Henrys Lake Boat Access

So many bugs and no shade, but plenty of room to park, decent road (bumpy and a few sharp turns), and busy, so not much privacy. Great view of the lake. With Pepwave modem and external antennas my husband was able to work just fine on Verizon.
We moved closer to Island Park because of the bugs (mostly damsel flies, but some mosquitos and others too)...they were like a horror movie and made me uncomfortable to hang out by the trailer - they were not as bad near the water. Four days later I was still finding dead ones in my window sills, etc.
There were a lot of people parked here when we were here.

Pulling a 42ft 5th wheel we went all of the way down to the lake. Not the best access but doable. Not the best layout and just barely got turned around. The worst part was the mosquitoes........swarms of them. Left there and came back about half way towards Rte 20 to an area right off the road that was amazing. We parked in an opening because of our solar but there were numerous spots between the trees. If there happens to be heavy rain it could be a challenge with the mud but mostly level. I would definitely return.

We camped here in July 2021 in a 40’ Motorhome.

We stayed here for proximity to West Yellowstone and Big Springs. It worked perfectly for both!

What we didn’t expect was the nearby riding camp offering dinner and a rodeo, which was a highlight of our Summer. Check out MeadowVue Ranch if you stay here.

There are other boondocking spots along the road into the lake, but the view at the end is what makes this spot special. We recommend going to the boat access camping area unless you need easy access to the main road.

There is a vault toilet but no other services.
We were told there are leeches in the lake, so we sup boarded but didn’t swim, and kept a close eye on our dog after she swam.

Cell signal was fine for working full-time.

If you have a big rig you may want to scout in advance because there are limited spots by the lake which is down a long dirt road and steep-ish hill. Better to save yourself the trouble of getting down there if there are no spots available.

Enjoy!!!

For visiting Yellowstone it is hard to beat this location. It is about twenty miles to West Yellowstone but this keeps traffic down. We did not consider this a problem and made the trip to the park several times.

From Hwy 20 You will turn toward the west at the sign to Henry’s Lake access. It’s a small sign right where the passing lane ends.

There are multiple areas along the road to Henry’s lake access which are excellent for boondocking.

The first is immediately when you turn off Hwy 20 onto Red Rock road. You will see, on the right side, Boot Jack road which has a significant amount of boondocking space. This is close to Hwy 20 but still has nice spots in the trees. This area is perfect for large rigs with no difficulties accessing it.

As you proceed down Red Rock road, up to six miles, you will pass multiple very large and quality areas in the trees along the left side (south) of the road to camp. This road is two lane paved with limited traffic, therefore, there should be little traffic noise. You can easily get the very largest rigs here.

If you continue further down Red Rock road, up to six miles and well paved, you will come to a private campground, Red Rock campground, on the right side of the road. Slow down here because as soon as you reach the end of the campground fence you will take a right turn down Henry’s Lake access road. This road is dirt, a bit bumpy, however, I tow a 40’ fifth wheel and it was no problem. There are washboards, but no ruts or anything that would permit anyone going down the road. The total length is about 3/4 mile long.

By the way, locals also refer to this area as “the cliffs”.

As you come down the road you will reach a left corner where the road will split off to the right, this will be obvious, and if you have a large rig do not go that way stay on the main road. We did see class C and vans in there, but if your towing I would avoid this area. Rather, proceed to the right and down the hill which will take you to the boat ramp. Once at the boat ramp veer to the left and the boondocking area is along this section of road. I recommend you definitely park at the boat ramp area and scout first because turning around is a challenge and many people just backed out the short distance.

When we were there several very large rigs came and left.

During the fourteen days we stayed we saw as many as twelve rigs consecutive in the area, and it was a bit crowded. Yes, we did not have a great deal of space between rigs, but, this area is right along the shore of Henry’s lake so what can you expect? The bonus, we had about twenty feet to the shoreline.

If you fish this lake is full of decent sized trout, eighteen plus length is common, and the local fly shop which is only a few hundred yards south down Hwy 20 can set you up. We did some fly fishing with great success.

Verizon is a solid 30 mbps down and 16 up, and AT&T is also good at 10 mbps. I used Verizon.

Free dump and water is about 10 miles south down Hwy 20.

If you can go off grid then this entire area is a great choice for a visit to Yellowstone.

I stayed for 2 nights and upon arriving on a Tuesday evening, there were 2-3 spots left. There’s no official spots since it’s dispersed but several pull outs along the dirt road. There are 2 clean vault toilets that were stocked. Free to stay but no amenities other than toilet. Cows are free roaming around here so you will hear them all times of the day. Bugs were bad on some days but if you have any time of wind or fan, it wasn’t an issue. Had 3-4 bars LTE via AT&T. Only 30 minutes from west Yellowstone. Definitely would stay here again, felt very safe! Others noted a $16 fee but they may be referring to the RV park at the beginning of the dirt road. There were no pay stations or signs at this BLM spot.

Got here early to beat the Memorial day crowds. I scout ahead of my husband coming with the fifth wheel and thought I had found the perfect spot along side the lake. After sitting outside for a few minutes, I became the target of LOTS of mosquitoes...and this was in the middle of the day. Knowing that the mosquitoes would get worse in the evenings/mornings, I decided to search for a place away from the water. However, I would definitely come back here again later in the year.

I guess you might want to call this dispersed camping within designated areas on the South Shore Access Road, off of Red Rock Rd. Areas are marked off by posts and cables to keep vehicles confined. There are no designated sites, per se. So, it is difficult to say how many rigs the area will hold. It all depends on how much room people leave for others when they park. We parked parallel to the road, near the vault toilet. However, other rigs were parked diagonally closer to the lake's bank. There were some large rigs there. I would say there is room for about 12 rigs. The area is also located in a cattle grazing pasture and we had one white bull within a stone throw's from our rig. He was enjoying the October grasses and ignoring the fishermen.

The area is easy access by a gravel road running north of Red Rock Rd, just pass the commercial RV Park.

There are no services, except a boat ramp and a vault toilet.

The fishing can be very good at times on Henry's Lake.