Carbella Recreation Site

Camp was remodeled/upgraded in 2021 and what once was a semi-organized dispersed camping area is now an established campground. There are now 16 numbered sites with gravel parking pads and new tables, fire rings and bear boxes. Minimal shade/trees. Three new pit toilets are located nearest to site 10 and the day use/boat parking and site 4. No water and no trash. A few of the sites are a little rough around the edges thanks to the flooding of the Yellowstone River in June 2022 but all sites are still serviceable.

This is a great location with river access and open sites of various sizes.

The road in is a bit confusing - the first sign you see will point to a road on the left hand side that leads to a gravel area for the community dumpsters, the SECOND road on the left leads directly to Carbella. Tip: it doesn't matter where you turn, you can access Carbella from both roads. If you miss these turns, no worries, the next place to turn around (big enough for a 30' RV and tow, anyhow) is about 3 miles up the road on the right hand side.

Be warned: The main road in is BUMPY. Our motorhome was fine with it, but our tow (a mini cooper) got a busted up bumper from the rocks and ruts. If you're in any sort of a truck or jeep, you'll probably be fine.

When you first approach the sites, there's 2-3 large sites on the left, next to the river, but the roads into them are covered in VERY large rocks. We did see a pop up camper and airstream in these spots, so it is accessible.

Further down, past the toilet and boat launch, there are about 5-7 sites against the river side (no access, though) and one larger site/turn around area at the very end. Sites are secluded from each other (though fully open to the road) and have a picnic table and fire ring. Road in along these sites is very worn and rutted.

We found this campground got very busy on Friday and Saturday, with all spots being filled by mid-Saturday, but was desolate aside from that. No highway noise from US-89. Beautiful views of the hills and mountains. Stock up on supplies beforehand, your closest supermarkets are in Gardiner (17 miles south) or in Livingston (37 miles north). Verizon signal was amazing (3-4 bars with no booster needed), considering we were in the middle of nowhere.

This is an amazing site for visiting Yellowstone - it's about a half hour from the north entrance (which is one of the most amazing, in our opinion), and an easy ride with little to no traffic.

LANDERWUST really gave great information on their review. I'm going to refer there and only talk about my experience otherwise.

I didn't actually plan on staying here. It was a fallback to a fallback. But I ended up totally happy, and I would certainly plan on just staying here in the future, if looking for a free spot in this area.

I even ended up seeing Yellowstone earlier than I planned, just because of how great this spot is for the north entrance.

Road in was still pretty torn up when I was here. My Outback doesn't mind in the least, but I didn't like hearing the eggs in my cooler bounce if I took it very fast at all.

When I first arrived, the vault toilet was a pretty awful mess, with no toilet paper (except what littered the floor everywhere). At some point, someone came and cleaned it, and it was great. However, the rest of the site was respectably clean the whole time. I only knocked it one star for all of that.

Verizon 4G signal was usable for my job. I could stream, and never needed to use my booster.

Overall, great site. I would go again.

We were leaving Yellowstone (north entrance) just before dark and all of the campgrounds were full (well, we didn't bother checking the $50/night sites...). This was a lucky find, and worked out just fine. The road in is awful and bumpy and graveling, but we made it pulling a 1959 camper. It was pretty full, but we still found a nice space. Sadly, someone had left a bunch of trash and toilet paper where we parked. We picked it up - such a shame to leave such a beautiful, free spot a mess. If you're not going to clean up after yourself, you don't belong here. (We didn't use the toilet, so cannot comment on that)

We found this area by using the GPS listed on Campendium. If you look on Google Maps, there is a "Carbella Campground" on the map, but this is not the right location. Follow the GPS on Campendium.

First, you cross over a cattle guard and you'll see the Carbella sign. The road is fine but it does get BUMPY on the way in and there are about 3-5 potholes. We made it through slowly.

Once you make it around the bend you'll start noticing spots. We stayed in the first one on the left. There are some LARGE rocks in this spot but we got our truck and Airstream in there. We did have to back up into the field in order to get out. This spot is right on the river and you can see it through the trees. Plus, it is private and you won't have neighbors. There is a little walking trail that you can take to the bridge.

Further down, there are some larger, more easily accessed spots for RVs and such.

Easy access by dirt road, sites are parallel to the river and some under trees, most of these spaces have picnic tables and a fire ring. The north side is accessed via a dirt track but the south side is across a rocky field though that didn't deter travel trailers and 5th wheels.
AT&T 2 bars to non existent, the iPhone 6+ got enough signal to make and receive calls well, the iPhone 5s had no service even with the WeBoost on, the AT&T iPad Pros got a signal but hardly usable even with the WeBoost. Verizon JetPack worked a treat with the WeBoost averaging 6 to 7 mb down with 2-3 mb up.
Very quiet although if you stay near the boat launch the pickup buses and trailers for the white water rafters may disturb you a little.

We stayed at Carbella in late July. We arrived on a Thursday and had no trouble finding a space. The sites run along Yellowstone River and most have a fire ring and picnic table. The spaces are very rocky but we just took it slow and had no problems. When we arrived, there were 4 other campers and still plenty of room for several more without feeling too crowded. The weekends see a lot of traffic with river rafting tours-the parking area fills up in the morning and empties by evening. We stayed about a week to explore Yellowstone-the north entrance is about a 30 minute drive. In that time, one small camper was at the site with us the entire time but other campers (RVs and tents) came and left on a daily basis.

There are vault toilets available at the site and we filled up water in Yellowstone. Good Verizon service-no trouble streaming Netflix or browsing the internet.

Great free spot for easy access to Yellowstone.

We stayed 2 weeks in August. I found that other reviews were accurate, but if you take it slow getting in & out, you won't have any problems with the rocks. They are well rounded and no sharp edges. We met other Campendium members while there, and had a great time.

Got good att signal on the road leading up, but it isn’t open yet. Wish I knew when it did.

Easy to find campsite. Great views. No hassle with getting in or finding it after dark.