Find Free Montana Campsites with OnX’s Latest Update

If you have ever bounced down a dirt road in Montana in search of a spot to camp for free, you are not alone. The rest of us just wing it, flipping through pullouts and hoping that, during our search for a place to spend the night, we won’t accidentally pitch a tent on someone’s private property. But that backcountry roulette game just got a major upgrade.

Missoula's OnX Maps just rolled out a new feature in their Offroad app that will tell you the exact location and details of where you can legally camp for FREE. It’s the Dispersed Camping Layer, and it has more than 140,000 miles of U.S. Forest Service roads and trails nationwide, including all over Montana.

Here’s the deal. You activate the layer in the app, and it illuminates all the roads that permit dispersed camping. No guesswork. Tap on one and it’ll even give you a rundown of the rules for that region of the country, such as how far off the road you can camp, or if there’s a fire ban in place. You can also see the terrain in 3D and save maps offline, so you’re good to go even when you’re out in the middle of nowhere with no signal.

This isn't merely a convenient gizmo for campers. It’s good for the land, too. OnX is attempting to facilitate people spreading out rather than jointly congregating at well-worn spots. Fewer weird interactions with the other campers who believe it’s a good idea to play acoustic guitar at 2 a.m.

If you’re planning to spend some time in the woods this summer, you want to make sure you’ve updated the OnX Offroad app. That hot dog you blackened over a campfire tastes so much better when you haven’t spent three hours arguing over where to set up your tent.