Countryside RV Park in Dillon, Montana: A Review
Located directly off of I-15 in southwestern Montana, Countryside RV Park is a convenient campground for those looking for a home base to explore this beautiful part of the state or as a quick overnight stop.
If you’re looking to sightsee while you’re here, the RV park is a 20 minute drive to the incredible Bannack State Park, the scenic Clark’s Lookout Park, and the sprawling Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
The RV Park has wide, long sites and beautiful surroundings, which make for a comfortable experience while you’re here.
In the review below, you’ll find everything you need to know about this campground, including photos of the campground property and details about every part of our stay from check-in to check-out.
The grassy common area at Countryside RV Park with the main office building in the back
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Camping in Dillon, Montana: What to Consider
Dillon is a small but scenic town along I-15 in southwestern Montana. It’s a fairly rural part of the state, but you’re roughly halfway between Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Missoula, Montana, here.
Countryside RV Park is 8 miles south of Dillon, so you’re still fairly close to grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants, while still being surrounded by rolling hills and picturesque pastures.
We ultimately chose Countryside RV Park because of its excellent reviews on RVLife’s Trip Wizard, the easy on and off from the interstate, and the large sites.
The campground and entrance as seen from Highway 278
Other Camping Options Nearby
For a smaller town, Dillon has a surprising number of camping options. This is largely because of the many outdoor activities in this area of Montana, including gem mining, historic ghost towns, cave exploration, fishing, hiking, several state parks, and multiple historic sites associated with the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
Beaverhead River RV Park and Campground
The Beaverhead River RV Park and Campground used to be a KOA, and it retains much of the family friendly feel and amenities from that franchise.
You’ll find a nice play area with slides, a seasonally heated pool, lawn games, and a mini golf course. The campground also has bike rentals if you didn’t bring your own.
The campground provides both full hook-ups and several sites with only water and electric.
If you’re staying in Dillon for a longer visit, and you have kids in tow, this is the campground that I’d recommend.
We loved Countryside RV Park, but it does lack the amenities that help keep my kids entertained on a multi-day visit.
PIN ME!
Southside RV Park
Southside RV Park is located on the southernmost edge of Dillon, so you’re close to the town’s shops and dining but still get beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.
This quiet campground has large sites that will fit everything up to Class A motorhomes, and the sites are level with full hookups.
Sites 7 and 8-14 back up to a small stream, which is a picturesque touch.
While there isn’t a pool or playground, the campground does have a small campstore, bath house, and laundry room.
Right Turn Clyde RV Park
Perhaps the owners are Clint Eastwood fans? Funny name aside, the Right Turn Clyde RV Park is open year round and is located on the northern end of Dillon.
There’s not much here in the way of landscaping, but the sites are quite long, paved, and level.
There aren’t any amenities to speak of here, and your rig will need to be self-sufficient as there aren’t any public bath houses.
Still, it would make for a great overnight on the way elsewhere along I-15, or as an inexpensive home base if you were staying in this area for a week or so.
Since there isn’t a pool, playground, or other amenities, you’ll need to come prepared with activities for your kids to do.
Countryside RV Park Review
We paused at the Countryside RV Park in our northward trek between the Sun Outdoors Salt Lake City and Beargrass Lodging and RV Park near Glacier National Park.
This was part of a much longer 8-week road trip that took us from our home in South Carolina through Colorado, Utah’s Mighty 5 national parks, up through Idaho, across Montana, and into South Dakota.
The reason why I chose this RV park was that it was roughly halfway between our previous stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Mountain View RV Park in Arco, Idaho, and our next 2 weeks at Glacier National Park.
Plus, it is a 20 minute drive to the incredible Bannack State Park, one of the largest and most well preserved ghost towns in the U.S. Montana’s first gold claims were found here more than 150 years ago.
Here are some of my Montana planning resources to help you out:
Check-in Process
The large RV sign at the entrance to the campground
We arrived at Countryside RV Park in the early afternoon, about an hour after check-in began.
The front office was clearly marked and easy to find from the entrance of the campground, and there was ample space to park the camper and our truck while I went to check-in.
I was greeted immediately on walking in, and I quickly found out that Countryside RV Park’s claim to be “family owned” is 100% true! Several of the family members were behind the desk chatting as we walked in, and they soon had my daughter and I in a conversation about the best hairdressers there in Dillon.
The employees were so kind from the start and set a wonderful tone for our stay.
Even with the fun conversation, they had us in and out of the office in no time, providing us with plenty of information about the campground and the town of Dillon in the process.
Individual Campsite Review
Our camper parked in site C5
From the office, finding our campsite was easy, thanks to the overall layout of the campground (see more on that below).
