ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions

Did some cruising around today inside Glacier NP. Visited Apgar Village, Lake McDonald (pretty rocks! And we will be back for swimming!).

Then we did our normal ‘scope out’ of NPS campgrounds for potential future stays and to also give our followers a taste of what to expect and sites we felt could handle our 32 ft Avion.  We visited FISH CREEK and APGAR NPS campgrounds.

**You do not need the Going to the Sun Road day pass to get into either of them.

Fish Creek:
Is on the west side of Lake McDonald. No sites are waterfront but they do have a small area for beach access and launching a Canoe or kayak. Once again, the roads are narrow, slightly twisty, and many young growth trees right at the road edges even on some turns. One turn was even tight for us in our 21 ft truck! They do have a dump station. Sites are all dry camping. Many extremely unlevel or arc’d so no way to fit anything other than small pop ups or camper vans. 180 sites total @$30 a night.

SITES AT FISH CREEK-Out of 180 sites we found 3, count ’em 3 that we felt would work for us at our 32 ft trailer length. Mind you, we sit high off the ground, and so in some cases, we factor in being able to back up over a low boulder, fire ring, or low bushes too. They are, for your reference; D148**, B92, and B 68, but in no way can we guarantee you would fit or like them.  ** means our 1st choice here.

When we scope out potential campsites we look for ease of entry point (sometimes means you go past a pull thru and back in instead) any height issues from low branches and side clearances, we pace out footage, and we ensure our truck can be off the road safely parked, and we prefer our door/curbside to be facing off the road for privacy and safety.

APGAR CAMPGROUND: First off Apgar is closer to the entry to the Going to the Sun road. That is a plus. It also is on the southern end of Lake McDonald and has a nice paved bike trail

to connect you easily to the Apgar Visitor Center (free park shuttle and transportation center is there) and the bike path continues on to Apgar Village where there is a group of shops, kayak and canoe rentals, nice beach for swimming, a couple snack shops and restaurants, a few gift shops and an ice cream stand.

Note-getting into the Apgar campground drive you DO have to wait in line at the ranger check point for vehicle passes to get onto the main section of the Going to the Sun Road which is a major feature of this National Park. The pass ck system is good and it moved pretty fast.  So entering the campground road there is a public picnic area and day use small beach area on the right. Looked quite decent but heavily used.

Once again, the roads in the campground are paved but narrow, with many signs of RVs hitting these poor trees at times. We did not see any lake view or lake access within the campground itself. It might be there but we may have just missed it.

SITES IN APGAR CAMPGROUND: Apgar is large with 192 campsites. 1 of the 4 loops is for group camping only.

We found just 6 sites out of the 192 that would work for us and our 32 ft Avion travel trailer. Those sites are: A31, A60, B98 (door would be facing road), B97**, C143 and site C155.

Again, we got out of our truck and really looked around, measured, and drove into the site if empty to take a hard look. Many sites are arc style and with conjoined driveways with the next site. [Think of the capital letter B with the left vertical line being the road and the loops being two campsites sharing a common egress/ingress.] This isn’t a problem if your neighbor is a tenter but could be an issue with a big truck and a fifthwheel!

Many of the loop roads are narrow with again small to medium trees at the road edge or perfectly placed to make it difficult to get into the site. Evidence=lots of tree scrapes/wounds!!

We were not overly impressed with either campground.  But with our Senior pass, if accepted, it would be dry camping for $15 a night (reg rate $30). Apar CG does also have a dump station which is heavily used.

Generators are allowed during certain hours at both campgrounds. We saw many of them.

BOTH FISH CREEK AND APGAR ARE BY ADVANCE REZ ONLY!  Yeah, I tried for 6 months to get a site in Apgar so good luck!

This reconnaissance visit is something we often do when in a new camping area for us. We like to physically see the campsites and take notes for a possible return visit because the descriptions dont really tell all the issues.  Very often, the photos of specific campsites never give you the real full picture of what you will find once you get there. We also use YouTube videos from CampsiteViews, other vloggers, etc. before we book a specific site.

Critically in many NPS campgrounds are their use of ARC-shaped (B) pull thru sites. Be aware that many times it will say it is 50 ft for example, in length. However, the reality is the bend of the arc is wicked, there are trees right at critical road edge points and there are cut off pilings, logs or boulders placed, so you can not deviate off the site pathway.

Many, many of these campgrounds were built in the 30s and 40s and tailor to tent camping or very small trailers. Camper vans, small pop up trailers have no issues. But we all know that hard sided travel trailers are NOT SLINKYS and can not bend in the middle to fit in a sharply curved site.

Tip: Sometimes, we have found the best thing to do is pull past your curved site and BACK IN as straight as possible into the site. Then, disconnect and move your vehicle to behind your trailer or motorhome to make things work.

Happy Travels, hope you find this info useful.

K & L

PS- IF $$$ is no object the West Glacier KOA is gorgeous. We did a drive thru there too and drooled. The nicest and prettiest KOA we have ever seen! Mountain views, beautiful plantings and buildings, swimming pools, beautiful pull thru sites! Some even with patios, furniture and grills.