Glacier National Park Camping and Campground Reservations

Glacier National Park camping happens in 13 front-country campgrounds: seven take reservations on Recreation.gov, and six are first-come, first-served. You can camp only in designated campgrounds. Food, coolers and anything with a scent stay locked in a vehicle or bear box whenever you step away from your site.

Reservation and First-Come Campgrounds

Glacier has 13 front-country campgrounds, and seven of them are booked ahead on Recreation.gov. Six others are first-come, first-served, so you claim a site in person on the day you arrive. The published count of reservation-only campgrounds varies, so check Recreation.gov for each campground's current status. The National Park Service camping page keeps the current list.

Booking a Reservation Campground

Availability for Avalanche, Apgar, Fish Creek, Many Glacier, St. Mary, Sprague Creek and Two Medicine appears only on Recreation.gov, so search there for your dates. Refunds are not available, so pay only for nights you are sure about. Apgar is the largest campground in the park, set in trees that give tent and recreational vehicle (RV) campers shade and some privacy, and its five group sites can be reserved in advance.

Claiming a First-Come, First-Served Site

Bowman Lake, Cut Bank, Kintla Lake, Logging Creek, Quartz Creek and Rising Sun take no reservations. These campgrounds are smaller and more remote, with fewer amenities. Most of them fill early in the busy summer months.

To claim a site:

1. Find an unoccupied site, meaning no receipt tab on the site post and no belongings on the ground.
2. Fill out a fee envelope from the campground information board. Credit cards are accepted at every first-come campground.
3. Seal the envelope, tear off the receipt and attach it to the site post so other campers know the site is taken.
4. Drop the envelope in the fee tube near the campground entrance within half an hour of picking your site.

At Cut Bank, you pay with Scan & Pay in the Recreation.gov app instead, a requirement since 2025. Some campgrounds have camp hosts who help with site selection. To get a text alert when campgrounds fill, send GNPCGS to 333111.

Fees and Stay Limits for Glacier National Park Camping

Summer campsites in Glacier cost $15 to $30 a night, and refunds are not available. The park does not accept cash, so pay by card at first-come sites or through Recreation.gov.

Stay limits change with the season. From July 1 to Labor Day, you can camp in the park for 14 days in total, either in one stretch or across separate visits. From Labor Day to June 30, the limit is 30 days, counted the same way.

The summer cap adds up across trips. A visit of 12 nights in July and 4 more in August totals 16 nights, two over the limit, so plan split summer trips as one budget of nights.

Check-out is noon at every campground. To stay another night, re-register in the morning: the deadline varies between 11 am and 11:30 am, so finishing before 11 am covers both. A site cannot be left unattended for more than 24 hours.

Hiker and Biker Sites

Hiker/biker sites are shared campsites for people who arrive on foot or by bicycle, and they cost $8 per person. A limited number are set aside at Apgar, Fish Creek, Sprague Creek, Avalanche, Rising Sun, St. Mary, Many Glacier and Two Medicine. Each physical site holds up to eight people, so expect to share it with other campers.

Registration runs through Scan & Pay in the free Recreation.gov app. Set it up before you arrive:

1. Download the Recreation.gov app.
2. Sign in, or choose Sign-Up to create an account.
3. At the campground, find the code on the information board and follow the posted instructions.

The per-person price changes the math for groups. A solo cyclist pays less than the cheapest regular site, while four cyclists sharing one site pay $32, above the top of the summer site range.

Motorcyclists cannot use these sites, because they are for non-motorized campers only. If the hiker/biker sites are full, or you would rather not share, you need a regular unoccupied site. Those require a reservation through Recreation.gov.

Glacier National Park Camping Rules for Food, Fire and Noise

Camping in Glacier is permitted only in designated campgrounds, and the food rules apply day and night. Bears, deer, squirrels and even mice frequently pass through campsites.

Food Storage

• Store food, drinks, food containers (empty or not), cookware (clean or not), trash and scented toiletries such as toothpaste and deodorant in a hard-sided vehicle or a food storage locker.
• Lock up coolers and grills too, even if you leave your site for a minute.
• Keep anything with a scent out of your tent at all times, including sunscreen and bug spray.
• Never throw food or garbage into pit toilets or campfires.

