Carbella Recreation Site

Camp was remodeled/upgraded in 2021 and what once was a semi-organized dispersed camping area is now an established campground. There are now 16 numbered sites with gravel parking pads and new tables, fire rings and bear boxes. Minimal shade/trees. Three new pit toilets are located nearest to site 10 and the day use/boat parking and site 4. No water and no trash. There was a site marked for a host but no one around during my stay so I'm guessing the host is only on site Memorial Day through Labor Day. I was really expecting that this was going to turn into a fee site after the remodel but so far the BLM seems to be OK with keeping this free. Please be respectful and do your part to keep the camp clean!
A few of the sites are a little rough around the edges thanks to the flooding of the Yellowstone River in June 2022 but all sites are still serviceable. The tent only area and sites 1 and 2 seemed to be the most affected but the only reminder of the flood here is the lack of any grass in the sites, scrubbed clean by the river. The Tom Miner Bridge which is/was located just up river from camp was washed out in the floods as well and the wreckage is currently sitting on the river bank just a short walk down from the main camp.
Lots of traffic in the day use and camp was full on a post Labor Day Saturday even though the NW entrance to Yellowstone is closed essentially turning Highway 89 into a dead end road at Gardiner. Maybe locals/fishermen are taking advantage of fewer park visitors to enjoy an otherwise overly busy area. Get here early if you want a spot regardless if Yellowstone Park is open.
Camp road is gravel and a little wash boarded but not bad. One way to the end at site 16 then back through one loop of sites 16-10, the day use area and boat ramp, and into the other loop and sites 9-1 and the tent only site. The boat ramp is concrete with ample parking for lots of trailers. The tent only site had parking for 5 or 6 vehicles but only one table/fire ring/bear box which seemed odd to me. Maybe the other tables and fire rings got washed away in the floods... Most sites are double wide back in with a few pull thru sites scattered in. Parking areas were surprisingly level - I didn't need any leveling blocks in site 10 and noticed most other campers were parked without blocks as well.
There was a bit of road noise both from Hwy 89 and Old Yellowstone Trail Rd but nothing terrible. Great cell service - 4 bars here vs 2 in Livingston, MT for me personally. The biggest con of this camp has got to be the wind - but that's true for any camp in this valley. It gets windy and there isn't a lot of trees or anything to slow it down. Don't plan on leaving your awning out or any outdoor carpets or chairs or anything else that isn't fully secured.

Camp was remodeled/upgraded in 2021 and what once was a semi-organized dispersed camping area is now an established campground. There are now 16 numbered sites with gravel parking pads and new tables, fire rings and bear boxes. Minimal shade/trees. Three new pit toilets are located nearest to site 10 and the day use/boat parking and site 4. No water and no trash. There was a site marked for a host but no one around during my stay so I'm guessing the host is only on site Memorial Day through Labor Day. I was really expecting that this was going to turn into a fee site after the remodel but so far the BLM seems to be OK with keeping this free. Please be respectful and do your part to keep the camp clean!
A few of the sites are a little rough around the edges thanks to the flooding of the Yellowstone River in June 2022 but all sites are still serviceable. The tent only area and sites 1 and 2 seemed to be the most affected but the only reminder of the flood here is the lack of any grass in the sites, scrubbed clean by the river. The Tom Miner Bridge which is/was located just up river from camp was washed out in the floods as well and the wreckage is currently sitting on the river bank just a short walk down from the main camp.
Lots of traffic in the day use and camp was full on a post Labor Day Saturday even though the NW entrance to Yellowstone is closed essentially turning Highway 89 into a dead end road at Gardiner. Maybe locals/fishermen are taking advantage of fewer park visitors to enjoy an otherwise overly busy area. Get here early if you want a spot regardless if Yellowstone Park is open.
Camp road is gravel and a little wash boarded but not bad. One way to the end at site 16 then back through one loop of sites 16-10, the day use area and boat ramp, and into the other loop and sites 9-1 and the tent only site. The boat ramp is concrete with ample parking for lots of trailers. The tent only site had parking for 5 or 6 vehicles but only one table/fire ring/bear box which seemed odd to me. Maybe the other tables and fire rings got washed away in the floods... Most sites are double wide back in with a few pull thru sites scattered in. Parking areas were surprisingly level - I didn't need any leveling blocks in site 10 and noticed most other campers were parked without blocks as well.
There was a bit of road noise both from Hwy 89 and Old Yellowstone Trail Rd but nothing terrible. Great cell service - 4 bars here vs 2 in Livingston, MT for me personally. The biggest con of this camp has got to be the wind - but that's true for any camp in this valley. It gets windy and there isn't a lot of trees or anything to slow it down. Don't plan on leaving your awning out or any outdoor carpets or chairs or anything else that isn't fully secured.

