Shoshone National Forest Dispersed Camping Rules

16 days stay limit

Order SHO-98-001 (Occupancy and Use, in effect until rescinded) prohibits "Camping or otherwise occupying a single location for a period exceeding sixteen (16) consecutive days." The order defines "location" as "the occupied area or campsite and the lands within a five mile radius of that occupied area or campsite," and adds: "After leaving a location, a minimum of seven (7) days must elapse before any person or group, may re-occupy their original location." 16 consecutive days — not the common 14 — counted across a 5-mile radius, with a 7-day cooling-off before returning.

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

Order SHO-97-004 (in effect until rescinded) prohibits "Camping in any area that is posted or otherwise signed as closed to camping" — the forest's standing formulation of allowed-unless-posted. Wilderness areas carry their own camping setbacks (Order SHO-98-002), and bear-country orders add carcass setbacks and food-storage requirements March 1 – December 1. source

Keep your distance

50 ft — North Absaroka and Washakie Wildernesses only (Order SHO-98-002): no camping "within (50) fifty feet of any Forest Development Trail." source
100 ft — Fitzpatrick Wilderness only (Order SHO-98-002): no camping "within (100) one hundred feet of any trail, lake, or stream that is indicated with a solid blue line on USGS topographic maps." The same 100-ft rule covers trails there. source
200 ft — Popo Agie and Absaroka-Beartooth Wildernesses only (Order SHO-98-002): no camping "within (200) two hundred feet of any trail, lake, or stream that is indicated with a solid blue line on USGS topographic maps" — the 200-ft rule covers trails there too. Additionally, no camping within 1/4 mile (1,320 ft) of Lonesome Lake in the Popo Agie Wilderness. source
300 ft — Bear-country rule, forest-wide March 1 – December 1 (Order SHO-23-002): no camping within 100 yards (300 ft — converted from the order's 100 yards) of any known animal carcass stored by Forest Service-approved methods, and no camping within 1/4 mile of any known carcass NOT stored by approved methods. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

"Motor vehicle use maps (MVUMs) are the official maps for designating all roads and trails available for public motorized travel on the Shoshone National Forest"; "Routes not shown on the MVUM are not open to public motor vehicle travel" (forest maps page, which posts 2026 North and South Zone MVUMs). No official page read today states an off-route parking distance or ties dispersed-camping vehicle access to MVUM camping corridors.

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 SHO-98-001 — Single Location Occupancy Limited to Sixteen (16) Days The stay-limit order itself: 16 consecutive days per location (a 5-mile radius), then 7 days away before re-occupying. Effective March 12, 1998, until rescinded.
Order SHO-97-004 — Camping prohibited in areas posted or signed as closed Makes posted camping closures enforceable forest-wide, "to prevent degradation to vegetation, soil, and water, or other resources." Effective July 18, 1997, until rescinded.
Order SHO-98-002 — Acts Prohibited in Wilderness Areas Wilderness camping setbacks (50/100/200 ft by wilderness), Lonesome Lake 1/4-mile camping and campfire ban, group-size caps (15 in Absaroka-Beartooth, 20 elsewhere), stock limits, and equipment-storage prohibitions across the forest's five wilderness areas.
Order SHO-23-002 — Restrictions to Camping, Food and Attractant Storage Bear-country order, annually March 1 – December 1 (in effect through December 31, 2026): food, refuse, and attractants must be attended, hung 10 ft up and 4 ft out, in IGBC-certified containers, or in hard-sided vehicles/buildings; carcass storage and camping-near-carcass rules apply forest-wide.
Order SHO-12-003 — Occupancy and Use Restrictions, North Fork corridor (Wapiti RD) Standing occupancy-and-use restrictions along the North Fork Highway (U.S. 14-16-20) corridor on the Wapiti Ranger District — read the order for the affected area and rules.
Order SHO-24-002 — Hard-Sided Camping Equipment Requirement (Wapiti RD) Requires hard-sided camping equipment in posted areas of the Wapiti Ranger District (grizzly country). Posted April 19, 2024 — read the order for the affected area.

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.