Nelson Reservoir Recreation Area

We arrived in the middle of the night in early September. It was in the 40s overnight so we hoped the mosquitoes would be gone for the year. It was dark but we were able to get into a good flat site by the water. No issues with our 30' class A

When I went out the next morning to cook breakfast I was devoured by mosquitoes. I'm not usually one to complain - we do a lot of boondocking and I have no issue dealing with the realities of "camping". But I'm telling you I have never seen so many mosquitoes in one place.

This would be 5 stars easily if it weren't for the mosquitoes - and it would probably be full up also.

I read the reviews about bugs before arriving and stopped at the store before we got there to get heavy duty mosquito and tick defense. We used about half the bottle in a couple hours. We made the quickest dinner we could think of and had to eat in the car. I have never in my life witnessed such aggressive bugs. I was bit right next to my eye and it swelled up pretty big. I have bites were the sun doesn’t shine. They mellow out during the day but we cut our stay short. The bugs ruined our night. Definitely come later in the season to avoid this.

Also be prepared for a lot of boats coming and going for fishing. My boyfriend went to the shore to rinse off his hands and face and nearly got hit by someone trying to back in their boat and not paying attention.

Other than that it’s a nice open area with lake side camping and for free!

We stayed overnight but would stay the max time if we could. Lovely spot, fire pits, some spots have covered picnic tables. We found a level spot and watched the sunset over the lake. Quiet. Only 2 other campers here last night, a camper fan and 5th wheel. Gravel access road wasn’t bad at all (after Alaska everything looks good), someone left wood for us in the fire pit. Beautiful night. We ran our generator but weren’t close to anyone else.

We found the Nelson reservoir here in Saco, Montana while traveling to South Dakota. The spots are so spacious and no problem for our 39 foot 5’er, there are fire rings and picnic tables in each spot.

All the camping spots are on the reservoir with beautiful views. There is a boat ramp for all you fishermen, several covered pavilions and several vault restrooms throughout the campground.

On the way in to the free camping area there is a paid campground (rates $47 per night), at the office they have snacks, ice cream and a few different other needed items. Inside there is a nice indoor pool along with a natural hot springs.

All in all this is a great place and would definitely stay here again.

This was a great stopping point from Badlands, ND to Glacier NP. Easily fit our 40 ft. Fifth wheel. Plenty of room to turn around and drive through the find a nice spot. Stopped in June and there were a lot of rvs just parked— may be a local favorite spot. The views were great and the night sky— beautiful. The mosquitoes were relentless. Thankfully we sprayed lots of bug spray and that took care of them. We would definitely come back- preferably in the spring/ fall when bugs aren’t a nuisance.

Very quiet but lake is way down so a lot of still or dead water. This produces a lot of mosquitoes like Everglades in Florida swarms of mosquitoes. we are used to mosquitoes as we are from Florida but this place was unbelievable. We turned on generator turned on air conditioning and just stayed inside. We are traveling east so only needed a place to stay overnight. We had great cell service and about a mile of gravel road getting in here.

We read all the reviews about the mosquitoes but, we stayed here after Labor Day and a few freezing nights. Some flies, lots of midges (they don't bite) and some moths. We parked right on the water near the camp host. Who was very nice and offered to move his boat in case it was in our way. We have a picnic table and fire ring with grill. Great for kayaks and smaller fishing boats. We wish we had a kayak! It is a rock beach with glassy water. Some patches of green algae but, not a full on bloom. I grew up on lake Erie in the 80's, so most water is okay for me.

The sunset on the reservoir is beautiful, though you can see a lot of smoke in the western sky due to the wildfires. Can we talk about the stars at night?! These city kids are not used to picking out the details of the milky way with the human eye.

Great boondocking, free pack it in, pack it out sites. There are picnic pavilions and quite a few day users on the water. We were only going to stay one night but, decided to stick around for one more to enjoy the area. There are towns with groceries within 30min. We like being in the middle of nowhere. The gravel hwy is a bit of a washboard. So, take it slow if you are in a motorhome like us.