Campground · Beartooth Highway
Creekside camping near the foot of the Beartooth switchbacks.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Beartooth Highway Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Beartooth Highway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Beartooth Highway audio tourRecorded for this place
Rock Creek Campgrounds and Greenough Lake“You're approaching the Rock Creek campgrounds and the access to Greenough Lake. The campsites sit among pine and aspen beside the creek, a pleasant base if you want to stay overnight below the high country.”
Plays as you drive up to Parkside Campground in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Parkside Campground is a Forest Service campground on the banks of the Main Fork of Rock Creek, about 11 miles south of Red Lodge and near the start of the Beartooth Highway switchbacks. It works well as an overnight base for the drive, with campsites in the wooded creek drainage. The 28 sites sit in two loops on opposite sides of the creek, including two group areas. If you want a roadside view instead of a place to settle in, keep going up the highway.
The creekside loop tends to be shadier; the opposite loop has thinner tree cover. Most sites have a picnic table and fire ring, and standard sites are nonelectric. Three sites and the toilet facilities are listed as accessible. The creekside setting and clean vault toilets are frequent highlights, and Rock Creek is popular for fishing.
Glacier Lake, Hellroaring and Lake Fork trailheads are nearby in the Main Fork Rock Creek drainage, making Parkside a useful base for day hikes as well as the highway drive. The high section of the Beartooth Highway is seasonal, so plan the campground and the pass as separate parts of your trip.
Wildlife
42 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
22 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
49 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
122 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
260 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
16 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Beartooth Highway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyParkside Trail #1032.3 mi · 1.3 hr · 0.1 mi awayA gentle walk through pine woods and meadows between two campgrounds.
EasyGreenough Lake Trail #103.10.4 mi · 20 min · 0.8 mi awayA quick, gentle walk to a Beartooth lake.
ChallengingSundance Pass Traverse20.5 mi · 11 hr · 1.3 mi awayA full day over Sundance Pass, from lakes to wild creek.
ChallengingLake Fork Trail #2 to Sundance Pass19 mi · 12 hr · 1.3 mi awayA long creekside climb from lakes to a high alpine pass
ChallengingBlack Canyon Lake Trail13.3 mi · 7.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayA long wilderness hike to a turquoise lake and glacier views
ModerateLost Lake Trail (Lake Fork)10.6 mi · 6 hr · 1.3 mi awayA long creekside out-and-back to a high lake beneath Peak 10,913.
ChallengingKeyser Brown Lake Trail13.2 mi · 7.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayA long creekside walk to a high, quiet alpine lake.ModerateBroadwater Lake via Lake Fork Trail7.5 mi · 4 hr · 1.3 mi awayA creekside ramble ends in Broadwater's open mountain meadows.
Campground · 0.4 mi awayLimber Pine CampgroundA quiet creekside base below the Beartooth switchbacks.
Campground · 0.5 mi awayGreenough Lake CampgroundCreekside camping, with Greenough Lake a short walk away.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayRock Creek Vista PointA short paved path opens onto a huge glacial valley.
Campground · 2 mi awayM-K CampgroundA free creekside campground near Beartooth Highway hikes.
Scenic pullout · 2.3 mi awayQuad Creek Scenic OverlookThe highway curls below you across a wide mountain valley.
Sight · 3.8 mi awayMontana-Wyoming State Line SignA quick state-line sign stop on the seasonal Beartooth Highway.
Sight · 4 mi awayBeartooth Highway Welcome SignA quick welcome photo before the high-country drive.
Campground · 4.3 mi awayRattin CampgroundSeven wooded, creekside sites make a practical overnight near Red Lodge.Parkwolf’s Beartooth Highway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
