Bitterroot Flat

We ended up here after wandering from Phillipsburg up Rock Creek Road. All campgrounds were full and we ended up driving for a long time until we reached Bitterroot Flat. Rock Creek is hard to access from the campsites and there is not much privacy. A neighboring campsite was shining a bright flashlight on our tent until dark.

Just as a warning, do not come here for fishing unless you are fly fishing. The water is really shallow and we lost around four hooks to the creek until we gave up.

Fifteen sites, well spaced, two vault toilets, manual pump water available. Easy access to the river. No camp hosts, but USFS people stopped by several times a day while we were there. The toilets were very clean, and the campground itself was very well kept up. We stayed at site number one, right on the edge of the campground, near the entrance, and we loved that site. Lots of foliage between us and the next site, so we felt like we had a reasonable amount of privacy while we were there. A little road dust when two or three vehicles would pass at the same time, but not bad at all. Sites in the center of the campground are much further away from the road.

Approaching from the north, from I-90, there is about ten miles of pavement, then seven or eight miles of dirt road. The road is in good shape, reasonably wide, with lots of pullouts for people pulling trailers. We pulled our teardrop trailer, and passed lots of people pulling trailers with no problems. If you’re pulling a trailer, particularly a camper of any kind, DO NOT attempt to reach this campground from the south, from the Skalkaho highway. That road is extremely narrow for about five miles, with no pullouts available.

No cell service at all, for miles in either direction, which I think is a good thing.

It’s about an hour and a half from Missoula, great for getting out of town after work on a Friday.