Camping at Johnson’s of St. Mary – East Glacier

Glacier National Park has been on our wish list for so long. Truth be told, this is the park that catapulted us into the RV life. As we emerged from Covid and took our first vacation out, we stopped at a Bass Pro Shop and I was flipping through a book about national parks and read a quote that the glaciers at GNP could be melted and gone as soon as 2030. Our oldest had just moved out on his own our youngest loved traveling, and our parents had always supported our adventures, so…well, if you have watched “our story” video on Facebook, the rest is history…here’s a link to Our Story, if you haven’t!

Our travels took us to Montana, but since we don’t plan beyond a general direction far in advance, we could only work in a few days here before racing towards the East Coast. For that reason, we chose to stay in East Glacier, and Johnson’s of St Mary was a great location, great price, and big rig accessible.

This campground is on the side of a mountain, so the camping rows are tiered. They overlook a valley and there are mountains on the other side, so have spectacular views. It is a bit steep climbing up, so make sure your tow vehicle can handle it…which you probably already put it to the test just getting here! We had full hookups at our site, but they do also have tent sites, cabins, and a dump station, should you need it.

Full hook up sites were $79 a night when we stayed, which is pretty reasonable for the area. They do have a bathhouse, laundry, propane, and bike rentals on site, if you need it, and they are pet friendly. The office is also a camp store, and they have a restaurant on site. Be aware, there are grocery stores in Glacier, but since things have to travel far to get here and they are only open 6 months out of the year, it’s kind of pricy! We got a quart of milk and half dozen eggs and it was $10!

This campground is just outside the East Glacier gate, but be sure to check the times for entry since timed entries are a thing!

We really enjoyed our stay, even though it was only a few nights. The staff were kind and friendly, as were all the people in the town that live and work here. We went in late August and were treated to a random snow storm that dusted the mountains across from us, making for a cozy day in the camper as we caught up on work and chores, and let us have some snow fun when we ventured up to Logan’s past for Luther’s FIRST time seeing snow!

While this campground isn’t in the park itself, it was easy to get to the two entrances on the East side (East Glacier & Many Glacier) to find many hikes. There were more to choose from than we could actually do, but we did enjoy several hikes and were treated to amazing views…but no bear or moose, sadly.

If a future adventure takes us to Glacier again, we would definitely have this campground on our list of places to stay!

Be sure to check out the Travel Map on our home page for other campground and attraction reviews! You can also find FREE resources on the Printables page, or order your copy of Our Travel Planner to have all the resources conveniently at your fingertips!