We were in site C5, which is on the southern end of the campground, and well situated away from the two 2-lane roads that run alongside the northern and eastern sides of the campground.
C5 was a pull through site, which made arriving and departing very easy.
The campsites are paved, and there was plenty of room for us to park both our trailer and vehicle. If we’d been overnighting here without stopping to sightsee, the site was long enough that we could’ve stayed hooked up.
The site also came with a picnic table. There aren’t fire pits provided, but you can use a gas fire pit at your own site if you pay a deposit. This is to discourage unattended fires and to keep wildfires from occurring.
We were only 5 sites away from the trash dumpster, bathrooms, and office. We didn’t have our dogs with us, but, if we had, the dog walking area was directly in front of our site.
The dog walking area is a huge, beautiful area under trees that runs along a stream on the edge of the property.
The camping area doesn’t have any landscaping other than well kept grass between the sites, which allows every site to have a breathtaking view of the surrounding hills.
Campground Layout
The Countryside RV Park is laid out around one big circle with the office at the eastern end. The office building also houses the laundry, bathrooms, and shower, though the three amenities are accessed separately from the office.
There are both pull through sites and back-in sites. Back-in sites M1-M15 run along the northern border of the park, while back-in sites B1-B10 have a large grassy field behind them.
Sites A1-A9 and C1-C10 are all pull through sites.
The tent camping area is in the southwestern corner of the campground, closest to RV sites C1 and C2, though the tent area is divided by an internal gravel road.
The layout is intuitive and easy to navigate, even when you first arrive.
U.S. Campground Reviews
Wherever you’re planning to go camping, be sure to check out our interactive map of kid-friendly campgrounds first!
Campground Amenities
The campground’s surrounding area is stunning.
Since we were only here for 2 nights, and we had specific sightseeing to do during our visit, we didn’t have a lot of downtime at the campground.
Usually, I look for places with a playground or pool, but our short time here was focused outside of the campground.
My kids had a good time riding their bikes and kicking a soccer ball around in the little time we had at our camper each evening.
Wifi
At the more rural campgrounds, I always assume that I’m not going to have very good internet service, even if we are provided with wifi access.
Wifi is included here, and, even better, it actually works. I was able to catch up on emails, and work on social media posts and my website, which is always a relief on these trips.
You’ll get a wifi code at check-in, and the access from there is easy.
The showers at Countryside RV Park
Bath Houses
The campground only has 1 bath house for its 44 campsites, but it seemed as if many of the other campers were self contained.
Our Winnebago Micro Minnie 1800BH does have a shower, but it’s so small that I prefer to use the provided bath houses whenever possible.
The toilets and showers are in separate areas, and neither area was busy at any point we were camping here.
The showers are large with plenty of room to maneuver around in. I really appreciated this space, both in and outside of the shower.
I hate some of the campground showers we’ve experienced, which are so tiny as to feel like a little closet, but the showers at Countryside RV Park were spacious, clean, and well maintained.
Dog Walking Area
The dog walking area at Countryside RV might be one of the most picturesque we’ve seen.
The dog walking area on the southern end of the campground is a beautiful place to take your dog for a stroll.
It runs between the exterior loop road near sites C4-C10, and along Rattlesnake Creek, which is on the campground’s border.
This area is also one of the few places on the property with trees, so you get a bit of shade as your dog is walking around.
Dogs do need to be leashed at all times, as the dog walking area isn’t fenced in.
Laundry Room
Unfortunately, laundry doesn’t do itself on a road trip, and I’ve found myself in laundry rooms all over the U.S.
The laundry here is in the same building as the office, and has up-to-date washers and dryers.
It wasn’t busy when I was using it, which is always a relief.
I’ve fought for my share of washers and dryers at campground that didn’t have enough facilities to support the number of sites (the Bryce Canyon R Journey in Utah and the Alamosa KOA in Colorado both come to mind there).
Final Thoughts on the Countryside RV Park
Our camper parked at site C5
I feel like this corner of Montana gets overlooked for more well known spots like Glacier National Park to the north, and Beartooth Highway and Yellowstone National Park to the east.
But Dillon and the surrounding area is gorgeous with so much to do.
Countryside RV Park is an excellent option for a home base as you explore the mountains and streams nearby.
The rates were reasonable, the campground is kept in immaculate shape, and the family-focused atmosphere is palpable from the moment you arrive.
We loved the big lots, the beautiful sunsets, and well-kept grassy areas. Plus, the easy access to I-15 can’t be beat by any campground in the area.
I wish we’d had longer in this part of Montana, both because of how pretty it is and how nice this campground was! If you find yourself near Dillon, you should absolutely give the Countryside RV Park a try.
