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

Riverview Campground

ReservableOut of season; the next season isn't published.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night
$15From, per site
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
24 ftLongest rig
5,910 ftElevation
492 ftWater · Madison River
21 miSW of Big Sky, MT
0%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices

In the agency’s own words

Riverview Campground lies on a sagebrush and grass flat overlooking the Madison River and the Madison mountain range. There are 24 camp units which are large enough for 30 foot trailer lengths. Cellular reception is available. This is a First Come - First Served campground so reservations are not accepted. Keep reading

Recreation

The Madison River, a world famous trout fishery, is about 1/4 mile from the campground. Fishing and boating is available at nearby Wade, Cliff, Hebgen and Henries lakes.

Facilities

Each campsite has a fire ring and picnic table. There are three outhouses and five water spigots spread through the campground.

Natural Features

The campground is in an open sagebrush and grass covered flat on a hill that overlooks the Madison River. The forest slopes up from the upper edge of the campground.

Nearby Attractions

The west entrance to Yellowstone National Park is less than 40 miles away.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Campsites must be attended the first night and may not be left unattended for more than a 24 hour period throughout the stay.

Rule

There is a food storage order in effect. When unattended, all food and attractants must be stored in a bear proof manner in accordance with regulations.

Tents and rigs

Sites
1
Hookups
None
Longest rig
24 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Drinking water
Yes
“…There are three outhouses and five water spigots spread through the campground. Natural Features The…”
Camp host
On site
recreation.gov lists “Host”

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, River
Night sky · 201st darkest of 501 in MT
Bortle 2
Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
Yes
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
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

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. The last reservable season the agency published ended September 15, 2023, and it hasn't published the next one.recreation.gov
Max stay16 nightsthe facility record
A night$15plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$38DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night$15
S&P Standard$15
These are next season’s rates, May 1, 2027 to Sep 30, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
One nightDerived$23
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$38

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 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.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites

All 1 sites

SleepsUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

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

Tonight31°Partly Cloudy
Saturday56°Mostly Sunny
Saturday Night30°Partly Cloudy
Sunday59°Sunny

NWS forecast for Island Park, ID

Typical weather

Typical October night 28°F, day 51°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 4°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°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: HEBGEN DAM, MT (USC00244038), 12 miles away and 579 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it

Who answers for this land

Ryan Zinke, official portrait

Riverview 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

“…are large enough for 30 foot trailer lengths. Cellular reception is available. This is a First Come - First Served campground so…”

Nearest place of any size: Island Park, ID, 16.4 mi NNW. Straight line.