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Alta Campground is located in a scenic forest in the heart of Montana's Bitterroot National Forest. The West Fork of the Bitterroot River flows nearby, giving visitors access to some of the best fishing the area has to offer, as well as other water-related recreation.
Fly fishing and wading in the Bitterroot River, which runs alongside the campground, are popular activities. During high water season, canoeing and rafting are available as well. A variety of trails and unimproved roads are great for exploring by bike or off-road vehicle. Hiking trails to various mountain peaks, including to Lookout, Razorback and Thunder Mountains, as well as Beaver and Deer Creek Points, are nearby. The Alta Pine interpretive trail is nearby. Painted Rocks Lake is located about five miles north of the campground. Visitors enjoy swimming, boating and fishing. Anglers will find mountain whitefish and a variety of trout.
The campground offers 14 campsites, three of which are accessible, for tent and RV camping. Each site can accommodate up to 10 people and two vehicles. Utility hookups are not available. Parking spurs are gravel. Each site is equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A campground host is available on-site and trash collection bins are placed throughout the facility. Please properly store food in vehicles or hard sided campers to reduce attractants to wildlife, such as bears.
The campground is located along the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, a popular fishing river in the area. Large, yellow-barked ponderosa pine trees tower above many of the campsites, which along with fir, aspen and lodgepole pine, provide pleasant shade. The campground is situated at an elevation of about 4,580 feet.
A variety of wildlife can be seen in the area, including bald eagles, mule and white-tailed deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep and numerous songbirds.
The Alta Ranger Station, located on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, was the first Forest Service Ranger Station in the United States, built in 1899. It remains a popular tourist location and is just minutes from the campground. Hughes Creek, once a vibrant placer gold mining site, is nearby. The historic area accounted for 88 percent of all the placer gold recovered in Ravalli County from 1904-1948. A variety of natural hot springs can be found about 18 miles from the campground. The nearest town is Conner, which provides some services and is about 27 miles away. Darby is about 30 miles away and offers full services.
A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation. Late cancellations are subject to additional fees. For full details see NRRS Reservation Policy.
From Darby, travel south on Highway 93 for about four miles. Turn right onto Forest Road 473 and continue southwest for about 30 miles to the campground.
The camping spots are really nice. Each one has a table and a nice flat spot to park your camper. I especially like that they have outhouses and they were really clean and actually smelled good. Alta creek is close by so you can play in the water, if you can take the cold temperature of the water.
We love camping at Alta. Sometimes the whole family (sisters and brother in laws). But this time just us. It was so nice. Weather cold first night and then it was fine. Found lots of downed firewood close to the campground, so we had a fire everyday. The campground was full, but everyone was cooperative and friendly. The toilets are very clean (they even smell good). The camp sites are very clean and have plenty of room between sites. We love the camp hosts, they are friendly, helpful and funny. They do a great job taking care of the campground and getting to know the campers. You can tell they take pride in the campground. Can't wait to go again. Thank you.
I absolutely LOVED camping here!!! We drove 7 hrs from Boise and it was definitely worth it! The campground was beautiful with the mountains and a stream nearby. It was peaceful with quite a bit of shrubbery and trees. There was lots of space and it was very clean. It was conveniently located by a lake about twenty minutes down the road where you can swim or boat and a cute town further down. We also went to a gorgeous hot springs an hour up the road. The camp hosts were the BEST! They were extremely helpful and kind and were the ones that gave us advice where to find good spots like the hot springs. They did a fantastic job of keeping the campsites clean. They were also super fun to talk to and we had a blast getting to know them. Another plus was that they kept the outhouse super clean and it also smelled amazing, sort of a fresh mint. I would definitely love to visit again, it was perfect and such a fun time!
We really enjoy this quiet laid back campground !! Raked clean camping sites .Limited reserved camping ( fills up but have showed up at 6pm and found available sites , sometimes ) Worth making a reservation early ! Clean ,vaulted restrooms ( TKS Karen for the pleasant aroma ) ! Places to park trailer . Easy and short access to trails and short/all day 4X4/side by for scenic trips and wildlife viewing or fishing Painted rock reservoir just 3 miles away . Like all campgrounds , there are rules to follow but MOST campers accept/welcome . Have gotten to know many different camp hosts . Currant hosts Karen & Gordon are really knowledgeable about the area ,enjoyed having them join our camp fire many times .ALWAYS LOO FORWARD TO GOING !
Super clean camp sites and vault toilet rooms were impeccably clean. Nice area to sit by the river as well. Fishing was good too. Campsite had very nice Pilot Rock firepits with adjustable grills. Each site had oversized picnic tables. We took our mountain bikes and had a nice ride up the road and saw a Buffalo farm. Looking forward to going back.
