I was a bit worried about finding a site, since the campground had been filling up each day prior to our arrival. We arrived just after 8am and the lady at the front gate(where you pay to enter the park) said there should be plenty of available sites. My relief turned to panic when we arrived and the ranger who was patrolling the campground told me there "might" be one site available, but probably not. She also yelled at me for speeding, which I wasn't, and that kind of frustrated me as well. Anyway, we immediately found a camping spot right by the entrance, but we didn't want to settle. I stayed with the truck and my traveling companions took a quick jog around the campsite and were able to find us a nice site in the generator free zone. As I drove to their location, I noticed there were several open sites. I'm not sure why the patrolling ranger would try to discourage me from camping there, but I was less than thrilled. On a lighter note, the location was great for hiking to the Grinnell Glacier/Grinnell Lake trails. We also took the shuttle from Many Glacier to St. Mary and up to Logan pass, where we hiked the Highline Trail to Swiftcurrent Pass, and then took the Swiftcurrent trail back to our campsite(extremely convenient). This is a great campground with available showers, a store, and restaurant if you aren't in the mood to "rough it". We even had a cow moose in the campground one morning. Aside from the rude/odd silver haired female ranger who was patrolling the campground, it was excellent. I will be back when there aren't fires, as the views from high elevations were tainted with smoke. It was still amazing, but not quite like the photos you see when the sky is clear.

We got here on a Saturday morning around 10:30, lucky to get one of the last spots available. It's a real hassle to drive around the entire place looking for a spot. I felt like I was playing some weird game of musical chairs where you are competing and you have to grab it before someone else does. Quite stressful if you've been on the road all day and just want to settle in to your campsite. The spot we had was fine, close to a bathroom and water, nice neighbors on either side. It was surprisingly quiet at night, people really respected the fact that most folks have been out hiking all day and just want peace and quiet. This campground is most appropriate and suited to the hiking crowd as it has decent access to many trails, but not really close to the more touristy places in the park. If you have families with young kids, I would recommend the bigger, more well-equipped campgrounds on the west side of the park. The Rangers/hosts were very friendly and helpful, and closely monitored the comings and goings and kept close tabs on when the campground was getting full, and were helpful in directing us to open spots after searching for a half hour. We took a short walk over to the Swiftcurrent lodge to use the public hot showers (HINT: buy your tokens at the gift shop there BEFORE going to the shower facility). Keep in mind that there is no cell phone coverage/wifi in most of the eastern part of the park. If you can't disconnect, try going to the Apgar or Fishcreek campgrounds on the west side. The campground itself has some great views, is mostly wooded, sites are generally pretty close together (there are some that seemed more private, but it's first come first served). Bathrooms have flush toilets and cold water sinks. Bear boxes, trash receptacles conveniently located throughout.

We absolutely love this campground and we used it for our base camp! How can you not? What an absolute perfect location to a multitude of wonderful trails and just a short hike to access a hot shower at the nearby Swift Current Motor Inn - $2.50 for an 8 1/2 minute shower. Campsites were spacious, Rangers came through and were attentive to our questions and advise accordingly as were the camp hosts readily available and attentive. No problems attaining a site whatsoever and I have to admit I had been concerned based on some of the nay Sayers but actually this system works unless you want to roll in at 9-10 am or later - then you definitely may run the risk of not finding a site. Blessed and grateful for our time here!