Ackley Lake Campground

The Great Outdoors

Central Montana is a paradise for outdoor lovers, with mountains, rivers, and lakes all readily accessible when camping at Ackley Lake Campground. An hour's drive east of Lewistown is Bear Gulch Pictographs, a fantastic hiking spot and a must-see for anyone interesting in Native American history. The site’s half-mile hike into its pictograph canyon is easy enough for almost all ages and fitness levels. Unlike many other archeological sites, Bear Gulch has seen only minimal disturbance, and most of the pictographs are in pristine condition.There’s also the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, one of the few sections of the Mighty Mo’ that still looks the way it did when Lewis and Clark passed through in the early 19th century. One of the best things to do here is rent a kayak in Lewistown or Great Falls and float through the Monument, seeing the famed White Cliffs of the Missouri along the way.Sluice Boxes State Park is just over an hour's drive from Ackley Lake State Park and offers some of the most interesting hiking in the Little Belt Mountains. Its main trail parallels Belt Creek and follows the Montana Central Railroad’s now-defunct trackbed. The remains of the mines accessed by the railroad are still somewhat intact (entry is incredibly unsafe though), which makes hiking through the park a fascinating trip back in time.If you’re in the mood for a scenic drive during your RV camping adventure, the Kings Hill Scenic Byway is an excellent route to take with your rental RV. The 71-mile-long section of Highway 89 passes through the mountain towns of Monarch and Neihart, overlooks the majestic Showdown Ski Area, before coming to its conclusion at White Sulpher Springs. Spectacular mountain scenery flanks both sides of the road throughout the journey, and if you want to turn the byway into a loop, it’s easy to add Highway 87 and 191 to get back to Ackley Lake State Park.

Exploring the City

Great Falls may be the largest city near Ackley Lake, but Lewistown is the closet and probably where you’ll spend most of your time outside the campground. Founded during a gold rush and later sustaining itself as a railway stopover on the route to Great Falls, Lewistown is the hub of commerce in central Montana. On it’s Main Street, you’ll find a good selection of restaurants, souvenir shops, and even a microbrewery.If you’re interested in learning more about Lewistown and its history, check out the Central Montana Historical Museum. The classic small-town museum is filled with clothes, household items, and knickknacks donated by the town’s residents over the years, which together tell the fascinating story of how Lewistown came to be what it is today.A particularly unique experience when getting a rental motorhome at Ackley Lake Campground is the Charlie Russell Chew Choo – a tourist train that takes a 56-mile loop through the countryside while serving gourmet meals to its customers. This trip should be on any train aficionado’s bucket list.There’s also the option of touring a Hutterite Colony when you’re motorhome camping near Ackley Lake. The Hutterites are an ethnic group descended from German Anabaptists, similar to Amish and Mennonites, and they live together in communes sharing the proceeds of their work. The vast majority of the group’s members live in Montana, spread out across the Rocky Mountain Front and central part of the state. The King Colony Ranch is fairly close to Lewistown, and its residents are happy to give tours and show outsiders how they keep their self-sufficient community running.