Gallatin National Forest — Tom Miner Basin Road Dispersed Camp

Tom Miner Basin Road heads north off US-89 roughly 17 miles south of Livingston, climbing into a high valley that butts up against the Gallatin Range and Yellowstone’s northwestern border. Dispersed camping is available along the road corridor and around the basin flats — wide open meadows, creek access, and Absaroka peaks framing the skyline. This is active grizzly territory; food storage protocol is non-negotiable. The area also sits adjacent to a well-known petrified wood and fossil locality, which draws a different kind of curious visitor. Expect a genuine wilderness feel with almost no signage.

The road is gravel and manageable for high-clearance 2WD rigs in dry conditions, but it turns greasy fast when wet. Tom Miner Campground sits at the end as a developed fallback, but dispersed sites scattered along the lower basin offer more elbow room. Cell service disappears quickly once you leave the highway. Best window is June through September — the basin can hold snow well into spring and again by October.

Grizzly country basin dispersed, Absaroka fringe.