Piney Campground and Boat Launch
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 28 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $17From, per site
- Sites
- 1917 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Piney Campground is adjacent to Georgetown Lake and provides ideal access to fishing, boating and water skiing. It is located in the Pintler Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Surrounded by mountains of outstanding beauty, the location is perfect for visitors who enjoy mountain and water sports or those who prefer relaxing and taking in the spectacular view. Once on-site, you may be able to pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app, and the Scan and Pay feature. If this option is available, you will need to first download the free Recreation.gov mobile app https://www.recreation.gov/mobile-app prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service. Keep reading
Recreation
Canoeing and boating are popular activities at the lake. Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers will find no shortage of trails within a few miles of the campground. Georgetown Lake is a prime destination for fishing and fly fishing with kokanee salmon, rainbow and brook trout being the most sought-after species. It is illegal to target Bull Trout, if caught they must be released immediately with minimal handling. Participants must have Montana licenses to hunt or fish.
Facilities
The campground has 46 campsites in total. 17 campsites can be reserved in advance and 29 campsites are available as first-come, first-served. Reservable sites are in Loop A, and Loop B is first-come, first-served. This campground welcomes RV or tent camping and is boater-friendly with paved roads and a boat ramp nearby. The campground features drinking water pumps and vault toilets. The sites include picnic tables and fire rings. Once on-site, you may be able to pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app, and the Scan and Pay feature. If this option is available, you will need to first download the free Recreation.gov mobile app https://www.recreation.gov/mobile-app prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service.
Natural Features
The campground overlooks the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness. Georgetown Lake is a large mountain lake spanning close to 3,000 acres at an elevation of over 6,000 ft. Lodgepole pines enclose the lake and surrounding mountains, providing a home to abundant wildlife including moose, elk, white-tailed deer and even bighorn sheep. Water birds such as the graceful blue heron as well as hawks and other birds of prey also inhabit the lake area. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (406) 859-3211.
Nearby Attractions
The towns of Anaconda and Philipsburg are nearby and the campground is adjacent to Georgetown Lake. Discovery Ski Area is close by with lift-access mountain biking.
What the agency tells you
There are 46 campsites. 17 sites are reservable and 29 sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please Note: Double occupancy will be charged for more than (1) camping unit in the site. Additional camping units are trailers, RVs, and other mobile sleeping quarters. Extra vehicle charge $5 per day (first 2 vehicles are free). See host or self serve fee station - cash or check only at the campground.
Bears are prevalent in the area. To reduce the likelihood of a human-to-bear conflict, Food Storage Order rules are enforced. All food, beverages, trash, and scented items must be properly stored when not attended. Proper storage methods include a bear hang, an enclosed hard sided vehicle, storage locker, or an IGBC certified bear resistant container – IGBC coolers must be locked. Bear resistant storage lockers are available at the campground. Learn more about bear safety and forest-wide Food Storage Order
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Camping stay limit is 16 days.
Site must be occupied the first night. The campsite cannot be left unattended for more than 24 hours without permission.
Check in time is 2:00 PM. Check out time is 11:00 AM.
Dogs allowed - must be on leash at all times within the campground.
No dump station on site; closest facility is in Anaconda.
Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (11:00 AM) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests.
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
Click here for more information about Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 19
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Little
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…features drinking water pumps and vault toilets. The sites include picnic tables and fire rings.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…ramp nearby. The campground features drinking water pumps and vault toilets. The sites include picnic…”
- 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
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Stargazing
- Swimming
- Water access
- Night sky · 405th darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 17 of the 19 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 · 13
What you actually pay
“Extra vehicle charge $5 per day (first 2 vehicles are free).” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $17 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 · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
19 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 17 mapped sitesAll 19 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. 19 of the 19 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop A | 001 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 383 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 002 | type not stated | 45 ft | 397 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 003 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 329 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 004 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 302 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 005 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 263 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 006 | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 237 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 69 ft | 196 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 184 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 009 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 140 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 010 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 199 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 011 | standard nonelectric | 84 ft | 178 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 012 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 253 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 013 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | 267 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 014 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 327 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 346 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 394 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 68 ft | 440 ft | $17 | |
| Loop A | 018 | standard nonelectric | 68 ft | 469 ft | $17 | |
| S&P | Standard, S&P | type not stated | 45 ft | $17 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Philipsburg Bay CampgroundDeerlodge National Forest · 0.9 mi
Lodgepole Campground (on Georgetown Lake, Montana)Deerlodge National Forest · 1.8 mi
Flint Creek CampgroundDeerlodge National Forest · 2.6 mi
Cable Mountain CampgroundDeerlodge National Forest · 3.2 miEast Fork Group Picnic AreaDeerlodge National Forest · 5.8 miSpillway CampgroundDeerlodge National Forest · 6.1 miFrom Hwy 1 take Georgetown Lake Road over dam. Follow signs; Piney will be 2 miles on your left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 23°F, day 56°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 7°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 Augusts are colder than the August 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
Piney Campground and Boat Launch 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 →