Fish Creek Campground — Glacier National Park

Fish creek is a smaller campground area but it’s nice that you reserve a site ahead of time. Some sites have almost direct access to the lake.

Giving this campground 4 stars instead of 5 because of the physical sites themselves and the showers. We stayed in the C loop. Chose this loop because it doesn't accommodate larger RVs and tends to be quieter (we are tent campers). While this was true (quieter, no generators), it is a hilly loop and many of the sites are small pull-throughs on both sides of the road. It also is pretty well forested so there are not any sights but does offer good shade if it's hot out. Some of the sites would not be great for tents because of how tight they are and the hills (true of site C127 which barely fit our small tent and was still very close to the fire ring). The bathrooms are adequate however, there are only 4 showers for a 200+ sized campground and they are in loop A which is a bit of a walk from C or D loops. If you opt to drive to the showers, there is no where to park nearby and you have to park at the amphitheater and walk. 

The bonus: great location! You couldn't get any closer to Apgar visitor center which makes it easy to catch the shuttles in the early morning or beat the traffic coming into the park. Campground was clean and C loop was quiet.

We loved this campsite! This was our first time camping in Glacier National Park and we will definitely be coming back. Our stay was only one night and wished we could have stayed longer. The campsite was quiet, clean, and not too cramped. There was a good amount of space between the sites and plenty of shade beneath the trees. Our campsite was huge! We were pleasantly surprised at how much room there was for our tent and for parking. We were also able to hang up both of our hammocks away from the vegetation. Lake McDonald was a short 2 min drive from our campsite to the picnic area (we opted to drive but the ranger told us that there were several walking paths leading down to the lake). Just as a warning, this is in bear country and you should definitely take the precautions seriously and follow park guidelines. Unfortunately, some people choose not to listen to the rules and this can be dangerous for everyone else. One thing you should bring is a bin to wash your dishes in, as there are dump stations at each bathroom (washing your dishes at your site is dangerous because it can attract bears). So bring your bear spray and don’t interact with the wildlife! Highly recommend staying in Fish Creek if this is also your first time camping in Glacier!

This was my first time camping within Glacier NP, so I checked out a few places. Fish Creek campground looked huge on the website, but felt much more private and spread out. I was at the end of loop D, so there were few neighbors and the site backed up to Fish Creek. While access to Fish Creek was dicey (thick underbrush) it was easy to take a quick walk to Lake McDonald.

Lots of people respectfully and quietly walking around the paved roads of the campground, including a friendly ranger who invited us to a nightly ranger presentation they do in the Fish Creek pavilion. The loops are on a slope down to the lake, so kids with scooters and bikes didn’t have the best setup.

Easy in/out privileges so you can drive over to Apgar and visit the store, souvenir shops, cafe, etc. The parking over at Apgar was a nightmare with tourists all over the road, so I was glad to have chosen Fish Creek instead.

The campground is kept clean, good bathrooms. Sites are relatively close together, but it doesn’t feel cramped. During our visit, other campers were respectful of quiet hours. Downside it that when it rains, it gets quite muddy, with spots of standing water.

You’re packed in pretty tight here.
Flushing toilets were nice. The showers were on another loop. No hookups. Fresh water is available.

Hard to balance teardrop as it was on a slant. Woods were dense and saw deer next to our spot. Couldn’t get close to fire pit but thats not a surprise. It was a tent and small RV site with no generators. Bathroom close. AT&T occasional 1 bar

Really nice to stay, sites are a little unlevel but no big deal. Will definitely go back to this camp ground. Many trails for any level hiker bike trails also. We took our 3 kids and dog . Dogs cannot go on regular trails only bike trails. What an amazing experience.

Well, this is an older campground, built when most people tent camped or had small to medium size campers I'm sure.. a good many of the sites are not very level. We saw some wheels off the ground. NOTE: the driveway length and the length of the vehicle are sometimes vastly different. Make sue the vehicle length works. Example: our driveway length listed 65 ft. Great, I thought, but when I double checked the max vehicle length it was only 24 ft. Whew..that would have been an unhappy surprise had I not seen that.. All the sited are tree covered giving that back country feel. It is hilly on that side of the lake. There's good hiking trails from the campground. There is a bike path over to Apgar Village, Visitors Center and West Glacier Village which was really nice. The bathhouse was nice and clean. The rangers and hosts were reall y nice.

