West Tensleep Lake
October 2026
About
Overview
West Tensleep Lake Campground is located on West Tensleep Lake on the west side of scenic Cloud Peak Skyway, near the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area. The Bighorn National Forest offers a wide variety of activities, including hiking, fishing, scenic driving and a number of historic sites. The administering organization is Rustic Freedom / Gallatin Canyon Campgrounds; e-mail: support@rusticfreedom.com
Recreation
West Tensleep Lake covers 125 acres and is open to non-motorized watercraft only, making it a perfect location for canoeing and fishing. Anglers will find rainbow, brown and brook trout in the cool waters of the lake.
The popular West Tensleep Lake Trail begins just outside the campground. The trail leads into the Cloud Peak Wilderness, passing Lake Helen, Lake Marion and Misty Moon Lake before climbing to the summit of the 13,167 foot Cloud Peak, the highest peak in the Bighorn Range.
Off-road vehicle trails, scenic jeep roads, hiking and horseback riding trails and many fishing streams are available in the surrounding area.
Facilities
The campground offers single-family sites each equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided.
The nearest dump station is 17 miles away on Powder River Pass
Natural Features
The campground is situated on the southern shore of scenic West Tensleep Lake, in an area full of alpine lakes and creeks. A forest of lodgepole pine, Douglas fir and spruce trees covers the area.
Contact Info
For facility specific information, please call (307) 431-7446.
Nearby Attractions
Meadowlark Lake is within a few miles of the campground. This small lake allows motorized craft at a no-wake speed.
The High Park Lookout is located just east of Meadowlark Lake. This old fire lookout was built by the CCC decades ago and is no longer active. A short hike leads to the lookout, where hikers are awarded panoramic views of the surrounding area.
Deer Haven Lodge and Meadowlark Lodge are nearby, offering dining, lodging, guided horseback riding and fishing and camping supplies.
Charges & Cancellations
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This cancellation processing fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
Amenities
Phone: 406-587-9054
Is WEST TENSLEEP LAKE fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches WEST TENSLEEP LAKE in Ten Sleep, WY for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching WEST TENSLEEP LAKE for cancellations is the paid part.