is closed, roads are not plowed, gate is closed.
Click here for more information on the Lolo 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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8 · 1 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 58 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…a campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets are provided, there is no drinking water available…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…Accessible vault toilets are provided, there is no drinking water available at the campground. Trash collection is…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 32 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Meadow
- Beachcombing
- Berry Picking
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Paddle Boating
- Paddling
- Stargazing
- Water sports
- Night sky · 241st darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 38 km away
- No change
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 5 of the 8 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $10 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites · the site map
All 8 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. 8 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LAKESIDE CAMPGROUND | LSS1 | type not stated | $10–$50 | ||
| LAKESIDE CAMPGROUND | LSS2 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | $10 | |
| LAKESIDE CAMPGROUND | LSS4 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | $10 | |
| LAKESIDE CAMPGROUND | LSS5 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | $10 | |
| LAKESIDE CAMPGROUND | LSS6 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | $10 | |
| LAKESIDE GROUP CAMPSITE | LSG3 | group standard area nonelectric | 48 ft | 119 ft | $50 |
| S&P | Group Campsite | type not stated | 48 ft | $10–$50 | |
| S&P | Standard Campsite | type not stated | 37 ft | $10–$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
Lake Alva CampgroundLolo National Forest · 0.4 mi
Lakeside Campground0.9 mi
Rainy Lake CampgroundLolo National Forest · 1.4 mi
Lake Inez Point 6 (Group Camp Site)Lolo National Forest · 2.0 mi
Owl Creek CorralFlathead National Forest · 8.4 miHolland Lake CampgroundFlathead National Forest · 8.5 miFrom the junction of Montana Highways 200 and 83 (locally referred to as Clearwater Junction), travel north on Highway 83 for approximately 15 miles to the town of Seeley Lake. Continue north on Highway 83 for 9.9 miles. The campground the entrance is on the west side of the highway.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Seeley Lake, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 29°F, day 56°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
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Lakeside Lolo Campground (MT) is in Montana’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Ryan Zinke (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →