By:
Submission
Buttermilk Campground is located approximately 30 miles southwest of West Yellowstone, Montana and 32 miles north of Ashton, Idaho in beautiful Island Park, Idaho.
Buttermilk sits next to Island Park Reservoir at an elevation of 6,200 feet. Visitors love Island Park for its world-class fishing and outstanding scenery and wildlife viewing opportunities.
The Island Park area is prized for its fishing; the Henry's Fork is known as one of the nation's best fly-fishing streams. Anglers cast for rainbow, cutthroat and brook trout and Kokanee salmon.
Island Park Reservoir offers boating, water skiing and excellent fishing opportunities. The reservoir is used for irrigation so the water level recedes throughout the summer, but is generally useable all season. Henry's Lake is nearby.
Hiking, biking, horseback riding and ATVing are popular activities. Many miles of trails are in the area, including the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail and the Nez Perce Trail.
The Big Springs National Recreation Water Trail offers an approximately three-hour float or canoe trip through beautiful scenery. Wildlife, including moose, bald eagles and Sandhill cranes, are often seen along the trail.
The campground contains two loops for single family camping and one loop for group camping, with a total of 55 sites. The large group site can accommodate up to 150 people. Site 038 has 15-amp electric hookups.
Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A concrete boat ramp with docks is located between the group camping and single family camping loops. Access to the campground is on a paved road but the interior loop roads and parking spurs are gravel.
Island Park is composed of two areas of extinct volcanic activity. The Henry's Fork Caldera sits inside the larger Island Park Caldera. The area is known for its dense forests of lodgepole pine, broad grassy meadows bursting with summer wildflowers and a wide variety of wildlife, including black and grizzly bears, moose, elk, deer, bald eagles, Sandhill cranes and much, much more.
The campground is situated in a forest of lodgepole pine, which provides partial shade in some sites. Some areas of the campground are more open and sunny than others.
Mesa Falls Scenic Byway is 13 miles south of the campground. This 28-mile road leads to scenic overlooks and trails at 110 foot Upper Mesa Falls and 85 foot Lower Mesa Falls.
Harriman State Park is 15 miles south. The Henry's Fork meanders through the Harriman, offering excellent fishing. Over 20 miles of trails are available, and wildlife is abundant in this scenic park.
Henry's Lake State Park is 18 miles north, offering fishing, a fish cleaning station and boat ramp.
Yellowstone National Park's west entrance is just 29 miles north in the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. Visitors enjoy day-tripping to the park for unparalleled wildlife viewing and the beautiful and unique scenery.
From West Yellowstone, Montana, take Highway 20 south, southwest for approximately 25 miles and from Ashton, Idaho, take Highway 20 north for approximately 27 miles.
Turn west onto the Kilgore-Yale Road #030 (across from Elk Creek Gas Station) and go about 2 miles to the Buttermilk Loop Road #126. Turn onto #126 and go approximately 3 miles to an intersection where you will see the campground sign just off the right side of the road. The road will split ahead, with boat ramp and group area on the left, and the single loops to the right.
Group Site Fees:
$65.00 per night Sunday through Thursday and $130.00 per night Friday and Saturday. A weekly rate is not available.
We stayed for three nights in the campground. The first night we had reservations, but didn't know where we were going to stay after that. We were hoping to get in on a "first come, first serve" site the following day. The camp hosts were incredibly attentive and went out of their way to help us find and reserve a nicer site for the next two nights. The grounds were so clean and very quiet. The sites were spacious and allowed room for my kids to roam and play. We had easy access to the lake at both sites.
Fun For All Ages! We had a family reunion here when our traditional campground was not available. What a wonderful surprise! Jet ski and boat rentals, wonderful restaurant and bar, outdoor seating, bounce houses and water islands, and great service!
This is a Beautiful place to camp right on Island Park Reservoir. The fishing was Great, the camp host was NICE and it had the Cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen in a campground.
Great campground right next to the lake and close enough to yellowstone. The campsites are nicely spaced and have enough room for a 26ft camper and long bed truck to menuver into a back in site. This is truly God's country. It makes me want to move to Idaho.
We come to this place numerous times a year and have never had an issue but this time was horrible. We had a parks and rec pass and the owner wouldn’t honor it even after booking it online, our friend has to run a generator for medical equipment and we were told if we didn’t turn it off then they would call the sheriff and make us pack up that night and escort us off the premises. We had stayed for 4 nights and never had a problem until the guy in the yurt came to stay (yes there is private property right next to the campsite and unless you want to get the camp host called on you every 5 minutes, I’d recommend not staying here)We had to smell cigarettes non stop but it wasn’t ok to run a generator for medical purposes. The funny thing is, the camper running the generator wasn’t even by them! We were and couldn’t hear it. We will definitely be staying elsewhere from now on.
