St. Mary Campground

It’s a mixed blessing trying to avoid the crowds. We stayed two nights in mid-September and it was great to not need reservations. On the negative side, the park had put the campground on “primitive” status, which meant the water had been turned off. So, no flush toilets, showers or dump station. Still, the crowds thin out a bit and the fee goes down too.

The only loop open was C loop and when we pulled in mid-week around 2:30 in the afternoon we had several sites to choose from. Even at this time of the year though and with limited services, the campground filled up or almost filled up each evening. At the time of our stay the campground was open to hard sided campers only due to bear activity.

Sites are of varying type and quality. Some are quite small and tucked into the bushes, offering privacy, but no views. We chose a site at the top of the loop that was open, with nice views across a grassy meadow to the mountains. This also offered the best option for using our solar panel.

The park offers lots of sight seeing and hiking opportunities. Just be aware that if you come late in the season a lot of stuff will be either closed or in the process of closing. Also be prepared for cold weather. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to be bear aware!

Campground is 1/4 from visitor center so you can walk to catch the shuttle instead of trying to get a parking spot. Lots of low bushes, Aspen trees, etc so you have some privacy but also lots of sun for solar.
Staff is very friendly and helpful! Fun bunch of people!
We like the generator rules. Only able to run from 8-10, 12-2 and 5-7. It gives people a chance to cook or charge batteries but not run them all day.
A word of caution about 89 S into the park. It’s undergoing a major overhaul and traffic has to stop and wait for a pilot car. It’s only a short distance but it adds to your trip. It appears that it will be a multi year project.

The campground served our purpose which was to see Glacier NP and stay as close as possible which it did - however it is probably the worst campground we have ever stayed in and we are not picky - the sites are so close together that our neighbors picnic table was literally only about 20 feet away and overgrown brush right up next to the door on our camper - weeds everywhere - sites are pull-through but very short and you are just a few feet off the road - showers were adequate but the entire campground and showers were outdated and very lacking in maintenance and upkeep - it definitely shows its age - as popular as Glacier NP is we thought it would have been nicer - it serves it purpose though - we found out that the KOA is about 2 miles away - they were very nice and allow anyone to use their laundry which we did

Stayed 3 nights in late June. Easy access to Many Glacier area (30 minutes north), Going to the Sun (it's on it), walking trail to Visitor Center. Bathrooms were kept clean and showers were adequate (not the Ritz, people). Sites were well distributed so didn't feel on top of each other. Pull through sites made an easy job of arrival & leaving for trailer/RV. Great Verizon signal which surprised us. When staying in a Park campground we enjoy the nightly ranger talks too. This is a great option for a Glacier visit.

Pros:
Centrally located
Free hot showers
Reservable during the summer
Visitor center within walking distance for shuttle service, maps, or free WiFi
Dump station
Grey water sinks
Flush toilets in all bathrooms
Site A05 had enough underbrush to make it private

Cons:
NO shade in most sites and NO privacy
Road noise on GTTSR is continuous all day long
No electric sites
Very crowded, so after Labor Day, when it’s all FCFS (& they close loop A due to budget constraints) you better get there early (we stayed here one night on our way back from Canada and got the very last site available at one in the afternoon. I think it was site C121 (?). Horrible site. No privacy and on a tight corner. When we left the next morning at 8 AM cars were already coming into the campground driving around looking for a site.)

Supposedly this is a reservation only campground. There was s full sign on the campground but we took a chance and saw someone leaving and got his site.But there were plenty of unused sites so don’t believe the full sign.( apparently people make reservations and never bother to cancel them ) If you come after 8 pm you’ll have no trouble getting a spot. It was a great location for us to drive the road to the sun on the motorcycle. The site was tight. We couldn’t open our slide and was quite uneven. But we had a nice view.

We found this campground to be far less desirable than Two Medicine, where we spent the majority of our time on the east side of Glacier. Sites at St. Mary were extremely unlevel (side to side and front to back) and we had trouble getting into the site because of the overgrown shrubs along the sides which scratched the trailer. Sites are highly variable, some with lots of shrubbery and some are wide open, and the sizes vary a lot. Larger rigs are probably best served by staying in Loop C. (Loop A is generator-free.) Despite the shrubbery, there are no trees so we had no trouble with generating solar power.

The best feature of this campground is the proximity to the St. Mary Visitor Center - it's a 0.25 mile walk from the campground on an accessible trail. The visitor center is a shuttle stop on the Going to the Sun Road shuttle, which is highly recommended to access the center of the park. The parking lots at Logan Pass and the trailheads fill quickly so the shuttle is the way to go. This campground also offers showers (functional but not great) for free, which was really nice after days of hiking. We had 360 degree views of dark skies at night during the new moon, and the stars were outstanding. The dump station is modern and well-designed.

It's exactly what you'd expect from a busy National Park campground in the middle of August. It was fully booked and crowded but we snuggled into our site and had a wonderful time. We arrived on a Monday afternoon and upon receiving our site map proceeded to drive the loop road only to find we were booked in a site with a shared drive-way. I guess I should have looked more closely at my booking information. The way our side of the drive way was facing forced us to go back out to the main road and access the loop road going the wrong direction. We spoke to the ranger at check-in and she told us that's how everyone else gets into that site even though she made it clear she couldn't tell us to go the wrong way. From there it was a breeze to back the trailer in. This meant our trailer door was facing the road but the portion of the site with the fire pit (no fires while we were there due to wildfire danger) and picnic table was nicely private. We thought this was a great base camp to explore Glacier. It was an easy drive to the Two Medicine and Many Glacier areas for day hikes. Starting the Going to the Sun road from the east side was a treat as well--just be sure to start early.

We enjoyed our stay here a lot. Comfortable feel to the campground. Even went to a presentation by one of the park rangers. We didn't make it to the astronomy presentation at the St Mary visitor center, just didn't work out. Looked interesting though. They had a good size telescope for the presentation.

Loop C has free hot showers available and they are clean and spacious. Short drive from campground to some good hikes and scenery. Due to popularity of Glacier I recommend using the free shuttles that are available as parking is very limited.

The sites in loop C are about 50/50 as far as mostly shady or mostly sunny. Most sites are on the smaller side and are pull through in a half circle layout. Just enough room for small trailer & truck. They also include a pad for pitching a tent, fire ring & picnic table. Verizon data was pretty good here.

For what it's worth - We're just 10 years removed from tent camping so may have more generous rating than those accustomed to higher-end amenities.