Glacier National Park

[sam22]

I'm looking to visit Glacier National Park in July (Montana, not BC). I want a campground that has hookups so we will be staying outside the park, most likely on the west side. I'm looking for recommendations on where to stay. The KAO looks very nice but it's really expensive. I've looked at San-Suz-Ed RV Park and Glacier Campground. Both are close to the park, similarly priced and look fairly private (I'm not interested in the parking lot style RV parks). Any suggestions on another spot I should consider or some recent experiences from the two I mentioned would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[sam22]

padredw wrote:
Here is a different view of our campsite in Mountain Meadow, and another photo which shows what I mean by "terraced" campsites. We just drove straight into our own level site. Hope this helps.

Looks great! Thanks!

[padredw]

Here is a different view of our campsite in Mountain Meadow, and another photo which shows what I mean by "terraced" campsites. We just drove straight into our own level site. Hope this helps.

[padredw]

This is not a very great photo but it does deal with the question of being "unlevel". Our site was very level, but the sites in this area, at least, are laid out as "terraces." I found this to increase our feeling of privacy. We were not much aware of our neighbors above us or below us. Also the sites were direct pull throughs. I did not experience any difficulty in "navigation" in the campground. It was quiet; we had good views; there was great opportunity for walking our lab dog above the campsite. I wish I had a better picture, but this will have to do. I have better videos, but they won't work here. You can see the exit of our neighbor above into the roadway. We had plenty of room for parking in our site. I pulled up this far by preference.

[sam22]

padredw wrote:
Mountain Meadow in Hungry Horse is one of our favorite campgrounds--not just in West Glacier but in the entire country. Check it out.

What did you like about it? I read on another site that it's a little tricky to manoeuvre around and very unlevel. What was your experience?

[Kevinwa]

sam22 wrote:

Kevinwa wrote:
We stayed at the St Mary KOA in 2016. Loved it. You are parked in rows with few trees between the site, but there was tons of space. Never felt that the neighbor was on top of us. Waterton and the east side of Glacier is still one of the most memorable camping trips of my life. Epic!
I also used to view rv parks as parking lots. I am now coming to realize that whe;n out touring and site seeing for the day it is very wonderful and relaxing to come back to a full service site, have a nice hot shower, and just kick back and enjoy. Yes, when my trip involves lots of time at the campground in the daytime I like a more private stall and can get by with less ammenies!

Thanks! I'm not totally opposed to the open rv parks, I just like to try and get a mix of hook ups with the feel of Camping. Plus, I have two very friendly dogs who love to say hi (bark) at every person who walks by so a few more trees makes it a bit more pleasant for everyone!

The St Mary Koa does have a about 50’ by 200’ fenced dog walk area. Very few trees in the park, but I loved the view!

[sam22]

Kevinwa wrote:
We stayed at the St Mary KOA in 2016. Loved it. You are parked in rows with few trees between the site, but there was tons of space. Never felt that the neighbor was on top of us. Waterton and the east side of Glacier is still one of the most memorable camping trips of my life. Epic!
I also used to view rv parks as parking lots. I am now coming to realize that whe;n out touring and site seeing for the day it is very wonderful and relaxing to come back to a full service site, have a nice hot shower, and just kick back and enjoy. Yes, when my trip involves lots of time at the campground in the daytime I like a more private stall and can get by with less ammenies!

Thanks! I'm not totally opposed to the open rv parks, I just like to try and get a mix of hook ups with the feel of Camping. Plus, I have two very friendly dogs who love to say hi (bark) at every person who walks by so a few more trees makes it a bit more pleasant for everyone!

[Kevinwa]

We stayed at the St Mary KOA in 2016. Loved it. You are parked in rows with few trees between the site, but there was tons of space. Never felt that the neighbor was on top of us. Waterton and the east side of Glacier is still one of the most memorable camping trips of my life. Epic!
I also used to view rv parks as parking lots. I am now coming to realize that whe;n out touring and site seeing for the day it is very wonderful and relaxing to come back to a full service site, have a nice hot shower, and just kick back and enjoy. Yes, when my trip involves lots of time at the campground in the daytime I like a more private stall and can get by with less ammenies!

[jamesu]

We stayed at N. American RV Pk in Coram 5 nights this past June. 1-800-704-4266. No more than 5-6 from the west entrance. Clean and a friendly, efficient staff. We would stay there again.

[Limit4]

Mountain Meadows in Hungry Horse. They had a truck with tank to pump your black and grey water if you could not get full hookups. Give them a call. Very nice campground.

[JCK]

We stayed at St. Mary KOA nice campground . You can get a hot pizza delivered right to your campsite They make them at the clubhouse. Very easy to the East entrance to park no lines. Nice sites and nice people I would stay there again

[westernrvparkow]

Horsedoc wrote:
"What does this mean, "We heard bad reports from Browning on folks who had come in from the east"? Can you elaborate? Thanks. "


Friends came thru Browning and stopped for fuel at a casino/cafe/fuel stop. Had some comments from the locals about stopping and parking. It turned into a 'this is an indian reservation and you are not indian'. Our folks felt uncomfortable (read threatened) and left. I would figure the locals would have been glad to have the business. Apparently they were not owners of the place, just hanging out. It is sorta eco-depressed looking area I guess.

Many reservations are extremely economically depressed. They are also very wary to openly hostile of outsiders. Many times tourists overestimate the impact of their spending and underestimate the impact of their commentary. I am sure that Browning businesses have way too many comments like "it sure must be hard living in such a remote and desolate place", "is the wind always this bad" to the even more offensive "are drugs and alcohol still a big problem here"
Then there is the elephant in the room that is many Native Americans are hostile to outsiders and those outsiders find the grooming, dress, customs and mannerisms of those tribal members off putting and intimidating.

[Horsedoc]

"What does this mean, "We heard bad reports from Browning on folks who had come in from the east"? Can you elaborate? Thanks. "


Friends came thru Browning and stopped for fuel at a casino/cafe/fuel stop. Had some comments from the locals about stopping and parking. It turned into a 'this is an indian reservation and you are not indian'. Our folks felt uncomfortable (read threatened) and left. I would figure the locals would have been glad to have the business. Apparently they were not owners of the place, just hanging out. It is sorta eco-depressed looking area I guess.

[sam22]

Horsedoc wrote:
Electric and water at Glacier CG, but it is the closest CG to the entrance (West entrance( to the park) we were there a few years back, but only slept there and ate a few meals. There are some pretty long drives and slow to see the sites. Going To The Sun is a must do over to St Marys.
Goat Lick - it is amazing to see those goats walk and run up an almost vertical rock wall. We came in from the South on US 93 by Flathead Lake and Kalispell. We heard bad reports from Browning on folks who had come in from the east,

What does this mean, "We heard bad reports from Browning on folks who had come in from the east"? Can you elaborate? Thanks.

[sam22]

Thanks for the ideas, I'll check them out! I looked at east glacier but all the rv parks outside the park had that parking lot look which is really unappealing to me. Full hookups are nice but not necessary. Thanks again!