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caysea7254's avatar
caysea7254
Explorer
Feb 09, 2021

Glacier National Park

Hi all! Have been trying to get a site at Many Glacier campground for Aug and of course I'm on rec.gov and have the site I want so all I have to do is click book now as soon as clock turns to 9am central which is 10am eastern any way everytime someone beats me so frustrating! Ok so now thw question how hard is it to get a first come first served site thst would fit a 32 ft 5th wheel in Apgar campground 2nd week in August!! Thanks
  • Kavoom wrote:
    caysea7254 wrote:
    Thank you everyone I appreciate all the great info. Ok do now we will just yry and book private campgrounds. Thanks again!


    I would. Less stress TRYING to get a campground and you are in early, set up ready to go. Take Grizzlies seriously up there... Really. Some guy running got killed outside the KOA here a few years ago. WE almost hit one on the roads a few years back. They can really really run fast. Oh, the road around the park is fun also if there are any issues with the going to the sun road. Two great places to visit. Many Glacier is a must. to Lake McDonald Lodge is fun decent food if you do a sit down. In Many Glaciers watch for bears there also although Black bears are more likely by the parking lot (Ask my wife). IF you can make a run into Canada do so and hit Waterton. Great little town. We once saw like 15 Grizzlies on that run... And the Canadians let the deer run the town and they are pretty aggressive about it, the deer that is. So watch your beer sitting down at one of the places there...

    OK, other things to do. On the south road from West and East Glacier, there is a place called the Izaak Walton Inn. Go There. Many of their rooms are old cabooses and the restaurant is pretty good. For ALL of you, most of the road is NOT in the park but down by the motel restaurant there is ONE area where you enter the park and go from 70 to 50 in about three seconds. The National Park LEO"s will get you... Watch it. Ask me how I know. I have a friend who has a cabin there and lets me camp and hook up to water electric for free... YAY... Oh the road to Polebridge is getting away from it all. No power on that side of the park north of Polebridge, just super rich people who make their own power. IF you are adventurous go to Bowman Lake. That is getting away from it all. MOST of the time you can make it up there... OH, and there is some washboard up that way... But that area is a lot of fun. There is a little bar up there in no where but It might be gone now.


    Not to mention the mercantile at Polebridge and the pastries! Oh the pastries, both sweet and savory! They ended up being our picnic lunch for a drive from there to the East side checking out St. Mary's CG within the park.

    Depending on Covid, the drive into Waterton may not be possible, but if it is possible, it's worth it. There's even a CG in town.
  • caysea7254 wrote:
    Thank you everyone I appreciate all the great info. Ok do now we will just yry and book private campgrounds. Thanks again!


    I would. Less stress TRYING to get a campground and you are in early, set up ready to go. Take Grizzlies seriously up there... Really. Some guy running got killed outside the KOA here a few years ago. WE almost hit one on the roads a few years back. They can really really run fast. Oh, the road around the park is fun also if there are any issues with the going to the sun road. Two great places to visit. Many Glacier is a must. to Lake McDonald Lodge is fun decent food if you do a sit down. In Many Glaciers watch for bears there also although Black bears are more likely by the parking lot (Ask my wife). IF you can make a run into Canada do so and hit Waterton. Great little town. We once saw like 15 Grizzlies on that run... And the Canadians let the deer run the town and they are pretty aggressive about it, the deer that is. So watch your beer sitting down at one of the places there...

    OK, other things to do. On the south road from West and East Glacier, there is a place called the Izaak Walton Inn. Go There. Many of their rooms are old cabooses and the restaurant is pretty good. For ALL of you, most of the road is NOT in the park but down by the motel restaurant there is ONE area where you enter the park and go from 70 to 50 in about three seconds. The National Park LEO"s will get you... Watch it. Ask me how I know. I have a friend who has a cabin there and lets me camp and hook up to water electric for free... YAY... Oh the road to Polebridge is getting away from it all. No power on that side of the park north of Polebridge, just super rich people who make their own power. IF you are adventurous go to Bowman Lake. That is getting away from it all. MOST of the time you can make it up there... OH, and there is some washboard up that way... But that area is a lot of fun. There is a little bar up there in no where but It might be gone now.
  • Thank you everyone I appreciate all the great info. Ok do now we will just yry and book private campgrounds. Thanks again!
  • caysea7254 wrote:
    Hi all! Have been trying to get a site at Many Glacier campground for Aug and of course I'm on rec.gov and have the site I want so all I have to do is click book now as soon as clock turns to 9am central which is 10am eastern any way everytime someone beats me so frustrating! Ok so now thw question how hard is it to get a first come first served site thst would fit a 32 ft 5th wheel in Apgar campground 2nd week in August!! Thanks


    First come first serve...Glacier... That's funny...
  • caysea7254 wrote:
    Hi all! Have been trying to get a site at Many Glacier campground for Aug and of course I'm on rec.gov and have the site I want so all I have to do is click book now as soon as clock turns to 9am central which is 10am eastern any way everytime someone beats me so frustrating! Ok so now thw question how hard is it to get a first come first served site thst would fit a 32 ft 5th wheel in Apgar campground 2nd week in August!! Thanks


    Listen, the campgrounds within the park are not that great. I live up here an we do at least once a year. There are some private campgrounds particularly south that are quite nice with full hook-ups or electric water.

    We have stayed at one in particular, primarily because it has trees and is not a parking lot and if you get the right spot a bit of privacy that the trees also help with. There are others.

    This is our favorite http://www.glaciercampground.com/ This has some pics including fifth wheels parked. https://www.campgroundreviews.com/regions/montana/west-glacier/glacier-campground-1703


    We intend to try this one https://mountainmeadowrv.com/rv-sites
  • caysea7254 wrote:
    Thank you ReneeG. May I ask where outside the park? Thanks


    You're welcome. We've stayed at Mountain Meadows, West Glacier KOA, and in Hungry Horse. We've also stayed at North American RV Village in Coram and the East Glacier KOA in St. Mary.
  • The Glacier NP website has a campground info and status website, check it out here. This gives you a good idea on the fill times of each. When we've gone, it's been in September, but we usually stay outside the park.
  • We pulled into Apgar late in the afternoon in June 2019 was told last one filled 1/2 hr ago. Went to a private campground for the night and Went in the next morning and there were a lot of open sites. We were pulling a 30' at that time. That was mid week.

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