U.S. Forest Service · Custer Gallatin National Forest · Montana

Initial Creek Campground

This free campground is located on the West Fork Stillwater Road and is near the West Fork Stillwater Trail (#90). The campground is maintained from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but is opened the rest of the year without services. There is a 16 day stay limit for all Beartooth Ranger District campgrounds. Camp sites: 6. Host: No. Max Trailer Length: 20 ft. Accessible Facilities: none. Trash Pickup: No. Firewood: No. Reservations No Reservations.

First-come, first-served

More like this: first-come in Montana

Season & status

SeasonLimited access due to flood-related damage. Contact district for info
ForestCuster Gallatin National Forest
FeesFree

Custer Gallatin National Forest recreation page ↗

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Initial Creek Campground20°30°40°50°60°70°January: 0.45 inches of precipitation, 7.2 inches of snowFebruary: 0.84 inches of precipitation, 9.9 inches of snowMarch: 1.07 inches of precipitation, 10.0 inches of snowApril: 1.81 inches of precipitation, 13.1 inches of snowMay: 3.31 inches of precipitation, 2.4 inches of snowJune: 3.05 inches of precipitation, 0.1 inches of snowJuly: 1.62 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 1.15 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 1.44 inches of precipitation, 0.2 inches of snowOctober: 1.67 inches of precipitation, 7.5 inches of snowNovember: 0.83 inches of precipitation, 9.9 inches of snowDecember: 0.66 inches of precipitation, 9.4 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 29.4°F averageFebruary: 29.3°F averageMarch: 36.3°F averageApril: 42.3°F averageMay: 50.1°F averageJune: 57.8°F averageJuly: 65.3°F averageAugust: 64.8°F averageSeptember: 56.7°F averageOctober: 46.0°F averageNovember: 35.7°F averageDecember: 28.2°F average0 in5 in10 in15 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Nye #2, 7 miles from the campground at 4,840 feet, station USC00246190 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 18 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 70 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Getting there

Coordinates45.4038° N, 109.9550° W · Directions ↗

Good to know

  • However, in the off-season, the roads to the campground are not plowed and the campground is not maintained.

Supplies & services

Outdoor gearJumping Off Point ↗34.3 mi

Locations © OpenStreetMap contributors. Call ahead; hours change seasonally.

Limited data for this unit

No site-by-site records, no amenities, no fee schedule, no directions or photos in the Recreation.gov record. What is here comes from the agency's own listing. The rest lives there.

Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the record fills in.

Explore

Trails nearby

Forest Service trail data →

Trail and trailhead records are the Forest Service's. Distances are straight-line to the nearer trail end. Trail conditions are not tracked here.

Public land it sits in

On Wilderness Atlas →

This campground sits inside Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, which overlaps Custer Gallatin National Forest.

Each unit is published as a centre point and an acreage rather than a boundary, so this section stands it in for a circle of the same area. Whether a campground is inside, and how far it is from one it is outside, are both approximate.

On the National Register nearby

On Register Atlas →

Guidebooks for Montana

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • Best Tent Camping: Montana
    Vicky Soderberg and Ken Soderberg, 2017
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Moon Montana, Wyoming and Idaho Camping
    Becky Lomax, 2015
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Camping Montana
    Kenneth L. Graham, 2019
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

Do I need a reservation at Initial Creek Campground?

No. Initial Creek Campground is first-come, first-served. Sites are taken on arrival and paid at the fee station.

Source: Forest Service

How much does it cost to camp at Initial Creek Campground?

Free

Source: Forest Service

What if Initial Creek Campground is full?

The nearest public campgrounds are Woodbine Campground (4.6 mi), Emerald Lake Campground (16.2 mi, first-come), and Pine Grove Campground (17.4 mi, first-come).

Source: Campgrounds nearby