Fire restrictions · Montana
Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest fire restrictions
No fire restrictions
Where this forest sits today
- No order Everyday rules — fires in the rings, out cold before you leave. In force here
- Stage 1 Campfires only in the permanent rings at developed sites.
- Stage 2 No wood or charcoal fire anywhere — gas stoves usually still fine.
- Closed The forest, or a marked part of it, is shut to public entry.
Read from the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest alerts page on . That page is the order; this one is our reading of it.
What this stage means
No fire order is posted for this forest as of our last check, so the everyday rules apply: fires in the rings, dead and down wood only, and drowned out cold before you leave. That can change on a windy afternoon.
Stage 1, stage 2, and closures explained in plain words — including how a county burn ban is a different rule with a different boundary.
Camping out here? You can camp up to 16 days on this forest — the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest dispersed camping rules cover the stay limit, setbacks, and which roads allow it.
Read the order yourself
The forest's own alerts page has the current order, with the map of what it covers and the exceptions written out. The ranger district office nearest your trailhead can tell you the same thing over the phone.
Fire orders change with the weather — check the forest's alerts page or ranger district before you light anything.