U.S. Forest Service · Bitterroot National Forest · Montana

Charles Waters Campground

The Charles Waters campground is paved asphalt with 26 campsites plus one double site, including 4 pull-through, one bicycle site, and one horse site; there is also one accessible site with electric hook-up. The campground also has water; accessible vault toilets; open meadow for activities and can accommodate RV's or trailers to 70 feet. A campground host is available Memorial Day through Labor Day. Also associated with the Charles Waters Campground is the Bass Creek Recreation Area. This recreation area includes four picnic sites; an interpretive nature trail; fire ecology trail and numerous trailheads to hiking, biking and stock routes with access to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

First-come, first-served

More like this: first-come in Montana

2fires
active
Rx D3 Cameron Gaps (prescribed burn) · 47 mi away · 1,100 acres
1 more within 50 miles
Incident details ↓

Season & status

SeasonMay
ForestBitterroot National Forest
Fees$15 per night for single unit, $5/Night for extra vehicle
RulesCamping limited to 16 consecutive days. Quiet hours: 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Pets must be leashed.

Bitterroot National Forest recreation page ↗

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Charles Waters Campground20°30°40°50°60°70°January: 1.00 inches of precipitation, 4.0 inches of snowFebruary: 0.92 inches of precipitation, 3.0 inches of snowMarch: 0.77 inches of precipitation, 1.5 inches of snowApril: 0.93 inches of precipitation, 0.1 inches of snowMay: 1.45 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJune: 1.59 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJuly: 0.83 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 0.81 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 0.84 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowOctober: 1.04 inches of precipitation, 0.1 inches of snowNovember: 1.15 inches of precipitation, 1.6 inches of snowDecember: 1.12 inches of precipitation, 6.8 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 26.8°F averageFebruary: 29.8°F averageMarch: 38.0°F averageApril: 45.0°F averageMay: 53.2°F averageJune: 60.1°F averageJuly: 67.1°F averageAugust: 65.6°F averageSeptember: 57.0°F averageOctober: 45.0°F averageNovember: 33.5°F averageDecember: 26.0°F average0 in2 in4 in6 in8 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Stevensville, 5 miles from the campground at 3,375 feet, station USC00247894 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 12 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 17 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Getting there

From Stevensville take the Stevi cut-off road to Highway 93. Travel north 3.7 miles and turn west (left) onto Bass Creek Rd. Travel approximately 2 miles to the campground.

Coordinates46.5753° N, 114.1408° W · Directions ↗

Good to know

  • Please note that the bicycle site and horse site are reserved for those users until 6 p.m. daily after which time if no one is occupying them then they are considered available on a first come first s
  • The Larry Creek Group Site is located within the Bass Creek Recreation Area, this large overnight group site is available for reservation through Recreation.gov.

Fire nearby

  • Prescribed
    Rx D3 Cameron Gaps

    47 mi from the campground · 1,100 acres

  • Prescribed
    Rx D4 Piquett Creek

    50 mi from the campground · 2,210 acres

Distance is to the reported incident point, not the fire edge. Call the managing office before you drive.

Supplies & services

RV sales & serviceSport Land Trailer Sales, Service & Rentals ↗12.2 mi
Outdoor gearCabela's ↗18.6 mi

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

Limited data for this unit

No site-by-site records, no amenities, no fee schedule 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

Worth a stop

Trails nearby

Forest Service trail data →
  • 0.2 mi
    Nature Trail
    0.5 mi trail
  • 0.3 mi
    Bass Creek ↗
    9 mi trail
  • 0.3 mi
    Fitness Trail
    0.3 mi trail
  • 0.4 mi
    Larry Creek ↗
    6.3 mi trail
  • 0.8 mi
    Ecology Trail
    0.7 mi trail
  • 1.7 mi
    Little St. Joe
    3.1 mi trail

Trailheads within three miles

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 →

Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge begins about 1.8 miles away, and it is the closest of these.

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 Charles Waters Campground?

No. Charles Waters 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 Charles Waters Campground?

$15 per night for single unit, $5/Night for extra vehicle

Source: Forest Service

Is there cell service at Charles Waters Campground?

FCC coverage maps show AT&T 5G and T-Mobile 5G at the campground point. Terrain changes that from one site to the next.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

What if Charles Waters Campground is full?

The nearest public campgrounds are Larry Creek Group Camp (1 mi), Gold Creek Campground (16.7 mi, first-come), and Harry's Flat Campground (18.7 mi, first-come).

Source: Campgrounds nearby