Where can I get a firewood permit?
View our Firewood
brochure.
Where can I find out about recreation on federal lands?
Go to www.recreation.gov
How can I rent a cabin?
You can rent the 27 cabins in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest either by calling toll free, 1-877-444-6777, or by going
to http://www.recreation.gov/
The toll-free number is staffed seven days a week, from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. (Mountain Time) between Labor Day and March 31, and
then from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. between April 1 and Labor Day.
In addition to the cabin rental fee, you’ll be charged
$9. Reservations can be made with a major credit card or cashier’s
check. Refunds, cancellations, and date changes can still be
done for an administrative fee of $10.
For a complete list of Beaverhead-Deerlodge cabins go to our
cabin rentals page.
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I want to reserve a
picnic area for a group event. How do I do that?
You can make reservations to use certain day-use areas in the
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest either by calling 1-877-444-6777
or by going to http://www.recreation.gov/
The toll-free number is staffed seven days a week, from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. (Mountain Time) between Labor Day and March 31, and
then from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. between April 1 and Labor Day.
In addition to group-use site fee, you’ll be charged
$9. Reservations can be made with a major credit card or cashier’s
check. Refunds, cancellations, and date changes can still be
done for an administrative fee of $10.
Group-use areas under this reservation system are the Lowland
group-use area, near Butte; the Orofino Pavilion near Deer
Lodge; and the Rainbow Bay picnic area, at Georgetown Lake.
To reserve the Sheepshead pavilion or Freedom Point pavilion,
both north of Butte, call the Forest Service office in Butte,
at (406) 494-2147.
All other picnic areas and group sites in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge
National Forest are available first-come, first -served.
Can I make camping reservations?
You can make camping reservations for only three campgrounds,
all near Georgetown Lake. The “C-loop” at Philipsburg
Bay campground, along with the Lodgepole and Springhill campgrounds,
are available for reservations between June 15 and September
15. To make reservations, call 1-877-444-6777 or go to http://www.recreation.gov/.
A non-refundable fee is charged for each reservation.
We don't accept reservations for any other campgrounds in the
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Those campgrounds
are first-come, first-served, but most campgrounds don’t
fill except on the busiest holiday weekends.
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Will my RV fit on your roads and in your campgrounds?
If your combined length is more than 25 feet, call the ranger
station for the part of the forest you plan to visit and find
out about the roads you'd like to drive on.
How do I buy a map?
We have maps for all of the National Forests in Montana and
northern Idaho, as well as special maps for national grasslands
and wilderness areas.
It takes three maps to cover the whole Beaverhead-Deerlodge:
Beaverhead (East), Beaverhead (West), and Deerlodge.
Maps cost $9 each.
You can buy a map in person, by phone, or by mail using our
map order form. If you order
by mail, send a check or money order made out to "USDA
Forest Service." Our mailing address is 420 Barrett Street,
Dillon MT 59725. If you call, have your credit card ready. Please
specify the map you need and don't forget to give us your complete
return mailing address.
In many communities, you’ll find stores that sell national
forest maps, often on weekends. Call our office
in the community that interests you for the latest information
on these private vendors.
How do I get a job with the Forest Service?
Go to the Employment page.
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I have an ATV. Where can I ride it?
If you drive your ATV on public roads--county roads and forest
roads, Montana state law requires them to be "street legal."
This requires the ATV to have an operable headlight, tail/brake
light, rear view mirror, license plate and horn. The law also
requires all operators to be licensed drivers with the appropriate
endorsement on their licenses. Public roads are defined as any
route open to vehicular traffic. To simplify things, any road
where you can drive a car or pickup is considered a public road.
If you operate your ATV on trails, there's a required Montana
ATV sticker you can purchase from most dealers and from Montana
Fish, Wildlife & Parks. It’s a good idea to carry
the registrations for your ATV's with the vehicle or on the
person operating it.
In the national forests in Montana, all vehicles must stay
on designated routes unless an area has specifically been opened
for cross-country travel. Basically, if the route you're on
is wider than your wheels, you're OK. If you've got two wheels
on a one-wheel track, you're not OK.
Where can I pan for gold?
Recreational panning is permitted in the national forests,
just make sure you're not on someone's mining claim. You might
stop in at a Forest Service office nearest where you plan to
pan for some tips on places to go or to avoid.
You might also contact the Gold Prospectors Association of
America (http://www.goldprospectors.org/).
They have claims all over the west where you can pan gold, if
you are a member. This group has some claims in the Homestake,
Pipestone, and Indian Creek area near Butte.
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Can I go rockhounding?
While some areas of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
are open to rock hounding, many areas have mining claims and
the minerals in the claims are reserved for the mining claim
holder.
If you have a specific area in mind, you should contact the
local ranger station for details. The following guide may be
of interest:
The Rockhound's Guide to Montana, by Robert Feldman, published
by:
Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc.
P.O. Box 1718
Helena, MT 59624
You can order the book from the publisher or from the Montana
Tech Mineral Museum in Butte. Call (406) 496-4414.
Do I have to store
my food or animals I bag on a hunt in any special way because
of bears?
Yes, we have special food and carcass storage rules in the
parts of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest lying in Madison
County, Montana. That includes the Tobacco Root, Gravelly, Madison,
and Snowcrest Ranges. These mountains ranges are home to both
grizzly and black bears. When bears find out people supply food,
they often have to be killed. To avoid that and avoid having
aggressive bears in your camping area, we have the food storage
rules.
Food or carcasses of animals shot by hunters must be hung off
the ground or stored in vehicles or buildings or in approved
containers, at least 100 yards from where you sleep. Hang the
items at least 10 feet off the ground and four feet out from
the support pole or tree. For more details, call the Madison
Ranger Station at (406) 682-4253.
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Can I see bears in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest?
Grizzly bears are seen, though not frequently, in the Gravelly
and Madison mountain ranges, in Madison County, Montana. That
area lies roughly between Interstate 15 and Yellowstone National
Park. You can visit
Montana Fish Wildlife and Park's (FWP's) Living with Grizzlies
for more information on grizzly bears.
Black bears, while more common throughout the forest, are also
seen only rarely. For more information, visit FWP's
Living with Black Bears site.
In any case, it's best NOT to see a bear right in your camp.
Keep a clean camp at all times, putting food away.
If you're in the Gravelly, Madison, Snowcrest or Tobacco Root
mountains, there are special food-storage
rules require storing
food in vehicles, buildings, or approved bear-proof containers.
Contact the Madison Ranger District at (406) 682-4253 for more
information.
Are there lakes stocked with fish?
Many mountain lakes are stocked with Yellowstone cutthroat,
a few are stocked with westslope cutthroat. Some lakes are left
fishless. Each stocked lake gets stocked every two years, and
the work is staggered so about half the lakes get stocked each
year. For more information on fishing, contact Montana
Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the state fish and game agency.
For a complete listing of lakes and the fish they support,
visit our fishing page.
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Where can I go skiing?
Go to the Winter
Recreation page
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