Camp sites are nice for the price. Bathrooms are clean and the warm shower was great after a long day

Park rangers are cool! Restroom is cleaned. Lake MacDonald is right there.

Beautiful campground. Sites are close but still really enjoyable. My issue is there is a fire ban and yet the hosts have a fire and the rangers who check reservations have their generator running regardless of the time restrictions on generators. Pretty dumb if you ask me.

We stayed in C loop site 98 and B loop 82. Both spots had picnic table and fire grills. They were pull through spots. B loop site was a little small but worked for us since we only put up one tent. The bear vaults are shared. First night was totally full from neighboring site. Easy walk to lake. Parked car at amphitheater to take a shower and walked to A loop. Sites were clean and campground was quiet. Rangers came around on regular basis.

Fish Creek campground within Glacier National Park is a great place to stay on the west side of the park. It’s within a short walk to beautiful Lake McDonald. There are no electrical or water hookups available, but there is a dump station on the way out. The bathrooms have clean flush toilets and sinks, but no soap provided. Loop A showers have great water pressure and hot water. There are plenty of water spigots throughout the campground. There are several bear proof food storage sites as well. The Fish Creek amphitheater hosts fantastic ranger talks almost every night during the summer. Most if not all of the sites in loop A are pull through, but they can be very tight for a mid size travel trailer. During our stay sit was quiet and peaceful even though every site was full. Excellent National Park campground!

We had a great time staying here over the Fourth of July weekend! The campground was extremely well kept and clean. They are pretty strict about leaving any food or cooking gear out so use the bear containers or store it in your car. Restrooms didn’t have soap, but that’s a minor complaint. We booked a last minute reservation when someone else had cancelled. Use the ReserveAmerica app to see any available spots that come up.

Hammocks not allowed to be set up over vegetation. So smaller selection of trees for that. We got a warning tag, but not fines.

The campsite was very quiet and everyone minded their own business.

For being such a large campground it was so quiet every night we stayed (4 total). Beautiful campground! Clean bathrooms. Wonderful area, but duh, it’s Glacier! We had full cell service at the pick of area right on the lake (I have AT&T my boyfriend has Verizon) Incase anyone needs it to get a hold of loved ones.

We loved our time at Glacier!

Two families went so we reserved two sites next to one another. The sites were spacious - we were able to have 2 large tents in one site, and a Scamp trailer + screen tent in the other with plenty of space to walk around and hang hammocks. There were many little trails from our loop that brought you to Lake McDonald with amazing views. Overall it was a nice campground that was a perfect base for our many hikes that week.

According to nps.gov no more camping this season.

Fish creek campground was listed as “reservation only”. You could reserve on recreation.gov (terrible website) We stopped by around 7:30am - knew it was full but wanted to see what all the hype was about. Turns out they had 5 cancelations for that day - so we grabbed a spot at A16. Nice site - Privite on one side but unfortunately right next to a large RV but that’s not the parks fault now is it? The facilities were kinda bad - men’s bathroom had only one stall and one urinal? With over 20 sites in loop A? Hm. Showers were closed due to covid - a real bummer coming from Teton and Yellowstone where the showers are open. They did have a dump sink that I did appreciate. All in all we got a nice spot near the lake - quiet site - very good location (but also the only campground open in the park) would recommend if you are able to get a reservation online but certainly nothing to write home about.

If you’re looking for a campsite in the park where you can still get some solitude, Fish Creek is the one for you. An excellent spot right on Lake McDonald

Perfect camp site. Clean and beautiful. Running water in the bathrooms. You can buy firewood in nearby Apgar Village, where there are also restaurants, coffee shops, kayak rentals and more. Best sites are on the lake facing side of the C and D loops. Mine was B91 in the photos here

Awesome campground in Glacier NP! Potable water, clean flush toilets with soap in the bathrooms, and a dump station at the entrance. Very strict on bear proof food storage. Most sites are shaded and in the woods.

