I need some reasonable campgrounds - Montana Owners Club

Trailer Trash 2 · 01-09-2010, 07:12 PM

G and I will be going to Montana this July to see Glacier Nat Park the east side first then the west side so we will be staying for 4 nights on the east side entrance and see the sights, and then to the west side entrance and do the same there. On the east side is a town called Saint Mary there is a KOA @ 49.99 per day and another called Johnson's of St Mary, @ 40 .00 per day which of these 2 RV parks are worth staying at, I think 49.99 per day is outragous I dont want to brake the bank to go see some ice. if you know of any reasonable RV parks with FULL HOOK UPS please reply and give me the name, we want it to be as close to the park entrance a buffer of 10 miles to the entrance is OK.
Thank you for your help.

gojodo · 01-10-2010, 12:22 AM

John and I have stayed at Johnson's in St. Mary's it is pretty much the only place around. It was OK nothing great but did have hookups. I believe the KOA was across the street. Johnson's is up on a hill and we had a back in site with a view of the mountains with Water and Electric.There is a family owned resturant on site with good food but in the town of Babb is an excellent resturant with the best steaks! However the town of St. Marys did not have much on the way of groceries and Babb did not have anything.
Now in West Glacier we stayed at Canyon Rv Campground and Cabins, I would not stay there again. Tight spots ( I took out a tree trying to pull out between 3 big rigs a tree, sign and rock) The management was run by brun Hilda who would come into your site for inspection and leave a note if she did not like anything. For us it was the rug at our steps. There are other campgrounds near by. West Glacier is busier and offers more for the tourist. We are glad we stayed on both sides as well as Waterton on the Canadian side and hope to return.

adelmoll · 01-10-2010, 01:24 AM

Hungry Horse on the West side is a great campground and not far from the entrance.. This is where we first met Steve and Vicki and I'm sure you can find lots of pictures on their postcards.. As to the East side, there isn't a lot of choice as you can see.

Be sure to at least drive to Waterton Lakes if you get a chance.. It is beautiful.

Helen

BirdingRVer · 01-10-2010, 03:02 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Trailer Trash 2

G and I will be going to Montana this July to see Glacier Nat Park the east side first then the west side so we will be staying for 4 nights on the east side entrance and see the sights, and then to the west side entrance and do the same there. On the east side is a town called Saint Mary there is a KOA @ 49.99 per day and another called Johnson's of St Mary, @ 40 .00 per day which of these 2 RV parks are worth staying at, I think 49.99 per day is outragous I dont want to brake the bank to go see some ice. if you know of any reasonable RV parks with FULL HOOK UPS please reply and give me the name, we want it to be as close to the park entrance a buffer of 10 miles to the entrance is OK.
Thank you for your help.

Don,

We stayed in St. Mary's for two weeks last July. If you want full hookups then KOA and Johnson's are your only choices and make sure you have reservations. We preferred the KOA. It has more sites, most are pull-throughs and it is a little closer to level than Johnson's.

illapah · 01-10-2010, 09:16 AM

We stay at North American RV Park in Coram (West side) WWW.northamericanrvpark.com.
Remember that this is the 100 year anniversary of GNP. May be good idea to make reservations.
We will be staying there for the 5th summer in a row. No pool or spa and not many kids most of the time. About 5 miles from west entrance.

Art-n-Marge · 01-10-2010, 11:05 AM

In case you hadn't heard, Glacier National Park has lost so much of the glaciers they'll probably have to rename the place to Granite National Park. If you want ice, swing by on your way up and I'll let you borrow my portable ice maker.

We stayed at the KOA you mentioned and it was okay. We didn't spend much time there because we'd get up early and head to the Park, then return late. The Going-to-the-sun road has a 20' vehicle limit in the middle and I was able to drive my short bed Ford through there, but my long bed Ford is 22' so that is over for me. They were working on the road, but I don't know if that has been changed. Both days I ventured on that road it was socked in by thick fog and we couldn't see much of anything including the road.

