Ennis Fishing Access Site

It wasn’t the best time for fishing…right before the big salmon fly hatch. The mosquitoes were thick but that’s to be expected near river banks with lots of plant life. Ennis is a walk or bike ride down the road. You are minutes away from Virginia/Nevada City. Lewis and Clark caverns is an hour drive. We were just over an hour from Yellowstone. It was a great place to spend a few nights. Price depends on status. We camped with a valid MT fishing license. I think the regular price was $18 for the night. Four spots we can easily fit in. (38’ bus) pit toilets are available and each site has a picnic table and fire ring.

Great spot right on the river, walking distance to Ennis, and an hour or so drive to West Yellowstone. We stayed over 4th of July weekend, and arrived on a Wednesday to try and grab a spot, knowing it would be popular. We got a smaller spot one lane off the river, and felt lucky to get that. Our 34' TT and long bed F350 barely fit in the spot, unhooked. We scouted the place before driving in since we're a bigger rig, and while some turns are tight, we saw plenty of bigger rigs coming through seemingly without trouble. This is also a fishing access site, so the bigger issue might be parked cars with trailers as you pass through the first 3 sites.

Fly fishing was pretty good, with some pockets of bigger rainbows and graylings and plenty of small rainbows in the shallower spots. We also went up river about 30 miles one day (plenty of fishing access along 287), and while fishing was tough, the views only get better the closer you get to Yellowstone. This does seem to be mainly a float boat stretch of the river — almost no waders — and those who were on boats seemed to be catching a good amount of fish whenever we saw them.

Good Verizon reception for remote work, including video calls. We came in from the Bozeman area, and got no cell reception until hitting Ennis. Driving further south, cell was much more common.

The campsite doesn't seem to be regulated much, if at all. Even during the holiday weekend, we found almost every campground rule broken: people holding spots for others (for multiple days), camping outside of designated spaces, not paying for their spot, staying over the 7 day limit, and not staying overnight despite having an RV in the space. We met a local in town who admitted she and some friends had been holding a bunch of spots for a "staycation" over the holiday weekend, but they were almost never at their camper and many of the spots they held for friends never ended up filling up. They ended up leaving a bunch of trash/broken tubes behind when they did leave.

For those interested in the other campground in the area, Valley Garden: we did not stay but went through. The campground is nice, with bigger spots than Ennis Fishing Access Campground. Spots are not huge, but any size rig could fit and the campground is arranged nicely to ensure no super tight turns, no getting stuck. There isn't as much shade, it's a much more open area. The river bifurcates a bit at this campground, so you're not on the main big river, but it might make for some nice fishing opportunities compared to Ennis Fishing Access. There does seem to be a bit more riverside shrubs and grasses at Valley Garden, making it a little more challenging.

great campground within walking distance to the small town of ennis where you will find a liquor store, bars, shopping and restaurants. the campground itself has fire pits, vault toilets and a boat ramp. fly fishing seemed to be extremely popular here. if you get lucky, you'll get a spot right on the river. the views there are incredible. some spots are more private toward the back but you sacrifice the views. i would definitely stay here again and highly recommend it to anyone passing through the area. reliable and fast cell service for AT&T. also should mention that if you are in anything 28' or longer, i would park and walk down into the campground to make sure you can maneuver your rig in and out with ease. the place can get a little crowded, especially with the locals using the boat ramp daily. i was here at the beginning of september, beautiful weather and the place was full.

First come, First serve campground that is walking distance to the town of Ennis. This is inexpensive dry camping at its finest. The park is not perfect - sites are unlevel, no water, clean pit toilets, and reasonably maintained. Several sites back right up to the beautiful Madison River. 15 miles to Virginia and Neveda City and 70 miles to Yellowstone National Park. Great stopover for those traveling scenic route 287 in Montana.