Kintla Lake Campground

Kintla Lake offered us everything we were searching for, quiet, solitude, remoteness, and untouched. The road to Kintla is a long drive that is pretty rough, we had to drive through some standing water, but nothing a decent SUV (and driver) would struggle with.

The campground was almost completely empty (late May/early June) and was clean and tidy. Our campsite was next to the crystal clear river and was tranquil as well as beautiful.

We hadn’t planned on staying as long as we did, but it was just far too nice to move on, so we stayed for 3 days. The Ranger was very nice and helpful, and while we didn’t receive any citations, a neighbor did for their untidy spot! Glad they run a tight ship.

We plan to go back as soon as we can.

Kintla Lake is the most remote front country campground in Glacier NP. I'm sure it used to be pretty quiet up there. It's about 20 miles off the Canadian Border (no border crossing, though) and at the end of a 16 mile windy bumpy dirt road, after a 20 mile mostly dirt road. The closest "grocery store" is the Polebridge Mercantile (try their Huckleberry Claws!), about an hour from the campground. Getting a trailer there should be interesting, not necessarily because of the road (though it's rough), but mainly because it is a one-way road and we had some trouble getting past the oncoming traffic. There was one 24ft trailer at the campground though, so it is possible.
And even though it's so remote we got the last campsite at 11am on a Wednesday, with two cars tailgating us from the ranger station.

The campground is pretty close quarters, with the first campsites on the river being the most private ones. The uneven numbered ones share the inner circle, which doesn't leave much room for privacy.

The area is beautiful and there is something about waking up next to a lake in the morning. The Boulder Pass Trail is right next to the campground (separate parking lot for overnight hiker), and the Kintla Lake Trail is beautiful.

The camp hosts were super nice. It was busy -> kinda loud but not in the annoying touristy way that is Apgar Campground. Trash cans, water (handpump) and even a dumpstation are provided. Boats are allowed on the lake as long as they do not have a motor. According to the camp host, bears frequent the campground in the morning.

No cell reception whatsoever.