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

Peter's Creek Campground

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 41 mi
Wildfire
Sinclair fire · 41 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Route 8 fire · 43 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026
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
A night
FreeNo camping fee
Drawn from the record · 3,590 ft · 38% tree cover · Hungry Horse Reservoir within reach · Bortle 2 sky
3,590 ftElevation
342 ftWater · Hungry Horse Reservoir
15.1 miE of Bigfork, MT
38%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 185th darkest of 501 in MT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

This is a free campground located 42 miles south of the town of Hungry Horse on the gravel East Side Reservoir Road #38. The campground is located at an elevation of 3,600 feet and is maintained from May 15 through September 30. Peters Creek Campground is situated next to the Hungry Horse Reservoir just off the East Side Reservoir Road #38. The 6 unit campground is set back from the road and the campsites are less than 100 feet to the reservoir. The site is located in a second growth stand of trees. It is a low use site that usually has open campsites. Keep reading

It often is used as a base for huckleberry picking or fishing in the summer and for the late season hunt in late October and November. Campsites can accommodate tents and trailers up to 30 feet in length. All campsites have tables and metal fire rings. There is an accessible vault toilet. There is no potable water, but water is available from the reservoir and must be treated prior to consumption. Stock is not allowed in the campground. There is no garbage service and visitors need to plan to Pack It In, and Pack It Out. There is a food storage order in effect on all national forest land that requires that human and stock food, garbage, and other attractants be kept unavailable to bears. Your stay may not exceed 14 days. This is a remote location and there is no cell phone service in the area. The closest public phone is located 13 miles south at the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Phone, gas, and food are located 42 miles north in the town of Hungry Horse. Campsite Reservoir View

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…metal fire rings. There is an accessible vault toilet. There is no potable water, but water is available…”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…There is an accessible vault toilet. There is no potable water, but water is available from the reservoir and must…”
Source: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Reservoir, Creek
Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
None
Source: Stated in the agency description
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. · Sep 8, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and it costs nothing at all. 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 record
A nightFreeNo camping feethe agency’s fee record
A weekendNothingDerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 4

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Camping feeFree
No fee.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
A night, and a whole weekendDerivedNothing

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s own record says there’s no camping fee, and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

How we know this receipt · 5
Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

record Aug 24, 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

Overnight41°Clear
Saturday65°Sunny4% rain
Saturday Night38°Mostly Clear3% rain
Sunday58°Sunny

NWS forecast for Swan Lake, MT

Typical weather

Typical October night 38°F, day 55°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 25°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°20°

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: BIGFORK 13 S, MT (USC00240755), 22 miles away and 611 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

developing
Flathead National Forestlogging, drilling
Roadless
Bob Marshall-Scapegoat-Swan334,275 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 9, 2026

Who answers for this land

Ryan Zinke, official portrait

Peter's Creek Campground 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 →

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. · Sep 8, 2026

“…14 days. This is a remote location and there is no cell phone service in the area. The closest public phone is located 13 miles…”

Nearest place of any size: Swan Lake, MT, 8.7 mi NE (a census designated place). Straight line.