White Sandy Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $25From, per site
- Sites
- 27All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
White Sandy is located on the west side of Hauser Lake at the confluence of Prickly Pear creek. White Sandy faces Eldorado Bar and the beautiful Big Belt mountains. It is in an ideal location for outdoor recreation, wildlife watching, water sports, camping and swimming. Keep reading
Recreation
White Sandy offers excellent recreational access. There is a beach area, picnic areas, as well as a ramada/pavilion with power and lights, available by advanced reservation. There are vault toilets located in convenient locations throughout the site. There are trails throughout White Sandy as well as in the surrounding area. Additionally, there are multiple trails within the larger Hauser Lake Recreation area, as well as multiple fishing access sites, hunting access, wildlife viewing and of course, boating. World class mountain biking trails abound in the area as well. The recreation opportunities are truly boundless.
Facilities
White Sandy offers several amenities that will make your stay enjoyable and comfortable. White Sandy is a 32-site campground that has spacious and level gravel parking pads that accommodate RVs, travel trailers and tents. Reservations are required at this site. White Sandy features a large concrete boat launch with a courtesy dock, as well as areas to beach your vessel. A fish cleaning station is available near the day-use parking at White Sandy. There are vault toilets located in each loop of the campground as well as near the boat launch and beach area. There is potable water provided throughout the campground and day use areas as well as garbage dumpsters. Every campsite contains a fire ring with a grill grate in addition to a picnic table. There are also picnic tables and small pavilions throughout the area. There is a small general store across from the entrance to White Sandy, additionally, Black Sandy state park is located just 1/4 mile up the road, which offers an RV dump station which is $5 to use if you are staying at White Sandy.
Natural Features
The campground and day use areas are situated in a shrub-steppe landscape, mostly comprised of sage brush and bunch grasses. Every campsite has a view of the lake and mountains. While there are some ponderosa pine and deciduous trees throughout the area, they are scarce and do not provide a large amount of shade, but the lake does help keep the temperatures down a bit on those hot summer days. Contact Info For local information, please call (406) 258-0279 or call (406) 318-8100 for general information.
Nearby Attractions
White Sandy is located in a prime location to get out and recreate outdoors, or within the capital of Montana. There are hundreds of miles of trails, Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands, state parks, the Lewis and Clark Trail and so much more. Helena (only a short drive away) has all the amenities of a large city with small town charm. There are great restaurants, museums, the capitol building, old mining settlements, Last Chance Gulch, Reeder's Alley and a vibrant downtown with a walking mall area.
Charges & Cancellations
Reservation Cancellations & Changes • Cancelling a Reservation: Customers may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Depending on when you cancel in relation to your arrival day, it may be considered a late cancellation (see below). • Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): Customers who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window • Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. The recreation.gov cancellation policy can be found here: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies
What the agency tells you
*** You must occupy your campsite every night that you have reserved. If you do not show up for 24 hours from "Check-In Time" (2:00 PM), you forfeit the use of that site and are not entitled to any refunds or discounts. *** *** You must occupy the site you reserved and cannot change sites, or move to a different loop of the campground.***
Prairie rattlesnakes and bull snakes inhabit this area. Be cautious of where you step or reach into.
Black widows are very common in the area; while not usually deadly, their bite can be extremely painful and has caused local necrosis of the associated tissues and severe illness.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Prickly Pear cactus are a native plant that will prick you, rip your clothing or your tent and can be very hard to remove.
Campsites are limited to no more than 2 RVs or 2 tents or a combination of 1 RV and 1 tent. Each RV or tent is considered a camping unit and must pay the fee per unit.
There is no power available on site for campers and generators are only allowed from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
There is no black or gray water dump on site, but there is one available for use at Black Sandy state park.
First-come, first-served sites are available in this campground.
If you plan to bring a watercraft with you, please remember to always: Clean, Drain, Dry and Inspect your craft for Aquatic Invasive Species.
Weather can change drastically in this area. Be prepared for any type of weather event.
Stock animals are not allowed in this facility. Non-road legal ATVs, UTVs or motorcycles are not allowed in this facility.
Caution: While it is uncommon to sight a bear in the area, it is possible. Bears, raccoons, ravens, seagulls, magpies and other animals will get into your food if not properly stored. Please be prepared to store your food either in your vehicle, RV or trailer or in a bear-proof container while camping.
Check out time is: 11:00 A.M.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 27 · 1 group, 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- 3 of 27
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 31 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 1 of 31 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Ice Fishing
- Information Site
- Jet Skiing
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Paddle Boating
- Picnicking
- Ranger Station
- Night sky · 495th darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 4
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.
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 · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $25 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.
“A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Depending on when you cancel in relation to your arrival day, it may be considered a late cancellation (see below). • Group Facility (including Cabins and Lookouts): Customers who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days be…” · this campground’s own terms
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
31 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 14 mapped sitesAll 31 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 26 of the 31 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 01 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 71 ft | 141 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 02 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 65 ft | 102 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 03 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 65 ft | 87 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 05 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | yes | 70 ft | 99 ft | $25 | |
| A | 07 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 70 ft | 102 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 09 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 70 ft | 94 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 11 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 76 ft | 95 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 14 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| A | 15 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 80 ft | 97 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 17 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 67 ft | 105 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 19 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 67 ft | 107 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 21 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 69 ft | 111 ft | $25 | ||
| A | 23 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | yes | 69 ft | 115 ft | $25 | |
| A | 25 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 754 ft | 780 ft | $25 | ||
| B | 04 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 06 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 08 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 10 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 12 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 15 | type not stated | ||||||
| B | 16 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 18 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 20 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 22 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 24 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| B | 26 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $25 | ||||
| Beach | Small Group Shelter 1 | day use | ||||||
| Beach | Small Group Shelter 2 | day use | ||||||
| Beach | Small Group Shelter 3 | day use | ||||||
| Beach | Small Group Shelter 4 | day use | ||||||
| C | Group Site & Pavilion | group shelter electric | 50 ft | 15 amp | yes | 560 ft | 92 ft | $140 |
The agency files 4 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 31 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Devil's Elbow CampgroundButte Field Office · 4.6 miSpokane BayButte Field Office · 6.9 mi
Riverside Campground9.4 miBeartooth LandingButte Field Office · 10 mi
Court Sheriff Campground10 mi
Chinamen's Campground11 miFrom Helena drive north, from Great Falls drive south on I-15 to the Lincoln Road exit, turn east on Lincoln Rd and continue to the T-intersection with Hauser Dam Rd, turn left (North) and continue about 4 miles until you reach White Sandy Recreation Area directly in front of you on the right hand side of the road. If you get to Black Sandy state park, you have gone too far.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Helena Valley Northeast, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 34°F, day 58°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 14°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 Julys are colder than the July 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
White Sandy 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 →