We stayed while visiting Yellowstone! It’s about 17 minutes to the north entrance and it FREE right on the river! The river noise drowned out any generator noise so we didn’t bother us and we couldn’t here theirs either! We have a 39ft 5th wheel and almost all the spot would have accommodated us. This spot had a “host” which we’ve never seen at a dispersed camping area plus a bathroom! Host was very sweet and checked on us middle of our stay just to make sure we were happy. The Mountain View’s are pretty great and so much space fore our dogs! (just be cautious of ground cactuses) Overall fabulous experience and we’d 100% stay again!

Amazing place to boondock. Sites have deer paths leading to river as well as a main access spot. Very peaceful sounds at night. There was animal scat here and there so as always bring bear spray. Didn’t check the bathrooms out but there’s a rest stop a few miles out to the left when exiting and they have clean bathrooms. Came in Early May while it was still snowing and sites were almost full.

I can imagine this spot is packed during regular season. We spent 2 nights here and enjoyed it. Each site is on the river with paths to walk down.
Vault toilets were clean. Not sure how well they will be maintained during off season, so bring your own toilet paper.
There is a boat ramp as well.
Amenities close by, with gas, propane, water, etc.
No garbage cans, so pack it out.
Sites are level.

Nice campground with level sites and some pull throughs. Great views with the river running alongside the sites. Total of 15. Pit toilets. Will accommodate any size rig. We have a 40’ fifth wheel and had no problems getting in.
There is a Sinclair service station about 12 miles south that has propane and potable water. Yellowstone north entrance is about 16 miles south of the campground.

When the GPS location ends, turn on Tom Miner Rd and take a quick right onto Carbella. Beautiful camp ground with around 15 sites. Right along the river and surrounded by mountains. Each spot has a picnic table, fire ring, and bear box. Pretty nice pit toilets (BYO TP). Good for any size rig (some back in, some pull through). Huge parking lot for boats or if all sites are full. Good Verizon service. About 40 mins to grocery store.

Carbella's million+ dollar improvement project means formal site pads with just a few pull throughs, generally clean and consistently busy.

A stunning place to spend the work week and clock off each day and take a dip in the Yellowstone River.

AT&T virtually unusable but Verizon has a tower on the mountain above Carbella, meaning solid service:

15-35mbps download speed, 15-20mbps upload, under 100ms latency and under 12ms of jitter. Solid for Zoom calls and screensharing on our Pepwave + Poynting Mimo Antenna setup. I managed over 12 hours of screen sharing with clients during our work week with impeccable call quality and no drop outs.

The North Entrance of Yellowstone is quickly becoming my favorite, less hectic than the West Yellowstone entrance and Gardiner offers a great grocery store and good coffee. The Lamar Valley is close and you can spend all day in the park and be home to Carbella easily.

For a nice evening out we recommend the nearby Yellowstone Hot Springs https://yellowstonehotspringsmt.com/

Nearest dump, potable water and propane is the Sinclair about 15 minutes South towards Yellowstone.

A beautiful campground and well maintained. A short drive from the highway leads you to nicely leveled campsites, complete with bathrooms, tables, fire pits and even bear boxes! Each site has it’s own bit of privacy from neighbors and can fit almost any size RV. If this isn’t enough, there is also boating access! There’s a large parking area where boat trailers can fit, no problem. We were lucky to find a spot near the end of the loop. I didn’t count, but I’d say there are about a dozen sites. With it being so close to Yellowstone, recommendation to claim your spot early.

Note: google maps ended the directions to this site on the highway itself. When you’re getting close per the smartphone app, look for the one and only road you can turn on from the highway. After the turn from the highway, make a quick right and you’ll see a large sign just before the campground.

Incredibly beautiful location surrounded by the mountains rushing Yellowstone river right next to your camper. We are in a 42’ fifth wheel with dusky with our 4 kids -minivan too and had plenty room on a very level site. We had tons of sites to choose from and wanted to be close to the bathrooms- pit toilet may need to bring TP. About 15 minutes from a dump station (fee) and gas stations/grocery store. We enioyed fishing on the river and the kids lovex catching minnows. 20 min from North Yellowstone entrance can’t beat the location and beauty. Little Verizon service but was enough to work with our WiFi brick. Biggest con was the “no seem ums” bugs that start right around dusk. Also howling dogs (wolves?) were quite bad some nights… heard there’s some wolf rescue place nearby. Anyhow, Make sure to shut all windows or turn every light off around dusk otherwise there will be hundreds little bugs inside of your camper they get though the screens. Made that mistake one night. It sucked but for free and literally views that will make you emotional- worth it all. It made us get to bed early and that wasn’t too bad of a con. Oh and if you’re trying to see old faithful and go through the most southern part of Yellowstone, you will be around 2 hours or more from that. We did that part as a day trip otherwise stayed more north and north east visiting the park all week.