Afterbay Campground

Dan & Jaclyn are world travelers, having kicked the dirt in over 100 countries and sailed within al 7 seas. Currently, we are full-time, location independent, perpetual travelers, roaming around North America.

We found a home base at the South Shore Afterbay Campground in order to visit The Bighorn Canyon Recreational Area and the Yellowtail Dam.

The Montana side of the the park is far less developed than the Wyoming side and therefore the ability to reach said side of canyon requires a commitment. Meaning, it was a very long hour off the highway, through some major construction, to get here and the campground was found NOT to be very inspiring upon arrival.

Arriving to a location directly along the river, it just looked tired. A campground that has likely seen better days we were not all that surprised when the host told us that the fee to stay here had been removed. This so the campground can undergo renovations.

The location has about 20 spaces along the river for rigs of any size. There is a tiered second level that is better suited for smaller rigs and these sites overlook the lower sites and thus the river.

There is no amp services, water or sewer here. Although they do have vault toilets, picnic tables, bear food lockers, fire pits and a trash area. The AT&T service signal was fine without boost.

The location of the campground is perfect in regards to exploring this side of The Bighorn Canyon Recreational Area. Literally a couple minutes outside the entrance of the park. Further to that, we were close enough to hike to the Yellowtail Dam and who would have known... it's one of the tallest of its kind in the country!

That said, the campground is fine. Tired, yes, although it was clean, quiet and right on the water. The bathrooms were vault, although they too were tired and so we were not all that excited about using them. Were they clean and did they have the essentials, yes... and so again, I state the campground was fine, just very very tired.

In Fort Smith had we made a turn, we would have been directly across the river at a different campground named North Shore Afterbay Campground. This is the renovated version that was recently completed.

I suggest you find that turn and go over there where everything is brand new and the fee is the same... Nothing!

RATING - CAMPGROUND FELL BELOW OUR EXPECTATIONS

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Expected a dry camp, was that wrong. There are 13 electric and water sites by the water and more on a level up hill. All sites have 50, 30 and 20 amp hookup and water. Sites are 28 a night and with senior pass it is 14.

Overall pretty frustrating experience. We are by no means high maintenance campers! We’re in the middle of an 8 week road trip and this is my first negative rating.

Mass frustration about fees. On the campsite board says No Fees through May 29, 2023. There is no information or instructions for after May 29. Online it clearly says $18 for tent sites. A local just happened to come by and let us know that we couldn’t pay onsite, you have to go into a store in town. When he drove to the store my husband was charged $30! He was told the north campsite is $18. Unfortunately I wasn’t with him, he didn’t have the screenshots of the website pricing and he’s too nice and he paid the $30. Apparently he was told since all sites have utilities, it’s $30. They’re charging for power we’re not going to use and water that they don’t have! The man in charge was not available until the next day to help clarify or answer any questions.

Biggest complaints, $30 is WAY too much for tent site with no water and disgusting fly infested bathrooms. This place has potential, but if we weren’t exhausted from a long day of driving and if we were to do it again, we’d go to the site across lake. Try Grapevine instead.