USFS · Montana, South Dakota

Custer Gallatin National Forest

The Custer Gallatin National Forest is located primarily in the south central part of the U.S. state of Montana. It was formed from a merge of the Custer National Forest, located primarily in the south central part of Montana but also with separate sections in northwestern South Dakota, and the Gallatin National Forest, located in South-West Montana, with some of it in North-West Wyoming.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Forest3.4 million acresUSFSMTSD73 campgrounds within 10 mi160 Forest Service sites721 trails
Official page at U.S. Forest Service ↗

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Forest
Managed byU.S. Forest Service
StatesMontana, South Dakota
Size3.4 million acres
Forest Service code0111, region 01
Center point45.09° N, 110.11° W
Night skyAbout as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 17)

Boundary map

10 outlines

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees Federal campground Forest Service recreation site

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Custer Gallatin National Forest10°20°30°40°50°60°January: 2.23 inches of precipitation, 38.8 inches of snowFebruary: 2.04 inches of precipitation, 29.7 inches of snowMarch: 1.94 inches of precipitation, 31.0 inches of snowApril: 2.29 inches of precipitation, 22.4 inches of snowMay: 2.85 inches of precipitation, 9.0 inches of snowJune: 3.16 inches of precipitation, 3.4 inches of snowJuly: 1.97 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowAugust: 1.82 inches of precipitation, 0.0 inches of snowSeptember: 1.74 inches of precipitation, 1.0 inches of snowOctober: 2.23 inches of precipitation, 13.4 inches of snowNovember: 2.17 inches of precipitation, 26.5 inches of snowDecember: 2.13 inches of precipitation, 37.9 inches of snowJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 15.0°F averageFebruary: 18.0°F averageMarch: 25.3°F averageApril: 32.2°F averageMay: 40.9°F averageJune: 49.2°F averageJuly: 56.3°F averageAugust: 54.4°F averageSeptember: 46.6°F averageOctober: 35.5°F averageNovember: 22.1°F averageDecember: 14.3°F average0 in10 in20 in30 in40 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Cooke City 2 W, 8 miles from the center point at 7,483 feet, station USC00241995 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 27 inches a year. The dotted line is average snowfall, about 213 inches a year on the same inches scale.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Where to camp

Campsite Atlas →

43 federal campgrounds sit inside the boundary and 30 more are within ten miles of it. Nearest first. Distances are from the campground point to the boundary edge, from the Campsite Atlas index.

FS · Inside
Bakers Hole
Reservable73 sites
FS · Inside
Basin Montana Campground
Reservable30 sites
FS · Inside
Bear Creek Campground - Mt
Reservable1 site
FS · Inside
Beaver Creek Campground
Reservable64 sites
FS · Inside
Cabin Creek Campground
Reservable16 sites
FS · Inside
Cascade
Reservable30 sites
FS · Inside
Chisholm Campground
Reservable10 sites
FS · Inside
Colter Campground
First-comeMT
Show 4 more

61 more within ten miles are not listed here.

Trailheads and sites

Forest Service directory · 160

The Forest Service lists 160 recreation sites in this forest, among them 61 campgrounds, 26 cabins, 24 picnic areas, 16 day hikings. Each links to its page on fs.usda.gov, which carries the season, fees and current status.

Show all 60

The 60 closest to the center point are listed; 100 more are on the Forest Service site.

Distance is from the center point of the boundary, not from a road or town.

Trails

Every trail on Trailhead Atlas →

The Forest Service trail layer records 721 named trails in this forest, 3,182 miles in all. The 10 longest are listed here.

TrailMiles
Big Sky North (Snowmo) ↗65.5
Big Sky South (Snowmo) ↗39.3
Two Top Loop (Snowmo) ↗27.6
Stillwater River ↗23.7
Bangtail Divide ↗22.6
Gallatin Crest ↗21.9
Skyline ↗20.4
Bridger Foothills ↗20.2
West Fork Stillwater ↗19.3
Red Cub ↗18.7

Lengths and allowed uses come from the Forest Service trail layer by way of Trailhead Atlas. This trail list was copied from Trailhead Atlas on November 1, 2026 and is copied again on each weekly run. Trails in plain text have no page there yet.

All 721 trails in Custer Gallatin National Forest on Trailhead Atlas ↗

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Park System units within 30 miles · Park Atlas
National Recreation Area · 9 mi
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
National Park · 30 mi
Yellowstone National Park
National Register listings within 15 miles · 163 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Montana

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • 100 Classic Hikes: Montana
    Douglas Lorain, 2018
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Day Hiking Glacier National Park and Western Montana
    Aaron Theisen, 2018
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Hiking waterfalls in Montana
    John Kratz, 2017
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Hiking Montana: Bozeman
    Bill Schneider, 2015
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Hiking Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks
    Erik Molvar, 2018
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Custer Gallatin National Forest?

3.4 million acres.

Source: Forest Service boundary data

Who manages Custer Gallatin National Forest?

The U.S. Forest Service.

Source: U.S. Forest Service

What state is Custer Gallatin National Forest in?

The boundary crosses Montana and South Dakota.

Source: How states are assigned

Can I camp at Custer Gallatin National Forest?

Dispersed camping is allowed on most national forest land outside developed sites. Check the forest page for closures. The federal campgrounds within ten miles are listed under Where to camp.

Source: Where to camp

How do I get to Custer Gallatin National Forest?

A point inside the boundary is at 45.092° N, 110.110° W. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is 9 miles away. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Forest Service

Which national parks are near Custer Gallatin National Forest?

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (9 mi) and Yellowstone National Park (30 mi). Park Atlas has fees, hours and alerts for each.

Source: Nearby on the other atlases

Are there historic places near Custer Gallatin National Forest?

The National Register has 163 listings within 15 miles, including Northeast Entrance Station and Madison Museum.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name, acreage and code: the Forest Service Enterprise Data Warehouse.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Description: Custer Gallatin National Forest on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Trailheads and sites: the Forest Service Recreation Opportunities layer, matched by forest code.
  • Trails: the Trailhead Atlas open-data file of Forest Service trails, matched by forest code.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.