You will definitely need to use Highway 2 to get to each side of the park. We didn't stay on the West side at all but there seemed to be more CGs on that side. Next time up, we're looking for staying on the West side.

ols1932 · 01-10-2010, 12:27 PM

Art,
They don't stand there and measure your vehicle when you pass through. I've seen many vehicles just like yours (not upgraded to F-350, of course) that have gone over that road without any problem. I think their main warning is so you don't take any Class C motor home through.

Orv

HamRad · 01-10-2010, 04:06 PM

Don,
Enjoy your trip. The east side really has only the two choices.... the KOA (which I think is way overpriced) but as Grant said mostly level, easy pull thrus..... We drove thru Johnsons and ths spaces are a bit tighter than the KOA but you do have some magnificent views.... Not all the sites but many have the views.

In spite of the price I think we'd probably stay at the KOA again!

On the west side we stayed at the Mountain View CG in Hungry Horse! Excellent park. We would definitely stay there again!

Dennis and Mary Kay

adelmoll · 01-11-2010, 01:02 AM

We have been to this park several times and had no problems on the Going to th Sun Road with our long bed F-350.. One time we had to stay until July 1st before they opened the road though due to the fact that the snow was still there.. They finally opened on July 1st and we were in line for the 11am opening.. They would only let us go as far as the lodge in the middle that day and nothing was open except for the restrooms.. Many people brought their skies and had a fun day... At the time, they said it was the latest the road had opened and we drove thru snow at least 10 ft on either side of us.. Not much of a view that way.

BirdingRVer · 01-11-2010, 02:29 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Art-n-Marge

snip
The Going-to-the-sun road has a 20' vehicle limit in the middle and I was able to drive my short bed Ford through there, but my long bed Ford is 22' so that is over for me. They were working on the road, but I don't know if that has been changed.

We didn't stay on the West side at all but there seemed to be more CGs on that side. Next time up, we're looking for staying on the West side.

I drove my 21 foot 1 ton dually over Going-to-the-Sun without any problems. As Orv said "No one measures your truck".

We stayed a week in West Glacier and two weeks at St. Mary's. The west side has a lot more RV Parks and a grocery store. However there is really only one point of access to the park on the west side. The east side has a lot more trails and access to the park at St. Mary's, Many Glacier and Two Medicine.

Texas5er · 01-11-2010, 12:06 PM

We camped at Mountain Meadow Campground outside of Hungry Horse. They have a small pond at the entrance and I enjoyed some fly fishing from the bank. Campsites are in the trees and have fire rings and full hookups. Would stay there again. We were there in Sept and enjoyed the huckelberry pie. We took the red open air bus over the going to the sun road. I recommed it. We were able to watch a grizzly high up the mountain side for quite a long time while the driver kept us moving. The bus ride was the highlight of our trip to glacier. A very beautiful place.

Leaseit · 01-11-2010, 03:34 PM

We were at Glacier National 4 months ago and stayed at the KOA. While most are pull thoughs and a lot or spaces, i think i would have liked to try Johnsons because of the view.
As a precaution, from the West side take Route 2 over to the town of Browning, but DO NOT take Route 89 from Browning to St. Mary's. Roughest, windiest blind curve road that has OPEN RANGE law and i almost clocked two horses and around a blind curve i came close to having steak on the hood. (4 cows)
When we came out of St Mary's, we went up to Babb, then took Route 464 to Browning. Longer by about 20 miles, but a lot smoother and safer to drive.
Make sure you drive in the park from Babb. About 30 miles into the park it dead ends, but the views are great and morning wild life is plentyful.
Randy

jimcol · 01-12-2010, 12:48 AM

Don, We stayed at both KOA's on the east and west side. Agree both are over priced but the one in West Glacier is very nice. The one on the East side is just a place to park in my opinion. As gojodo has already said don't miss Waterton Park on the Canadian side. Beautiful scenery and tons of wildlife right in the camp ground.

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