BLM · Montana

Palisades Campground

The Palisades Recreation Area is located on the Upper Madison River, 5 river miles upstream of Ruby Creek Recreation Area and 25 miles south of Ennis. The campground has 10 camping sites with 2 accessible vault toilets and a campground host pad. A separate day use site with a paved boat launch and parking area is located near the campground.

First-come, first-servedFrom $8 per night

More like this: first-come in Montana · free in Montana

2fires
active
Rx Hell'S Canyon (prescribed burn) · 33 mi away
1 more within 50 miles
Incident details ↓

Amenities & rules

Fees$8/night, $5 per additional vehicle. No fees for boat launches or day use. Must occupy campsites nightly.

Individual sites vary. Confirm on Recreation.gov or with the managing office.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Palisades Campground10°20°30°40°50°60°70°January: 3.06 inches of precipitation, 43.8 inches of snowFebruary: 2.76 inches of precipitation, 33.7 inches of snowMarch: 2.17 inches of precipitation, 20.6 inches of snowApril: 2.28 inches of precipitation, 7.7 inches of snowMay: 3.14 inches of precipitation, 1.2 inches of snowJune: 2.99 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowJuly: 1.62 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 1.38 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 1.59 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowOctober: 2.08 inches of precipitation, 4.1 inches of snowNovember: 2.49 inches of precipitation, 20.9 inches of snowDecember: 3.07 inches of precipitation, 45.2 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 13.2°F averageFebruary: 16.5°F averageMarch: 26.1°F averageApril: 35.0°F averageMay: 45.4°F averageJune: 53.7°F averageJuly: 61.7°F averageAugust: 60.7°F averageSeptember: 52.4°F averageOctober: 39.4°F averageNovember: 26.0°F averageDecember: 14.3°F average0 in10 in20 in30 in40 in50 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Hebgen Dam, 18 miles from the campground at 6,489 feet, station USC00244038 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 29 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 177 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Getting there

Located approximately 25 miles south of Ennis, on the west side off of US Highway 287.

Coordinates44.9958° N, 111.6594° W · Directions ↗

Fire nearby

  • Prescribed
    Rx Hell'S Canyon

    33 mi from the campground

  • Prescribed
    Shenango Pile Rx

    38 mi from the campground

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

Supplies & services

Outdoor gearGrizzly Outfitters ↗25 mi
Dump stationDump station ↗35.9 mi
RV sales & serviceValley Trailer Sales Inc ↗57 mi

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

Limited data for this unit

No site-by-site records 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 →

Lee Metcalf Wilderness begins about 5.9 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.

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 Palisades Campground?

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

Source: How first-come camping works

How much does it cost to camp at Palisades Campground?

Nothing. Palisades Campground is listed as free. $8/night, $5 per additional vehicle.

What if Palisades Campground is full?

The nearest public campgrounds are West Fork Madison Campground (8.7 mi), Riverview Campground (8.7 mi), and Clover Meadows Dispersed Camping and Picnic Area (9.1 mi, first-come).

Source: Campgrounds nearby