There’s a great free dispersed camping north of Yellowstone National Park at the Carbella Recreation Site on BLM land.
It’s located about 17 miles of the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in between Gardiner and Livingston, Montana and is directly on the Yellowstone River.
BLM Carbella Recreation Site
The Carbella Recreation Site is a public land location maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
It serves as a public boat dock for direct access to the Yellowstone River, but camping is also allowed for tents and RVs for up to 14 days at any one time.
We boondocked here for several days in our Airstream and it was a perfect base to explore the surrounding area.
It makes for a perfect free campground for anyone to use who is visiting Yellowstone, Livingston, or Tom Miner basin area.
Carbella Recreation Site Location
The Carbella Recreation Site is located in an easy to access location, right off the main road heading out of Yellowstone National Park toward Livingston, Montana.
It is 17 miles north of the park, so makes for an easy drive.
This part of Montana is known as the paradise valley, as it is a beautiful area with the Yellowstone River running through it and mountains on both sides of the valley.
The camping location is down a ¾ mile gravel road off the main road that is easily accessible by all types of cars, class A motorhomes, fifth wheels, travel trailers, campervans, or any other type of RV.
The campsites are located directly on the Yellowstone River.
Getting There
To access the Carbella Recreation Site from Yellowstone National Park, head north on US-89 (the main road heading north out of Gardiner).
Drive about 17 miles to Tom Miner Road on the left.
As a landmark for finding Tom Miner Road, there is an electrical substation on the corner of US-89 and Tom Miner Road (picture below).
Please note that as of September 2018, there were numerous detour and road closed signs in the area for Tom Miner Road.
This pertains to areas further down Tom Miner Road, so you do not need to detour in any way if you’re coming from US-89 and going to the Carbella Recreation Site.
Once you turn left onto Tom Miner Rd from US-89, you will immediately see an opening in a fence on the right with a grate.
Drive over the grate and you’ll see a sign in the grass for the Carbella Recreation Site.
You’ll drive about ¾ of a mile on the gravel road that is easily driveable for cars and RVs.
To the right you’ll see a big grassy field and to the left you’ll see a row of trees by the river, but you likely won’t be able to see the river from the road just yet.
As you drive further down the gravel road, you’ll start to see RVs camped along the river if there are other dispersed camping campers in the area.
Keep going down the gravel road until you see the boat ramp and the toilets.
At that point you’ll need to choose whether to go left (south) along the river to the non-designated camping areas without campfire rings or picnic tables, or go right to the designated campsites with picnic tables and fire rings.
The boat ramp and toilets basically divide the two areas.
Campsites at Carbella Recreation Site
The campsites are not marked, but there is a combination of planned and dispersed type camping locations.
All of the campsites are directly on the east side of the Yellowstone River, which makes for a soothing sound as you lull to sleep from the sound of the rushing water.
At the north end of the Carbella Recreation Site, there are about five planned campsites.
Each has a fire ring and a picnic table.
The sites are unmarked, but are obvious because of the picnic table and fire ring.
This north section of the road dead ends into an area where a group of RV’ers had camped together during our stay.
However, there are many other locations at the south end of the recreation area that are not established sites as they do not have fire rings or picnic tables.
They are easily accessible and when we stayed in September 2018, there were numerous campers all along the north and south sides of the recreation area.
To access these sites, drive to where you see the bathroom and then turn left along the river.
The BLM warns people not to drive directly across the grass to protect natural resources.
One night when we stayed all of the available space along the river was taken by campers.
There is still plenty of space to park along the road and parking lot in the Carbella Recreation Site so you can still camp here.
It may not be the perfect spot along the river, but there is a lot of available space for camping.
We saw one camper parked in the parking lot area for one night when there was no camping space for RVs along the river.
So even if it appears full, you’re likely to be able to find a space to park your camper.
Tips for Choosing the Best Campsite
During our stay, the boat dock at the Carbella Recreation Site was very busy as it was Labor Day weekend.
This meant that there were a lot of cars coming and going, and causing a lot of dust to come up from the gravel road.
The campers at the south end of the area seemed to get hit with a lot of dust from the road as cars and boat trailers went by, whereas those of us at the north end of the area (the camping sites with picnic tables and fire pits) were not affected by the gravel road since cars did not pass by our area.
