Camping at Quartz Flat Campground in Western Montana

Looking for more campgrounds for road tripping across Montana?
Check out Beavertail Hill State Park Campground west of Missoula and Red Shale Campground in the southeast.

AMENITIES

• Flush & vault toilets
• Drinkable water
• Picnic tables and fire rings at all sites
• Paved parking pads
• Firewood may be available for purchase when no burn ban is in effect
• Dump station for RVs
• Fancy new rest stop next door

• Quartz Flat Campground offers 77 campsites.
• The campground is open from roughly late May through mid-September.
• Campsites cost $15 per night.
• No electrical or water hookups are available, but there is a dump station for RVs.
• Quartz Flat Campground is located very close to I-90. While you won’t see the road from the campground, you will hear some traffic noise. Fortunately, it wasn’t audible from inside our trailer.
• There are three campground loops — A, C, and G. Don’t ask me what happened to the other letters. The A and C loops are on the east side of I-90, while the G loop is on the west. They are connected by an underpass below the freeway.

• The A and C loops are located on a high bluff overlooking the Clark Fork River. There is no river access directly from the campground, but a few of the campsites in the A loop offer a partial river view.
• The campground is situated in a ponderosa pine forest and most sites offer plenty of shade.
• Most sites are large, with a good amount of space between neighboring sites.
• We stayed at campsite #C9. It was a spacious, shady site far enough from the freeway to block much of the noise.
• Pets on leash are allowed at Quartz Flat Campground.

FUN STUFF

• Walk or bike the campground loops. The campground road is paved and mostly flat, making it a great place for kids to bike. Head to the A loop for the chance to see the Clark Fork River in the valley below.
• Check out the fancy rest stop next door. On your way to Quartz Flat Campground, you’ll drive through a rest area that was brand spanking new when we visited. Sure, the campground toilets are fine, but the restrooms here are beyond par! On a long road trip, a rest stop like this is a treasure.

NEARBY & NOTABLE

• Missoula, Montana is a fun college town about 50 miles east of Quartz Flat Campground. We spent an evening there en route to Quartz Flat and enjoyed dinner at Biga Pizza followed by ice cream at Sweet Peaks, both of which we highly recommend.
• Beavertail Hill State Park Campground is another beautiful campground convenient to I-90. It’s located about 25 miles east of Missoula.

Beyond a couple of overnight stops, we didn’t have much of a chance to explore this area, as our ultimate destination on this trip was South Dakota. We hope to enjoy more of this beautiful part of Montana on a future trip.

THE VERDICT

If you are looking for a convenient overnight camping spot near I-90 in the far western reaches of Montana, Quartz Flat Campground is the place. Within the forested campground, the sounds of the nearby freeway lessen, although it never quite disappears. Tent campers will notice this more than others, as we had no issues with noise once we were holed up inside our teardrop trailer.

Quartz Flat Campground is well kept, with paved roads and parking pads, clean bathrooms (some with flush toilets, and some with vault toilets), and sturdy picnic tables. At $15 per night, it’s a great deal. Due to its location near the freeway, I wouldn’t choose to stay here multiple nights, but it makes a great overnight stop when road tripping down I-90.

There aren’t a lot of activities in and around the campground, but the paved roads are good for a bike ride around camp. The A loop also offers a few tantalizing glimpses of the Clark Fork River below. While our campsite in the C loop didn’t offer any views, we enjoyed being surrounded by verdant forest. Quartz Flat Campground is definitely one I’d come back to on future I-90 road trips.

After a long drive from Devil’s Tower, we pulled into Quartz Flat Campground after dark. It took us a little longer than expected to reach our campsite, as we initially missed the sign for the C loop. The road led us under the freeway, which I knew couldn’t possibly be right.

“Turn around!” I told Michael. “This can’t be it!” Slowly, we trundled back along the dark campground road looking for the C loop. At night, the signage here could use a little help, but those arriving during the day will have no such problems.

It wasn’t long before we found campsite #C9 and settled in. Our friendly campground host even stopped by to check on us. Closing ourselves off from the dull sounds of freeway traffic, we tucked inside our teardrop trailer and were soon fast asleep.

The next morning I stepped outside our trailer, eager to see Quartz Flat Campground in daylight for the first time. Sunbeams filtered through the ponderosa pine, and in the distance I could hear the murmur of the Clark Fork River. It was a glorious morning for a pre-breakfast campground walk.

After exploring the full extent of the C and A loops, I headed back to our campsite for breakfast. The rest of the family was up and ready for food, and I had just the thing: pizza. Leftover pizza from last night’s dinner at Biga Pizza in Missoula, to be exact. This was a gourmet breakfast!

Sure enough, no one had any objections. We admired our campsite as we munched our slices, taking in the towering pines that surrounded us. Everyone agreed that, were it not for the ever-present noise from nearby I-90, this would be a fantastic campground. And really, the noise isn’t so bad. It is, however, a constant reminder that civilization is nigh, which is not what one usually hopes to experience while camping.

Not long after breakfast, we were back on the road with Seattle as our ultimate destination. Our night at Quartz Flat Campground was the last of our summer road trip, and it was a great final stop before our return home.