Avalanche Campground — Hotel in West Glacier

Hands down one of the best camp grounds in a national park! I was in B57 across from bathroom with only a a single campsite on either side of me.

⛔️ no cell service passed west park entrance! No internet cell service in Apgar village! Only access is a hot spot at apgar visitor center which can be slow Due to a lot of people using it.

August 7-13 2025

#1. New bathrooms/ additional bathrooms have been built within the last 1-2 years (2025). So disregard older complaints regarding bathrooms.

#2. ❤️ the bathrooms have no light. This makes sleeping in my rooftop tent crazy amazing and for any dark sky national park enthusiasts this also gives a pure camping experience free from light pollution. Excluding the ignorant campers who like to idle their vehicles with their headlights blaring into neighboring camp sites all so they can charge their phone at the expense of others!

#3. Yes the toilets are flushing not vaulted and there are sinks with running water. There are areas to dump dish washing water. Signs say NOT for dishwashing!! So come prepared with a dishwashing basin of your own and wash your dishes in your camp site.

⚠️ NO shower facilities ⚠️ No laundry Facilities within the park

#4. There are potable water spigots all throughout the camp ground. This made filling my 4 gallon Jerry can extremely easy as one was right next to the site.

#5. Extremely limited generator hours ❤️. This is probably one of the best camp grounds in a national park where you can tent camp and not be choked out by generators. The hours are limited ton2 hour time blocks three times per day posted hours are at the camp info board.

#6. This is a heavily treed area so most camp sites do not see full sun long enough to recharge a deep drained battery. If relying on a solar panel system plan ahead for bringing a generator back up or alternative. I managed a 6 night stay only powering up a 12v arb fridge and nothing else and I struggled and had to use my pseudo generator back up system.

#7. Garbage trucks Large Garbage trucks came through the camp twice during our 6 night stay and they arrive before 7am! Extremely noisy!

#8. Despite pictures online The camp sites are extremely close to one another and often share the same pull through parking areas. This is also bad if you are a roof top camper as smoke from every single camp fire will funnel up and choke you out and pollute your tent etc.

#9. The shuttle system The shuttle system is not typical! So if you want to catch a shuttle heading east bound from Avalanche shuttle stop then you can expect a 1+ hour wait for 2 people and longer for larger groups. You can get extremely lucky and catch a shuttle sooner but this is not normal so plan accordingly!! This is because the shuttle busses, starting 2025, can only carrying 12 people max and they often give priority to people getting on at Apgar and McDonald lake stops. The drivers will radio to let other drivers know how many people are waiting at each stop so they can plan and adjust reserving seats or making room. Often though you can expect the drivers to tell you they have no rom and that you will need to wait!

#10. Bear boxes Are few and in between! This is not like yellow stone where you get your own bear box. The boxes are shared amongst 3-4 camp sites! Be prepared to store your food in your own vehicle etc..

#11. Portable toilet dump station! This is a first I have ever seen in a national park! An area where you can empty a...

HOW EARLY TO GET THERE? We visited here from 9/11-9/13. Arrived at 9 am and found about 1/3 of the campsites empty. You can check on the park website for campground fill times each day. ||TO CLAIM YOUR SITE: Stop at the signboard and pick up the registration cards first. Drive around and chose your site. Fill out the card, tear the bottom stub off and clip it to the post with your site number. Leave a chair or something in your site if you can. Drive or walk back to put your payment and registration in the slot. The form says you have a half hour to check in but no one will kick you out if you take a little longer. ||FACILITIES: The bathrooms have flush toilets and sinks with running water (no soap). No showers. There are no lights or hooks to hang a light. Going at night is challenging. It’s pitch black. The campsites have a pump water spigot. ||SIZE RESTRICTIONS: No rigs over 21’ feet. ||LOCATION:|This is the last campground before the road restrictions prohibit anyone over 10’ high/21 feet long/8’ wide. This means that even regular pick up trucks should tuck their mirrors in. It’s 15 miles from Logan Pass. You can walk to Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Creek Trail. ||The campground is nice, wooded, lots of shade. Spots aren’t super...

I don’t have to tell you how magical this place is. like no other places I’ve ever been before anywhere in the world. Any campground in the park would be okay. I planned to try different camps but ended up staying at Avalanche the whole time. Come early but not 5am/6am early like some of the posts suggest. +/-8am is the sweet spot because that’s typically when people leave, just drive into the campground and see if there’s an empty place, park there or let someone hold on to it, then go to the self check-in board to get the tag, write the info, drop the money, and bring the other half of the tag back to mount at your camp. That’s all. I was there the July 4 week, it was busy but I can see a good number of people in and out every day so don’t be too worried about not getting a place. Last resort, you can go to the private campgrounds just right outside the gates, they’re always available, and try again next day. Also if you’re gonna hike, i would definitely suggest that you go out very early. I leave my camp around 6am or 7am latest and often have the entire road (to the sun) for myself, plus chances are you will see animals and parking lots are still empty (likely...