Situated along the southwest side of Glacier National Park's Fish Creek Campground, I snagged two nights at site D173 - right on the lake! 

Follow the paved road to Loop D, and it's one of the last sites you come to. The site was extremely spacious and very clean (many of the sites at Fish Creek Campground are very small). It contained a fire pit, picnic table and outline for tent location. Plenty of close trees for hammocks. 

Just a short walk down the hill from the site and you're on the lake! Because of the trees, there's not a great view of the lake from the site. Site D174 has fewer trees with clearer views of the lake. 

The site was extremely close to the dumpsters (but not too close!), the bear vault was across the road and the bathrooms were maybe 100ft away (M/W - two stalls with flushing toilets and two sinks with a hand dryer). 

I'm not much of a campground person (I prefer backpacking to avoid screaming kids and the sounds of generators), but this was sufficed for my time exploring Glacier National Park. 

You'll see I had a tent/tarp set up the first night (I refused to be wet in my tent!), but the second night I slept in my car since I knew it would be pouring rain the next morning and I didn't want to break down camp in the rain. 

Beware! You cannot collect sticks from the area for your fire. You must purchase firewood at Apgar Village (around $6/bundle) or collect dead branches/wood from the road to Bowman or Kintla Lakes. 

The site host was at the start of Loop D, so she was close by for any issues (she's super nice!).

The campground is dog friendly (I had mine with me), but know that there are NO dog-friendly trails in Glacier NP.

We have stayed in Many Glacier and Avalanche Creek but this is our favorite campsite in the park because of its proximity to Lake Mcdonald as well as Apgar village.

Peaceful campground with easy walking access to Lake Mcdonald. Some camp sites are even lakefront. Nothing gets better than watching the sunset while sitting on the shore of Lake McDonald.

Bathrooms are good for a campsite and there are water spigots near every campsite (usually shared between two neighboring sites).

There are centrally located ranger talks most nights.

We stayed at 3 different sites in Fish Creek due to it being so full. The only way we could get reservations was if we moved each day. But all of our sites were great. Fish creek sits in a forested area and is quite a large campground. Several large loops. The bathrooms are nice and it was pretty quiet at night (except for the one night where a thunderstorm rolled through). The campground is within reasonable distance to Apgar Village and Lake McDonald. Definitely a good place to use as home base if you're hoping to explore the park.

Nice shaded sites (we stayed in B loop). Close bathrooms. Enjoyed the nightly ranger programs.

Stayed in June 2018 at site C111 (not first or even 2nd choice). The site is up on a little hill you drive up to and down from. We had a 20' travel trailer and even though it was RV listed, it wasn't the best. One set of neighbors on one night were a little rude by putting their tent, car, and eventually picnic table where we drove and we squeezed our truck in. It is a pull through. A tent would be better suited. This is a no-generator area. We received the Senior Pass discount. We've stayed here before but across the road. Bathrooms were clean. Nice view from Lake McDonald.

This is a very busy campground in a stunningly beautiful park. We selected this campground because it is one of only 2 in Glacier National Park that accepts reservations, and its close proximity to Lake McDonald. We stayed in the D loop (loops are A-D). Of the four loops, this one was my favorite. The A loop had larger sites, but they were less private. The A loop is the only loop with showers as well, so a lot of campers come thru to hit the shower. We hit the shower mid-day and were lucky that there was no line and a little hot water. Our loop had a mix of sites, but mostly tent campers. Some have direct views to the lake, some are along Fish Creek, and many are little more than a driveway with a picnic table & fire pit. We had to put our tents, one medium size & one small, in the driveway due to no other space available. The ground was incredibly hard to put stakes into and the gravel drive put a hole in my sleeping pad. The bathroom was within a minute walk and there are several water spickets around each loop. Being “bear aware” is essential in this area, so all food & food prep items have to be stored in your vehicle or one of the communal bear boxes. The camp hosts offer wash basins for dishes and there is a grey water dump at the bathroom. For the most part, it is a relatively quiet campground, as most people are off exploring the park every day. We did have a large group of loud campers/partiers next to us one night that resulted in a small swarm of park rangers showing up, but I think this is probably unusual. Apgar Village is nearby where you can get everything you may need and more...gifts/souvenirs, ice cream, firewood, boat & bike rentals, coffee, etc. Glacier is amazing!...but very busy & with really only one road going thru the park for the most part. Be prepared for crowds but relax & take in the beauty of it all.

