Henrys Lake Boat Access

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.

Easily accessible with small car or large rig. There are several spots that are next to the lake, but be aware .... it appears to get busy. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon & had no trouble getting a spot on the lake, just up the road about 1/4 mi, there is a fork that also has lots of room for boondocking, but the road is rough. We were there with a 3/4 ton truck and 28’ toyhauler. No potable water, but lake is close. Outhouses present.

Stayed 6 nights. It gets very very windy at times, also, there are no trees so hour exposed. Before reaching this spot, you will travel through Forest Service land that also has endless camping options 👍

Cell service was great.