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kwplot34's avatar
kwplot34
Explorer
Apr 27, 2016

Glacier park Montana

We are heading to Glacier state park in Montana in July. Was on line looking at their campgrounds and looking for opinions on which one to stay at. We have a 26 foot class C. We will probably stay for at least 3 nights.
Thanks in advance for your opinions and thoughts.
  • ORbiker: No, you will not fit a 42' 5'er in Glacier RV Park. It's for smaller rigs.
  • But the upside is you do not have to fight the traffic or circle and circle and circle parking lots for a space skipping pull offs because there is no space and both of you get to enjoy the scenery instead of the driver missing things because they are driving.


    Time your drive - leave early morning.
  • kknowlton wrote:
    No one has mentioned private CGs yet. If you want hookups, you will need to opt for one of those. We stayed at the KOAs on both east & west sides of the park. West side is very nice, has a breakfast cafe & ice cream shop in it, but not much shade; most sites are geared for big rigs. There are some backins with some shade which most Class Cs would fit into. East side was not quite as nice, no shade at all, but an amazing view of some of the mountains inside the park. Both are close to the park entrances. Not a lot of choice in private CGs on the east side, but there are a ton of them on the west side, some quite wooded & pretty, all with some combination of hookups. (And all reservable, I believe.) Scenery on the east side will be more spectacular, but both sides are beautiful.

    Whether you stay inside or outside the park, I strongly recommend you take one of the red bus tours while you are there - you WILL need to reserve ahead of time. (BTW, these tours do pick up at the KOAs, as well as inside the park.) The guides know their stuff, and the ride is fun - AND all of you will get to see the scenery. As others have mentioned, you won't be able to drive your MH across the park on Going-to-the-Sun road due to size restrictions (nor would you likely want to!) so the red bus will get you oriented. The park also has shuttle buses, but expect them to be crowded and you may need to wait a while to get back on one.

    Apgar CG is heavily wooded, in the pines, very pretty, but not much view. St Mary's, on the drier east side, has little shade and smaller trees, but does have a lovely view. No hookups, as with most NP CGs. If you don't need hookups, any of the bigger NPS CGs inside Glacier would be great - but I echo the comments about making sure you'll fit into sites. Some sites we saw in some of the CGs were definitely too small and unlevel for any camper, even for a small popup.


    Would anybody happen to have some information on the KOA campground on the west side? which city or an address? I like the idea that the tour buses will pick you up there and full hook ups.
  • Thanks everybody for the suggestions. Made reservations at the West Glacier KOA for 4 days, and a Red Bus tour for one full day. Should be a great trip.
  • Last summer I stopped in to check out Glacier the 4th of July week. Found East and West entrance campgrounds to be packed. So I stayed half way between on 2 at Glacier Meadows.

    People where super friendly and quite with plenty of room to roam. Drive did not bother me to get to east or west entrance. Gave me more time to enjoy the views off 2!


  • Good choice. The KOA is within a couple of miles of Glacier and does have full hook ups. I haven't stayed there. Be sure and review. We have a travel trailer in our future.

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