On the other hand, most of the camping sites, and especially at the north end, do not have a direct view of the Yellowstone River.
The sites can hear the water below, but bushes and trees block the view of the river.
There appears to be a few locations along the south end of the Carbella Recreation Site area where campers would have a direct view of the river water below.
These might be worth sacrificing the gravel road dust.
Camping Amenities
This is free camping on a beautiful swath of public land along the Yellowstone River near Yellowstone National Park, and if that is what you’re looking for, then this spot is perfect.
Because this is public BLM land, Carbella Recreation Site is boondocking, dry camping, dispersed camping, or whatever you prefer to call it.
This means that you are camping without amenities such as electrical, water, or sewer hookups for your motorhome, fifth wheel, travel trailer, campervan, tent, or whatever you camp in which you would usually find at an RV park or campground.
You will need to bring everything you need with you, including water and battery power.
We used a solar panel to generate solar power and recharge our Airstream’s battery while camping. The sun was intensely shining and we fully recharged our Airstream’s batteries while there.
There is a small bathroom with pit toilets, but no water connections or faucets.
Hence you need to bring all of the water with you that you’ll need during your camping trip.
We found a very weak AT&T cell service signal at the camping location that usually did not work for us. Others have reported that Verizon works well at this location.
There are two public trash dumpsters not far from the location.
One is located behind the electrical station that you see when you enter the campsite area from highway US-89.
It is gated to keep animals out, but publicly accessible.
The second dumpster is located right across the quaint Carbella Bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River on Tom Miner Road. Cross the bridge and the dumpster will be up on the right.
Other Details about the Carbella Recreation Site
The Carbella Recreation Site is maintained by the BLM and is used primarily as a boat dock for accessing the Yellowstone River.
When we visited, there were lots of people coming and going, either dropping a boat into the river or picking up rafters at this location.
There’s a parking lot where many boat trailers are left during the day, but these seemed to be cleared out by the evening.
We were camped at the north end of the area and weren’t bothered by boaters at all. It was quiet the entire time.
History of the Carbella Recreation Site
The history of the Carbella Recreation Site is explained on a sign at the location.
Originally Yankee Jim maintained a toll road near the location that began at Yellowstone National Park and ended up a few miles north of this location.
Later the area hosted a post office and a forest service ranger station in the early 1900s.
Now it is run by the BLM and makes for a perfect dispersed camping location close to Yellowstone National Park on public land!
There is also a map of the area with additional details about the Carbella Recreation Site.
The terrain is relatively flat where campers park their RVs and pitch their tents.
It is a dry environment, with small cactus type plants growing around the area.
Tent campers might benefit from some sort of padding underneath their sleeping bag.
Things to Do in the Area
The Carbella Recreation Site is conveniently located near many attractions in the beautiful Montana mountainside, most notably being just 17 miles north of Yellowstone National Park.
The town of Gardiner, just outside the gates of the north entrance to Yellowstone, has myriad tourist resources, including restaurants, outfitters for outdoor activities (including rafting down the Yellowstone River), a grocery store, souvenir shops, etc.
You will likely find everything you need for your camping adventure there.
Further north up the US-89 road about 39 miles lies the larger town of Livingston. Here you can find just about anything you may need.
There’s direct Yellowstone River access located at Carbella Recreation Site, and also just outside its gates.
If you follow the Tom Miner Rd down towards the metal bridge, you’ll see a sign for the Crystal Cross fishing area on the left.
It’s a small river access area where people can fish or wade in the river.
There is a sign warning people that the Crystal Cross area is for day use only.
No overnight camping is allowed.
But given that there’s plenty of space at the Carbella Recreation Site for campers, this likely won’t be an issue.
The BLM Carbella Recreation Site is a wonderful dispersed camping location just north of Yellowstone National Park. We also really loved a few other spots for dispersed camping by national parks, and keep finding more to enjoy.
It is close to a prime grizzly bear viewing location in the Tom Miner Basin area on private ranch land. We went there and saw 4 grizzly bears in about 30 minutes!
If you’d prefer to be in an established campground, check out the 12 campgrounds located within Yellowstone National Park. You will need to reserve a campsite far in advance of your trip as they book up quickly.
We stayed in our Airstream along with other RV’ers dispersed camping on BLM land.
