Glacier park Montana

[kwplot34]

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.

[Kavoom]

Glacier campground on the west side is a good choice for rv park. You are in trees nice people run it and a Mile from the entrance. We live up here in Helena MT. This our go to no muss no fuss choice and we'll priced. And you can gET a site when you want it mostly. Or best go to Kananaskis country in Alberta, but that's another story. Google the name. Good park.

[rexlion]

I stayed in Many Glacier. Sites are close together and on the small side, but that didn't bother me. Plenty of wildlife around the CG while I was there: deer, rabbits, etc. Towering mountains all around.

On the west side, I wanted wi-fi and electric so I stayed in the private Glacier CG located a mile or two from the W entrance. But I spent some time around Apgar and it seemed very nice there under the big trees with Lake MacDonald so close by; one can walk to the dock and rent a canoe, or buy an ice cream cone.

[bukhrn]

Lauren wrote:
Only downside to bus tour over your toad or tv is that you are doing the Going To The Sun Road on THIER schedule, not yours.

That is exactly why we didn't do the Red Bus, I hate being on someone else's schedule, but if it doesn't bother you, it might be a good choice.

[TyroneandGladys]

We travel with a dog and when we were at Glacier we stayed at the East Side KOA the red bus picks up there and they have a dog walking service so that our dog was walked and fed during the day while we were out.

[Lauren]

Only downside to bus tour over your toad or tv is that you are doing the Going To The Sun Road on THIER schedule, not yours.

[kknowlton]

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.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

We loved staying at St Mary's - quiet and peaceful with awesome views. Easy walk to the Visitor Centre to catch the shuttle and enjoy the scenery with someone else driving, plus get on and off as we went all the way through. Saw lots of huge bears that came down every evening around dusk for the berries end August/early September = kept the rangers on their toes but wonderful to see them in their natural environment and up close.

If we were staying longer than just 3 days, we would have spent a further 3 days on the West side around Apgar or Fish Creek CG, just purely for the experience of having done both sides. If we were to stay again for 3 days we'd still stay at St Marys FWIW.

[kwplot34]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been on the site and they have a lot of campgrounds to choose from. Just wanted some input on favorite campgrounds. I did notice there was a lot of first come, first serve. will probably stay 2-3 nights.

[Jayco-noslide]

It's a very big Park with several campgrounds; none with hook-ups. On the west side is Apgar campground which is very large and with many but not all sites OK for your RV. Usually you can get a site if you get there around mid-day. I don't think it's reservable. On the other side is St Marys, also big and reservable and about an hour away. To get from the east to the west side, you can't go through the park with your RV but US 2 goes around the south side and is a fine road. Between those 2 are several campgrounds but you need to research them to see if your size fits and if you can reserve. Oh, lets see, another one on the west side, extremely wooded but I'm not remembering the name. Also, numerous private ones outside the Park, especially on US 2 west of the Park. Glacier is our favorite place in the entire country.

[bukhrn]

kwplot34 wrote:
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.

Just to nit pick a little, Glacier is a National Park, Not a State Park, however we all got the idea, as coolmom42 said, check this site, https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm.
We too loved Two Medicine on the East side, it is first come first serve, so get there EARLY in the morning & wait till the site (or a site) you want opens, also a note, there are NO hookups, but there is a dump station & water fill.
This was our site;

[Lauren]

Are you planning on staying the Park? East side or West side (big difference in the two). What are your interests (this will aid in determining which side one might recommend).

[Dick_B]

East. Just search this Forum in the RV Parks section for `Glacier' and take your pick.

[coolmom42]

You will need to arrive very early in the day on a weekday. Check the NPS web site for fill times for each campground on the dates you expect to arrive.

Also check the NPS site for detailed descriptions of the amenities at each campground. That may help you eliminate some of them.

I really enjoyed Two Medicine, but everyone has a different idea of what is the "best" campground.

You probably will be out touring around anyway and not spending a lot of time there.