By:
Submission
Hellgate Campground is located 30 miles east of Helena, Montana, along Montana Highway 284. In July of 1805 the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through the Canyon Ferry area exploring and mapping the Missouri River. When Lewis visited the area he described it as a beautiful and extensive plain country of about 10 to 12 miles wide which extended upwards further than an eye could see. In the 1850s the gold rush hit the Canyon Ferry area attracting miners from all over the United States in the hopes of striking it rich.
Canyon Ferry Reservoir offers a wide range of year-round recreational opportunities. Water related activities include everything from swimming and fishing to sailing and motor-boating. Canoeists and kayakers explore the many quiet backwater bays. Jet skiers, windsurfers and water skiers skim the summer waves, while winter draws ice fishermen and ice skaters.
Hellgate Campground consists of 69 campsites and 3 Group Use shelters with overnight Camping. Each standard campsite consists of a gravel camping pad, picnic table, and a fire ring. Campsites are limited to one camping unit is permitted per site unless marked as a doublle campsite. (double campsites are clearly marked on the site posts). Hellgate Boat Ramp and Day Use Area provides two boat ramps, parking area for boat trailers and several day use picnic sites.
There are three Group Use Shelter Areas:
Lewis and Clark Group Use Shelter Includes 15 campsites. Each campsites has a fire ring and picnic table. The shelter is 30’ X 60’ with 12 picnic tables, 3 grills, and 2 group use fire rings. 3 vault toilets are easily accessible.
York Group Use Shelter Includes 10 campsites. Each campsites has a fire ring and picnic table. The Shelter is 30’ X 60’ and contains 12 picnic tables, and 1 large communal fire ring. 1 vault toilet is easily accessible. (Formerly called Shelter B)
Hellgate Bay Group Use Shelter Includes 5 campsites. Each with a fire ring and picnic table. The shelter is 30’ X 36’ and contains 7 picnic tables and 2 grills. and 1 large communal fire ring near the shelter.
Hellgate Campground and Group Use Shelter Area sits along the banks of Canyon Ferry Reservoir in an open valley between the Big Belt and Elkhorns mountain ranges. Along the bank of the reservoir there is a narrow riparian canopy that provides partial shade.
Hellgate Campground and Group Use Shelter Area is located halfway between Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. The city of Helena, Montana, the state capital, is 25 miles away and the city of Townsend, Montana, is 21 miles away. For up to date events visit, [ click here](http://www.helenamt.com)
**From Helena, MT:** Head east along Co Rd 430/Canyon Ferry Rd from Helena, MT, continue for 38 miles to the Hellgate Campground and Group Use Shelter Area sign and turn right. Continue straight until you reach the campground.
**From Townsend, MT:** Head north on Hwy 284 for 21 miles and turn left at the Hellgate Campground and Group Use Shelter Areasign. Continue straight until you reach the campground.
The campground is nice. However, there is a camp host who is grumpy and makes his own rules. We had a large campground with lots of family and most have dogs. Dogs are dogs, sometimes they bark. None of our dogs were barking nonstop but they did go through phases, ex: if someone new arrived, etc. normal animal behavior. The very first day when most people arrived he drove up all slow just eyeing everyone. Then stopped and said we needed to get the dogs to stop barking. The next day my husband was walking to the lake access point on the main road near another campsite. The host drove up behind them and was harassing my husband about the dogs and how he needed to get permission to walk through the other people’s camp sights. There were dogs barking and they needed to be quiet. My husband responded with asking if the kids/other adults walking through the campground had to do the same and the host said that he (my husband) was being disruptive and needed to get their permission. He then mentioned again that we needed to get the dogs to stop barking. There’s nothing in their website about dogs being noisy. Just that we needed to respect quiet times and to clean up after them. Again, our dogs were not barking that much. Other dogs in other campsites were barking just as much. When my husband mentioned this, the host said “it’s just annoying”. When my husband talked to the other campers they said that we had been fine and they had no issues with us but that the host kept asking them if we were bugging them.
The next morning around 9 he came through again harassing us about our dogs and that if we couldn’t get them to be quiet that he would call the sheriffs department. Someone else again brought up the fact that they were not barking nonstop and it was not during quiet hours and the host responded to that person “can you just go away?”. He continually drove slowly through the campgrounds watching and waiting for someone to do something he was displeased with. We went to play at the lake for about an hour and he had driven to the edge in his little quad and watched for like 5-7 minutes and then drove away. This happened 3 times in the span of an hour. Honestly it felt like we could not do anything right. We were respecting quiet hours and we were not being disruptive towards other campers. He was just looking for reasons to harass us. Super frustrating. We’ve been visiting this camp sight as a family for several years but don’t know that we will return due to being treated so rudely for no apparent reason.
Overall, the camp sites are nice and hold a good amount of people. However, three years ago I had a family reunion and rented a camp site to hold 50ppl. We got in trouble for having to many tents. The hosts said they did really think we would All be staying there. I think we had around 48. This year we rented a large group site and all was fine until the camp host complained about our dogs. Dogs are allowed and they are dogs and bark from time to time. We were at a large group site with about 50 ppl and 12 dogs. He threatened to call the sheriff of we didn't keep them quiet. They either need a camp host who can tolerate what's allowed or just stop allowing dogs. They didn't bark non stop and were quiet during required quiet hours. The group site behind us had about the same amount of people and dogs yet no complaints were made about them. We could see the camp host spot from our camp and I think that was the real problem. He could see and hear our dogs and he didn't like it. We won't be back.
Had a great time at this site for a climbing retreat. Bathrooms lived up to the group of 70 or so on the two group sites. Big picnic area and pretty.
Amazing view, pet friendly, great access to water, very quiet, lots of wildlife and so relaxing.
