Apgar Campground

This was a mess of an experience, partially because of infrastructure, mostly because of poor communication of the park itself about the campground. Apgar campground, despite being inside the National Park, is NOT inside the reservation check point for Going-to-the-Sun Road. So, you are not guaranteed entry to the park the mornings after your stay. This was not mentioned anywhere in the booking process, nor was it mentioned to us by staff when we asked them about the campground in person. That’s the biggest pain of this experience - we had no way of knowing. We found out from a camphost once we checked in that we had 5 minutes to run to the Visitor Center and enter the lottery for reservations for the next morning. To boot, you can’t even just turn left out of the campground entrance and get checked in if you do get a reservation, even though the check point is literally right there, and they could easily stagger/zipper merge cars here. You have to drive out towards town and find a spot to make an inconvenient u-turn, then join the queue. Super frustrating because there was just no messaging about this (confirmed now in the Recreation.gov app there is a note about this trickery on the campground page) and no explanation as for why it was recently redone in this super convoluted way. I’m not going to be the person who says “oh if you pay for a campground you deserve special treatment”, i’m going to be the person who says “If you’re doing this super unintuitive thing, you should probably be way clearer about explaining it and managing expectations.” Aye yi yi. Never felt compelled to leave a review on a National Park before!! and I’ve been to 34 of them! My last gripe is with the campground itself: 194 sites and there are 3 SHOWERS! That’s so bonkers to me! And they are not centrally located (in fact they are in Loop A) so it makes for a long walk to find out theyre all full. And no soap in the bathrooms. Sheesh. Get it together please Glacier!!

Campsites are private and plenty of room. Stayed in Loop C and Loop A. Close to the Village and Visitor Center. Also really close to the amphitheater with a great view/access to Lake McDonald. The visitor center has wifi for reserving passes to Going-to-the-Sun road.

A very well maintained campground with an amazing group of staff and volunteers to upkeep the facilities so well, that I couldn’t believe we are in a campground. Campground hosts are very friendly and helpful. Overall a great experience!

This was a mess of an experience, partially because of infrastructure, mostly because of poor communication of the park itself about the campground. Apgar campground, despite being inside the National Park, is NOT inside the reservation check point for Going-to-the-Sun Road. So, you are not guaranteed entry to the park the mornings after your stay. This was not mentioned anywhere in the booking process, nor was it mentioned to us by staff when we asked them about the campground in person. That’s the biggest pain of this experience - we had no way of knowing. We found out from a camphost once we checked in that we had 5 minutes to run to the Visitor Center and enter the lottery for reservations for the next morning. To boot, you can’t even just turn left out of the campground entrance and get checked in if you do get a reservation, even though the check point is literally right there, and they could easily stagger/zipper merge cars here. You have to drive out towards town and find a spot to make an inconvenient u-turn, then join the queue. Super frustrating because there was just no messaging about this (confirmed now in the Recreation.gov app there is a note about this trickery on the campground page) and no explanation as for why it was recently redone in this super convoluted way. I’m not going to be the person who says “oh if you pay for a campground you deserve special treatment”, i’m going to be the person who says “If you’re doing this super unintuitive thing, you should probably be way clearer about explaining it and managing expectations.” Aye yi yi. Never felt compelled to leave a review on a National Park before!! and I’ve been to 34 of them! My last gripe is with the campground itself: 194 sites and there are 3 SHOWERS! That’s so bonkers to me! And they are not centrally located (in fact they are in Loop A) so it makes for a long walk to find out theyre all full. And no soap in the bathrooms. Sheesh. Get it together please Glacier!!

A49 has a terrible slope to the parking area. If you’re bringing a camper beware you will need extra leveling blocks or wood to level off

A disappointment this year is that your camping reservation at Apgar Campground does not allow you to drive up the Going-To-The-Sun Road. This is a change from last year because they moved the check point station. The campground is still nice and Lake MacDonald is as enjoyable as ever.

A49 has a terrible slope to the parking area. If you’re bringing a camper beware you will need extra leveling blocks or wood to level off

A disappointment this year is that your camping reservation at Apgar Campground does not allow you to drive up the Going-To-The-Sun Road. This is a change from last year because they moved the check point station. The campground is still nice and Lake MacDonald is as enjoyable as ever.

A49 has a terrible slope to the parking area. If you’re bringing a camper beware you will need extra leveling blocks or wood to level off

A disappointment this year is that your camping reservation at Apgar Campground does not allow you to drive up the Going-To-The-Sun Road. This is a change from last year because they moved the check point station. The campground is still nice and Lake MacDonald is as enjoyable as ever.