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

Spotted Bear Campground

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 41 mi
Wildfire
Sinclair fire · 41 mi away · updated Oct 15, 2026
Wildfire
Route 8 fire · 49 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
$13From, per site
Drawn from the record · 3,740 ft · 0% tree cover · Spotted Bear River within reach · Bortle 2 sky
3,740 ftElevation
408 ftWater · Spotted Bear River
22.3 miSE of Bigfork, MT
0%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 98th darkest of 501 in MT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

This is a fee campground for $13 per night/$5 per extra vehicle (no fee 9/30 - 5/15) located 55 miles south of the town of Hungry Horse on the gravel East Side Reservoir Road #38. The campground is located at an elevation of 3,800 feet and is maintained from May 15 through September 30. Spotted Bear Campground is situated next to the Spotted Bear and South Fork Flathead Rivers just off the East Side Reservoir Road #38. The 13 unit campground is set back from the road and most of the campsites are located above the river. The site is located in a second growth stand of trees. Keep reading

It is a high use site that often has open campsites mid week. It is often used as a base for huckleberry picking or fishing in the summer. The South Fork Flathead River can be accessed by walking or driving ¼ mile to the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, and then crossing the footbridge across the river, that accesses the sandy beach and river. Campsites can accommodate tents and trailers up to 32 feet in length. All campsites have tables and metal fire rings. There are accessible vault toilets. There is no potable water after 9/30 - 5/15. Stock is not allowed in the campground. No garbage service 9/30 - 5/15. The site is operated on a first come, first served basis. 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 1/4 mile south at the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Phone, gas, and food are located 55 miles north in the town of Hungry Horse. Spotted Bear campsite Drinking water access - No potable water 9/30 - 5/15.

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…metal fire rings. There are accessible vault toilets. There is no potable water after 9/30 - 5/15. Stock…”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“There is no potable water after 9/30 - 5/15.”
Source: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Reservoir, River, Beach
Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
None
Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 38 km away
No change
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
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (38 km) · Oct 14, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and a night costs $13 with nothing added. 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 night$13Per site, fromthe agency’s fee record
A weekend$26DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 5

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, from$13
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What this campground addsits own record
Extra vehicleSee the note

“$13 per night $5 extra vehicle” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record

What a stay costs
One night, fromDerived$13
A weekend, Friday and Saturday, fromDerived$26

Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($13), 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 · 6
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

Tonight36°Partly Cloudy then Areas Of Frost
Saturday68°Widespread Frost then Sunny1% rain
Saturday Night33°Partly Cloudy5% rain
Sunday60°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), 24 miles away and 761 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

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

Spotted Bear 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.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (38 km) · Oct 14, 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

“…14 days. This is a remote location and there is no cell phone service in the area. The closest public phone is located 1/4 mile…”

Nearest place of any size: Swan Lake, MT, 10.3 mi E (a census designated place). Straight line.