Stayed here in late June. Rained everyday for 4 days but the site stayed nice and relatively mud free. Sites are a little close for my taste so it's a 4* instead of 5, but it's a national park not a backcountry hideaway. Short walk to the restrooms and water dump. Water/trash/food storage facilities are placed frequently throughout camp. Lots of families and tons of RVs. Our rooftop tend set up quite nicely in the pull through site. Buy your wood ahead of time as it is not available at this Campground but is sold in other areas of the park. We reserved online ahead of time but the board at the main gate showed open sites that weren't listed online. Would recommend. Also, all bear camping rules and regs in place, be smart. Sprint had service and internet, Verizon did not, wierd I know.

I was reluctant to reserve a site at Fish Creek Campground because they are mostly pull-in, and very few back-ins. I stayed in a couple of sites in Loop A. To my surprise, I was actually digging the pull-in sites because it offered more room to a site. RVs or vehicle combination longer then 21 feet or 8 feet wide with the mirrors are allowed in this campground. It became an interesting entertainment watching RV owners park the vehicles just the way they want it and decorate their site. Each site offers a fire ring, a table which can be moved to anywhere you want, and plenty of trees where you can hang your hammock or temporary clothes line. Each sites are very spacious and you cannot hear the campers next to yours, even if the campground is full. The trees offered great aesthetic and shade to cool down on a very hot day. The camp hosts, John and Mary frequently do their rounds, and converse with the campers, along with the NPS law enforcement. Pets are allowed but has to be on a leash no longer than six feet, and must not be left unattended. 

There are showers and flush toilets, but there are no sinks to wash dishes. Fortunately, the camp hosts offers basins to lend for the campers to use to clean dishes, and must practice Leave No Trace. Scraps must be collected and contained, while the gray water or dirty water must be broadcasted or put in a cat hole at least 200 feet from any water source. The showers are free to use for registered campers. There are several if not a couple of spigots where drinkable water are accessible throughout the campground. 

Wildlife frequent this campground and do not feed them. Be Bear Aware, and always carry your bear spray, and flashlight especially at night. Properly store food or smelly attractant items in a hard-sided vehicle or special bear containers. Coolers are not bear proof. There are secured bear proof lockers that campers can use but it is shared with other campers. Keep a clean campsite, especially when you are not present. Several deers strolled through loop A in the morning, along with squirrels, chipmunks and birds. Fish Creek was pretty clean, and the bathrooms were free from bugs that stare at you as you do your business. There are dump stations near the entrance/exit.  The hosts does sell firewood for a price. I bought mine outside the park. It was tough to keep the fire going because it had been raining on and off. A short stroll between sites 19 and 21 is a mini trail that leads to a staircase to the Southwest Side of Lake McDonald where kids and adults can take a dip in the water. Mosquitos were not a problem but it is good to have protection from them.

Though recreation.gov indicates that the campground is full, there were sites that were open, either from cancellation or no shows. The neat thing that NPS does for the Glacier NP campground, is that they list the campsites' number on the campground entrance window that certain sites are open due to cancellation, and then it becomes first come, first serve. On this campground, the NPS does not take cash, only credit card. You can pay the NPS in the morning if you arrive late. So there are no envelopes where you can stuff cash and claim a site. Please follow the honor system. I was lucky to get a free site for one night because their credit card machine was broken. I did have Verizon cell signal but was very spotty. I am not sure about the other mobile services. Overall, this is one of my favorites because it is spacious, clean, lots of amenities and access to water.