Glacier National Park

[slay]

I am looking ahead to the summer and planning a possible trip to the Northwest. I would like to spend a few days at Glacier National Park. What can anyone tell me about camping there. It appears from the NPS website that there are no hookups at any of the campgrounds within the park. If that's the case, how fast do the campgrounds fill up in July and do you still need to make reservations six months in advance? Are there any nice full-service campgrounds within a short distance of the park to serve as a base camp? Thanks in advance for any input.

[sweetnoni]

Lots of campgrounds outside the park. We stayed in Columbia Falls, maybe a 20 minute ride, and stayed for around $200 a week. Nothing fancy, but clean and had what we needed. There are many right in West Glacier though.

[bukhrn]

.

[katleman]

enblethen wrote:
You may consider the old buses for touring first time and then use your toad later. The driver's seem to well informed.

+1
I've taken the red bus tours each visit, well worth the money, especially on days where the tops can be rolled back. Allows everyone to see the sights as you are driving.

Keep in mind, late June and sometimes into early July, going to the sun road isn't open yet. Depends on the snowfall and road damage over the winter.

As for camping, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at Many Glacier. Great location and scenery, along with access to showers and laundry, as well as a general store and cafe. Yes, no hookups.

[Bumpyroad]

Two Hands wrote:
The KOA on the west side of the park is one of the nicest KOA's we have ever been in.

yep, I stayed at KOAs on both sides of the park. the west side one was very nice and had a family shower/restroom that was close to my site.
accommodating people let me overstay the check out time a bit due to electrical issues with my RV.
bumpy

[enblethen]

You may consider the old buses for touring first time and then use your toad later. The driver's seem to well informed.

[slay]

Thanks everyone for your input. Looks like the best option is to stay outside the park and use the toad for touring. When I finalize my plans I will select a campground.

[bradyk]

Regulars there since we are only a few hours away. If you want hookups stay just outside the park and drive in. We stay at Mountain Meadows in Hungry Horse and have for several years. Make sure you have a smaller vehicle for driving through the park as you cant take any rv's through.

[Lauren]

The KOA on the west side is indeed very, very nice and also, by far, the most expensive place in the area. If you do not want / need all the goodies that you pay for I would suggest North American.

[coolmom42]

The park web site will show you fill times for each campground throughout the year. IMHO go either in June and be there when the high country opens, or get there right after Labor Day. Much less crowded, although the weather may be less predictable. But do be forewarned, Glacier can be chilly and wet any day of the year. The last time I left there it was 41 degrees & raining at 11 AM on an August morning.

But there's no other place like it, I would go every year if it was closer to home.

[RamTX]

Two Hands wrote:
The KOA on the west side of the park is one of the nicest KOA's we have ever been in.

X2

[kknowlton]

There are several private CGs outside Glacier which are decent. Depending what kind of campsite you like, you have quite a choice, especially on the more forested west side. We stayed at the KOAs on both west & east sides; liked the west side one better, but we were disappointed that many of the trees had been removed (we were told they did that a couple years ago in order to accommodate the larger rigs.) Mountain Meadows is more wooded, we noticed (driving by). The east side of the park is much less forested than the west side, due to climatic conditions locally, so most CGs there will be in the open. The picture of the St Mary KOA is an accurate representation and a good example of what the east side of the park looks like.

I would recommend spending at least 2-3 days on each side of the park, if your schedule allows it. Consider taking the all-day Red Bus tour too - saves you the driving and gives you a good feel for what you might want to spend some time doing along Going to the Sun Road. Then you can go back to those areas (WITHOUT the RV) on a different day.

As far as reservations go, definitely make them - even for the CGs outside the park - well in advance. Glacier is not a terribly big park, and the vehicle-accessible area of it is quite small, but it gets about 2/3 of the visitors that much-bigger Yellowstone does. (Traffic is comparably bad because of that.) Glacier is awesome (and I don't use that word lightly) - well worth the trip. Bring along your passports and spend a day visiting next-door Waterton Lakes NP in Alberta, too. (Best accomplished from the east side.)

[boogie_4wheel]

We stayed at the Mountain Meadow RV Park near the West entrance. I would easily stay there again; hey would be my first call. Sites are in wooded area, it was quiet but not very far from main road, close proximity to Glacier entrance, FHU, many sites are pull through if that matters to you.

Stayed there about 2yrs ago.

[cindik]

Two Hands wrote:
The KOA on the west side of the park is one of the nicest KOA's we have ever been in.

I rode through here while visiting my Son who works at Glacier. Very nice cg, and very close to the west entrance of Glacier. Next time I go, I think I will rent a cabin at the KOA. Very close and convenient.

[bukhrn]

enblethen wrote:
There is private campgrounds on both sides of Glacier. They fill up quickly especially around holidays.
Park campground do fill up during the summer. It is hard to get in. Sites are tight, the larger ones are gone very quickly.
Make reservations early.

Some like Two Medicine don't take reservations.