Thain Creek Campground
- Right now
- OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
- A night
- $10From, per site
- Season
- May 1 – November 30Open May 1 through November 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
Thain Creek Campground is the only campground in the Highwood Mountains. One of the 19 campsites can accommodate a maximum trailer length of 40 feet. The campground is usually open from May through the middle of fall. A nearby trailhead leads up to Windy Mountain and back on a 6 mile loop trail, offering scenic views of the surrounding plains and faraway mountains. Other hikes are along Briggs Creek or from the North Fork Highwood Creek Trailhead. Please heed seasonal trail closures, as all trails in the Highwoods close either September 1st or Oct 15th . Keep reading
All campgrounds on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest are first-come, first-served. Reservations are not available. Camping is limited to 16 consecutive days in one location. A campground fee is required. Please pay at the self-serve campground fee station. Campsites cannot be reserved by simply paying for the site; camper must be present. A food storage order is in effect to prevent human-bear conflicts on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. Store all unattended food and attractants properly. Please see Food Storage Order for specifics. Open and close dates can vary depending on snowfall conditions. Please call the local district office or check our website. Leashed dogs are welcome. Horses are not allowed in campgrounds. Motorized OHVs must stay on the campground road. The campgrounds include access to potable water during the warmer months, and all have at least one handicap accessible vault toilet. Each campsite has a fire ring and/or grill, and a picnic table. Even if water is unavailable, campground fees are still required.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…have at least one handicap accessible vault toilet. Each campsite has a fire ring and/or grill, and a…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…road. The campgrounds include access to potable water during the warmer months, and all have at least one…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
Phone before you drive
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.
Every line of the receipt · 5
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($10), 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
record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate
Where it is
Dry Wolf CabinLewis & Clark National Forest · 32 miLogging Creek CampgroundLewis & Clark National Forest · 33 miHole in the Wall Rec SiteUpper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Field Office · 34 miDry Wolf CampgroundLewis & Clark National Forest · 34 miAspen CampgroundLewis & Clark National Forest · 35 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Highwood, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 34°F, day 57°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical November night 25°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 moreOutside the published season
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
Thain Creek Campground is in Montana’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Troy Downing (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →