Flathead National Forest Dispersed Camping Rules

16 days stay limit

Northern Region Order R1-2025-01 (effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2030) prohibits "camping or otherwise occupying a single site for over 16 consecutive days within a calendar year" and "camping or otherwise occupying any number of sites over 32 cumulative days within a calendar year" on all national forests in Montana; a "site" is "the campsite or place that is occupied and all NFS lands within 1/2 mile radius." The forest's camping page states it plainly: "The maximum stay on the Flathead National Forest is 16 days; some campgrounds may have lower stay limits."

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

The forest's camping page: "Dispersed camping is free, and permitted almost everywhere on the Flathead National Forest." But "Dispersed camping is NOT allowed near developed recreation areas including campgrounds, trailheads and day-use areas," and in the Ryan Road Area near West Glacier, Order 1-10-D06-003-S-26 prohibits "camping or otherwise occupying a site except where designated." source

Keep your distance

Directional rule without a stated distance: "Dispersed camping is NOT allowed near developed recreation areas including campgrounds, trailheads and day-use areas." The forest publishes no numeric buffer - ask the district how far is far enough. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The camping page's dispersed-camping guidance: "Motorized use is limited to roads and trails designated on the Motor Vehicle Use Map" and "never go beyond gates or other barriers on roads." No off-route parking distance for reaching a dispersed site is stated on any official page read today.

Fires right now

We don't watch this forest's fire orders yet — check its own site before you light anything. Here's what stage 1 and stage 2 mean when an order is up.

Closures and special orders

Order R1-2025-01 - Northern Region camping stay limits, pallet and target-shooting prohibitions The stay-limit order for all Montana national forests: 16 consecutive days at a single site (the site includes everything within a half-mile radius) and 32 cumulative days per calendar year. Effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2030.
Order 1-10-D06-003-S-26 - Ryan Creek occupancy and use order In the Ryan Road Area (two miles east of West Glacier, NFS lands within 300 feet of Road 10325/Ryan Road), camping is allowed only at designated sites and for no more than 3 consecutive days within a calendar year. Effective September 1, 2025 through December 1, 2026.
Order 01-10-D06-004-S-26 - FK&L area closed to public access A dispersed camping area closed to public access for construction, starting July 22, 2026 through July 22, 2027.
Order 01-15-00-25-01 - Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Great Bear Wilderness restrictions Wilderness-complex use order: groups over 15 persons prohibited, no caching of equipment or supplies, and the Castle Creek Riverside Campsite is limited to one night April 1 through July 31 and two nights August 1 through October 31. Effective March 7, 2025 through January 30, 2030.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.