Montana Public Lands
29.1% of Montana is federal land: 27,168,417 of its 93,271,040 acres (2024 data). The largest federal land manager in Montana is the U.S. Forest Service, with 17,254,317 acres, 18.5% of the state. Dispersed camping is generally allowed on BLM land for up to 14 days, after which you must move at least 25 miles. This guide covers 57 state parks, 8 National Park Service units, 8 national forests, 2 BLM conservation areas and monuments, 15 wilderness areas, and 17 national wildlife refuges.
Explore Montana public lands by type
- Montana state parks 57 parks, 28 with camping, 20 with swimming
- Montana national parks 8 National Park Service units, 1 with developed campgrounds
- Montana national forests Lolo National Forest, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Custer Gallatin National Forest, Flathead National Forest, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Kootenai National Forest
- Montana BLM units 2 conservation areas and monuments, 1 with dispersed camping, 1 closed to camping
- Montana wilderness areas 15 areas
- Montana national wildlife refuges 17 national wildlife refuges, 1 with camping
Montana public land map
- BLM conservation areas and monuments
- National forests
- National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS)
- National wildlife refuges (FWS)
- State parks
- Wilderness areas (dashed)
Land managed by (switch layers on or off)
Land ownership: USGS PAD-US 4.1, dissolved by manager and simplified (parcels under about 2 square km not shown). Unit boundaries simplified. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.
List of all 107 places on this map
State parks (57)
- Ackley Lake State Park
- Bannack State Park
- Beaverhead Rock State Park
- Beavertail Hill State Park
- Big Arm State Park
- Black Sandy State Park
- Brush Lake State Park
- Chief Plenty Coups (Alek-Chea-Ahoosh) State Park and Home
- Chief Plenty Coups State Park
- Clark's Lookout State Park
- Cooney State Park
- Council Grove State Park
- Elkhorn State Park
- Finley Point State Park
- First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park
- Fish Creek State Park
- Fort Owen State Park
- Frenchtown Pond State Park
- Giant Springs State Park
- Granite Ghost Town State Park
- Greycliff Prairie Dog Town State Park
- Hell Creek State Park
- Judith Landing State Park
- Lake Elmo State Park
- Lake Mary Ronan State Park
- Les Mason State Park
- Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
- Logan State Park
- Lone Pine State Park
- Lost Creek State Park (Montana)
- Madison Buffalo Jump State Park
- Makoshika State Park
- Marias River State Park
- Medicine Rocks State Park
- Milltown State Park
- Missouri Headwaters State Park
- North Shore State Park
- Painted Rocks State Park
- Parker Homestead State Park
- Pictograph Cave State Park
- Pirogue Island State Park
- Placid Lake State Park
- Rosebud Battlefield State Park
- Salmon Lake State Park
- Sluice Boxes State Park
- Smith River State Park
- Somers Beach State Park
- Spring Meadow Lake State Park
- Thompson Falls State Park
- Tongue River Reservoir State Park
- Tower Rock State Park
- Travelers' Rest State Park
- Wayfarers State Park
- West Shore State Park
- Whitefish Lake State Park
- Wild Horse Island State Park
- Yellow Bay State Park
National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS) (8)
National forests (8)
BLM conservation areas and monuments (2)
Wilderness areas (15)
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness
- Anaconda Pintler Wilderness
- Bob Marshall Wilderness
- Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
- Gates of the Mountains Wilderness
- Great Bear Wilderness
- Lee Metcalf Wilderness
- Medicine Lake Wilderness
- Mission Mountains Wilderness
- Rattlesnake Wilderness
- Red Rock Lakes Wilderness
- Scapegoat Wilderness
- Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
- UL Bend Wilderness
- Welcome Creek Wilderness
National wildlife refuges (FWS) (17)
- Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Black Coulee National Wildlife Refuge
- Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge
- Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
- Creedman Coulee National Wildlife Refuge
- Grass Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge
- Hewitt Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Lake Mason National Wildlife Refuge
- Lake Thibadeau National Wildlife Refuge
- Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge
- Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge
- Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
- Swan River National Wildlife Refuge
- Ul Bend National Wildlife Refuge
- War Horse National Wildlife Refuge
Who manages Montana's land
| Agency | Acres | Share of Montana |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 8,053,643 | 8.6% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 17,254,317 | 18.5% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 639,655 | 0.7% |
| National Park Service | 1,214,871 | 1.3% |
| Department of Defense | 5,931 | 0% |
| All federal land | 27,168,417 | 29.1% |
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-30.
Camping on Montana public land
Dispersed camping is generally allowed on BLM land for up to 14 days, after which you must move at least 25 miles. (BLM Montana, checked 2026-09-30.) See Montana BLM units for each area's own rule.
National Park Service land has its own camping rules, set by each park unit: see Glacier National Park for campgrounds, fees, and backcountry permits.
Most national wildlife refuges ban camping, but Ul Bend National Wildlife Refuge allows it, each under its own rules and stay limit.
28 of Montana's state parks have developed campgrounds on record; compare them in the Montana state parks table.
Common questions
- 29.1% of Montana is federal land: 27,168,417 of its 93,271,040 acres (2024 data).
- 8,053,643 acres, 8.6% of the state (2024 data).
- The largest federal land manager in Montana is the U.S. Forest Service, with 17,254,317 acres, 18.5% of the state.
- Yes. Dispersed camping is generally allowed on BLM land for up to 14 days, after which you must move at least 25 miles. Individual conservation areas and monuments set their own rules; check each unit.
- This guide lists 57 Montana state parks and recreation areas, 28 of them with camping on record.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
- blm.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.