Breaking the food storage rules can earn you a citation, which carries a fine. Keep 25 yards from all wildlife and 100 yards from bears and wolves. Report any bear or mountain lion sighting to a ranger, campground host or visitor center.

Campfires and Firewood

• Follow any fire restrictions in place at the time of your stay.
• Keep the fire small and inside the fire ring, and never move a fire ring.
• Never leave a fire unattended or add gasoline or other igniting agents.
• When you finish, drown the fire, stir it and repeat until the hissing stops and the ashes are cool to the touch.
• Fireworks are prohibited.

Firewood must be labeled and certified as heat-treated, and most camp stores in and around Glacier sell it. Buy it where you burn it, and never carry it across state lines. Gathering wood in the park is unlawful except for dead wood on the ground along the Inside North Fork Road from Dutch Creek to Kintla Lake, along the Bowman Lake Road and near backcountry campgrounds that allow wood fires.

Site Limits, Noise and Generators

Generators are banned at all hours in these areas:

Unreasonable engine idling is also prohibited. Pets are allowed at front-country campsites and in developed areas, but never leave one unattended, because a lone pet can draw a bear or mountain lion.

Showers, Water and Evening Programs

Only three campgrounds have showers for registered campers: Fish Creek, Apgar and St. Mary. Campers elsewhere can pay for a shower at the Rising Sun and Swiftcurrent Motor Inns or at private campgrounds next to the park.

Campground faucets cannot be used to wash dishes or clothes, clean fish, prepare food or bathe. Carry all wastewater, including shower and dish water, to a utility sink or an RV dump station, and never leave it sitting out. RVs must use drain hoses at the dump station.

Primitive-Status Campgrounds

When a campground opens in primitive status, it has no drinkable water and no dump station. Boil lake water or melted snow for at least one minute, or run it through an approved filter, before you drink or cook with it. Comfort stations are closed, so use the vault toilets. Strain food scraps out of dishwater and pack them out as trash, then scatter the water at least 100 feet from campsites, lakes and streams.

Ranger-Led Evening Programs

Ranger-led and Native America Speaks programs run through the summer, usually starting at 7:30 pm or later and lasting about 45 minutes. Amphitheaters sit at Apgar, Fish Creek, Rising Sun, St. Mary (Loop C), Two Medicine (Loop B, site 40) and Many Glacier. Programs also run in the St. Mary Visitor Center auditorium, which is closest to the St. Mary and Rising Sun campgrounds.

Choosing a Campground by Area and Vehicle Size

The right campground puts you near the sights you plan to see, on a site that fits your vehicle. The Glacier camping page links a map of every drive-up campground, so you can match each one to the part of the park you want to explore.

• Lake McDonald area: Apgar puts sunsets on Lake McDonald a short stroll from your tent, with many trails a short drive away.
• St. Mary area: St. Mary and Rising Sun are the closest campgrounds to the St. Mary Visitor Center, where evening programs run in the auditorium.
• Remote first-come campgrounds: Bowman Lake, Kintla Lake, Logging Creek and Quartz Creek sit in more remote areas with fewer amenities.

Fitting an RV or Trailer

Vehicle length narrows the list fast. Apgar and St. Mary have the longest sites, taking vehicles up to 40 feet at their largest spots. Sprague Creek and all six first-come campgrounds cap vehicle combinations at 21 feet, and Avalanche tops out at a shorter length than Fish Creek or Many Glacier.

Glacier has no utility hook-ups at any campground.

Glamping and Lodging Near Glacier

A campsite is the wrong fit when every reservation campground is full for your dates and you cannot reach a first-come campground early. It also falls short if you want a private shower, since most campgrounds have none.

At Dark Light Collection, we are building up to 24 glass pyramids within 15 minutes of Glacier's West Entrance, on private land outside the park. They open in 2027. Each pyramid is designed with an en-suite bathroom, a kitchenette, a king bed positioned for sky-gazing and a private deck with a fire pit, heated loungers and a telescope. Founding deposits are open now on the Glacier pyramids page.

If sleeping inside the park boundary is the point of your trip, book a campground instead, because the pyramids sit outside it. The same applies to any trip before 2027. The Glamping vs Camping guide compares the two kinds of night.

To camp inside the park, open Recreation.gov and search your dates for Glacier National Park camping reservations.

For more stays near the park and across the state, see where to go glamping in Montana.