Carbella Recreation Site

Beautiful site - we stayed in 6. 360 view of mountains. Could hear the river flowing all night when windows are open letting the cool august air in. The smell of pine trees, especially when fires are around in the fire rings at each campsite. Sites are numbered easily. Pretty level spot to be honest for free camping. Has tent camping as well. Bear box for trash at each site. Picnic table that is not wood- so 10 extra points for that. Can stay for 14 days, no hook ups and the closest dump / potable water location is 10-15 mins away in gardiner for $20.
Quick access to Yellowstone about 22 mins drive. And overall just felt very safe, comfortable, in touch with nature, and happy. If you can’t tell I would absolutely come back.

We arrived at dusk with 40 ft motor home. It’s best to arrive while it’s still light out as the road in the campsite is one way and it’s hard to see the sites. Each has a picnic table and a fire ring. Signs indicate to camp only where there are designated sites. Most are by the River. This is the first site we did not use our privacy blinds as we were flanked by mountains. Definitely a gem!

So …. We drove in not knowing what to expect. Plus we anticipated not finding a site…. 10:30 AM late July multiple spots were open and we took a pull thru. Best time to pull in is 10 to 1 but look again they do open up. At the end as you enter there are multiple tent car sites that never fill up ….

This is an amazing place and location we stayed a week …. 14 days max … it’s free….

Lower Yellowstone river is right next to your site I caught several fish.

DARK quiet nights … the sound of a river flowing … minimal bugs … and it’s a terrain that won’t get your pets filthy.

TRASH …. There is a trash refuse station as you enter dump all your trash there free and easy 😄😄😄

Firewood ….. at the same location as you enter the area there is FREE firewood……….

BOAT LAUNCH …… in your camping area is a boat launch …. Mostly rubber rafts for rapids and fishing the river flows pretty fast

Just a great place …

You also get a fire ring and picnic table …

This is what it’s all about enjoy ….

Beautiful well maintained BLM campground with designated sites wide apart and river access. It was about 15 miles to the gas station for water/ dump and 25 minutes to the Yellowstone gate. We didn’t want to leave…. It was so nice.
We saw antelope daily and some elk down the road. There was a den of foxes with babies there too.
We did have some major suspension issues with our trailer and it was really hard to get a mobile welder all the way out here to help us unfortunately but that was the only drawback.
DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE AND TURN DOWN OLD YELLOWSTONE TRAIL ROAD. This will take you 3 ish miles down a dirt road that no longer has a bridge connecting you to the campground- it was destroyed last year during the flood. There’s a small place to turnaround where the bridge was but no where before that. Just keep following 89 past that turnout to where the small power station is.

This is a nice area but you will get a bit of road noise that usually quiets down as the evening does on. The sites are right next to the river with metal fire pits. This is a loading/ unloading area for some of the rafting outfits. You'll be on the edge of the trees next to some grasslands so there's sun for the solar panels if need be.
Previous reviews mention the access road but I found it to be very good.

You will want to turn on Tom Miner's Creek Road. the directions link will take you past the entrance so you need to look for that road. There are no signs on Highway 89 for Carbella Recreation Site only the road sign. This site is awesome! 16 designated sites. Great gravel road, very large sites and right on the river. You'll want to arrive early!!