Divide Bridge Campground

We paid $5 with our annual pass. There's only a few river sites, so you probably won't luck into one of those. The flood light by the vault toilet is very bright, so stay away from that, or not. The camp hosts have bird feeders out and there were evening grosbeaks, which are a strange looking bird. We floated our inflatable kayak down from Jerry Bridge and took out at the campground, which was nice. The road in has some potholes, but not bad. We hiked Moose Creek in the Humbugs over on the other side of the interstate and down one exit. That's a great hike!! Be sure and fill up on gas before you head here. There's good cell service by the interstate, but not much in the campground.

This is a BLM campground on the Big Hole river, famous for trout fishing. Fees here go to zero on Oct 1, and that's what we had. Big campsites, fire rings and picnic tables. The water has been turned off for the season but the vault toilets are still open. No noise, only the river. The campground was about 1/4 full last week, ~first week in October '21. Recommended.

This site is $10 or $5 if you have interagency or senior park pass.

Access: Easy access for any size rig on paved road to short packed dirt/gravel road. First area left of the dirt road is for day use and has an entry point for watercraft and picnic tables. Dirt road narrows to single lane, and there are two loops in the camping area for easy turn around. Upper loop is the right fork.

Sites: Dry camping only, but there are potable water spigots located on the upper and lower loops. Spots along the river are hard to come by. We got here around 12:30pm and they were all taken (but it was also a Friday). Also, the river spots are smaller so probably not best for larger rigs. Sites on the upper loop are much larger in width and length. Total length for us is 52’ and we had an extra few feet to play with so you wouldn’t have to unhook if you didn’t want to, probably even up to 55/56’ total length. The upper loop has covered/shaded picnic tables and fire rings and is more open. On the lower loop the spots are more narrow and shorter, although site 1 (in the very corner of the loop) was very roomy and long for my in-law’s 38’ 5W TH and room to park and extra vehicle. Fire rings and picnic tables there as well, but not covered. There’s a Placebo the right side just before you get to the campground turnoff where you can buy firewood with a large parking lot easy access for rvs. It’s definitely cooler on the lower loop and there are more trees and green grass. Outhouses located centrally between the loops, but I didn’t go look at them.

Area: You can’t really see the river from anywhere except the spots right along it. We went to take our dog down where the second boat ramp is inside the camping area, but it was muddy and had that river mud smell. Had to rinse miss Gadget off when we got back to get the smell off her. Also, lots of skeeters so if you plan on trying to get a spot closer to the water, bring bug spray. We made the mistake of going down without it because on the upper loop there aren’t that many, and ended up with quite a few bites in the few minutes we were in that area. Otherwise very nice and clean campground with tree covered mountains as a view and hiking trails on the upper side with much less bitey bugs and lots of butterflies (we were here mid-July). Also saw plenty of ground and tree squirrels as well as rabbits, so be aware if your dog is the type to chase them. Probably would have had a lot of fun on the water if we had bug spray and a kayak.

Coverage: NO SERVICE. We lost service once we got about 1/4 mile from the dirt road turn off to the campground, so probably not a good spot if you need to do work. Before that 1 bar Verizon LTE.

Great place to stay right on the river about 3 miles off of I 15 south at the divide exit. There was not hook ups, but there was a picnic table and you are literally sitting right on the river. Easy Pull Throughs for big rigs as well. During the winter they have taken the pay box out and you do not pay at all. They still maintain it and keep it snow plowed. I believe it is a $10 fee in the high season which is a bargain for a place like this. It was absolutely beautiful.

Not really a destination campground for me because I like more remote areas with lots of hiking opportunities, but it was good for an overnight stay. The road forks as you enter the campground. The right fork has a turn around at the end. It seems like the sites along this spur are more exposed, but they also have sunshades. For my preference, the nicest site was at the end, among the trees (#21). The left fork is a loop and has a few sites along the river. Road throughout is gravel and the sites are gravel and mostly level. The sites are generally well spaced but not screened from each other by vegetation. There were 2 vault toilets. It's generally a quiet campground, unless you have noisy neighbors. The sites have mowed grass, fire ring, and picnic table. I did not see tent pads but a person could probably pitch their tent on the grass. The ground looks pretty even for a tent. I think most size trailers could find a place here.

To get to the campground from I-15, take the Wisdom/Divide exit. There's no sign on the interstate to indicate camping. Once you get off the highway and are heading west, there's a sign that says 2.7 miles to public campground. Turn left right after the bridge over the river. The day use area with river access is right there. The campground is about 1/2 mile further up the gravel road.

Overall I found it to be a nice place to camp on my way through Montana.

While the camp isn't far from Highway 43 (and Interstate 15) traffic dies down at night and the river noise drowns out most of the traffic noise. Summer can be busy as the boat launch to the Big Hole River is on the same access road. The few sites closest to the river are the best and offer the most shade. The sites in the middle are partial shade and the sites on the southern most portion of the camp are in full sun. These sites were remodeled in 2018 and now have small sun shelters over the picnic tables. All sites are gravel and level. The two pit toilets are generally pretty clean during summer months, shoulder season and hunting season could be iffy. There is a camp host on site but they are not generally around during most of the day. No cell service on site but there is service at the fly shop in Divide just 10 minutes down the road.

Clean, some sites right by the river, some pull-through sites and some back-in. Hosts keep 1/2 of the campground green with nice trees, grass and flowers and 1/2 drier with a ramada for shade. There's a nice hike to a Scenic Overlook nearby (with 4G Verizon when you reach the top). Water, clean pit toilets. No garbage service. Half off the price with passes.