Blodgett Campground

If you are lucky enough to snag a spot in this tiny loop, you will have access to gorgeous Blodgett Creek right there, the trailhead for 12+ miles of some of the best hiking ever, trout fishing, chilly swims, and amazing canyon granite views. The trouble is it’s hard to snag one of the 4 spots. 5th is for the camp host whom we never talked to. We got lucky but try arriving between 9-12AM of you can. NO WATER PUMP. It’s off. Our AT&T was slow but worked for email and text. One of the best campsites ever. Warning: Chipmunks WILL get under and around your camper so be aware. Running our generator was the only way to deter them.

Blodgett Creek is a really nice little USFS campground near Hamilton, MT in the Bitterroot Valley. There are 4 drive up sites, one walk in site, the camp host site, and a day use area. The road in is gravel for a few miles leading up to the campground, but fairly smooth and it is very easy to find - just follow the signs and the road takes you right there. The campground is very busy and when we arrived on a Tuesday afternoon it was full. Thankfully the fantastic camp host, Chris, allowed us to stay that night in the day use area as long as we left room for others to park there during the day. He told us that some of the other campers would be leaving the next day, so when they began packing up the next morning we asked them to give us a heads up before they left so we could move over before someone else took the spot. Chris was very accommodating and even allowed us to stay the 5 day limit at the site, not including our night in the day use area. He is also very knowledgeable about the area and the trails.

The sites were level and the bathrooms clean, this is definitely an all around very nice campground. There is a trail, Blodgett Creek trail, which goes pretty far along the creek into the mountains. Also, if you backtrack along the dirt road you can turn to drive to the top of the ridge and hike a short (1.5 mile) trail to the overlook - absolutely stunning. You can see why they call this place the Yosemite of Montana, lots of climbers appreciating the granite cliffs too. Definitely do yourself a favor and walk around Hamilton, MT - it is a really nice little town with great shops and restaurants.

Other reviewers are correct in that the water pump is shut off permanently, so bring your own drinking water. The creek flows cold and clear so we scooped some extra water out of there for some light washing / foot soaking after our hiking day. Sunset here is pretty unique as the colors reflect off of the cliffs and bath everything in pink light. On our last day smoke from the Roaring Lion Fire came over the ridge and rained some ash on us, no big deal but it definitely feels good to have a camp host who will keep you updated on any nearby fires. Thank you to forest firefighters everywhere!