(42 votes, average: 3.36 out of 5)
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McGinnis Creek campsite in Flathead National Forest. Beautiful overlook location that might be rougher for large rigs. It's off forest service road 803. Know that there are other Forest Service roads in the area that may offer free camping, but we just fell in love with this one.
It's about 1.5 miles up FS 803.
Rough roads and almost no real campsites
There's only one real spot that is off the road and away from traffic that we found. Im not sure how people just set up camp right in the shoulders but thats what a lot of these spots are. The one sight looked awesome, but there is a lot of wildfire damage in the area, so the views aren't all that great. That one spot was also full sun and the road is not a great one. Its pretty washboarded out and is jaw jacking all the way up. We had a tough time turning the rig around on a small pullout halfway up when we decided the drive on that road and North Fork road wasn't worth it.
Stayed here in a 19 foot-long Trailer (RV). LacelynnS would not stay here again.
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Peaceful and quiet
Excellent, quiet location. A few hunter stopped by left empty handed. Two great spots on the hill above
Stayed here in a 24 foot-long Trailer (RV). RJCO would stay here again.
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Not A Lot Of Large Campsites But The Views Are Amazing & It's Near Glacier National Park
The number of campsites that are big enough for an RV or travel trailer may be limited here but the amazing views are not.
We were lucky enough to get one of the two sites the GPS coordinates lead to and the view was unbelievable.
If you want to camp here and you have a big rig don’t worry if the first two campsites are taken because there is another one about a mile further up the road and a great big one about 4 miles past that. They are also good places to turn your RV around.
Once you get to the huge campsite 5 miles up the road you should turn around if you have a big RV or trailer because the road gets narrow and ends in a small area where a tent or van could camp but not an RV.
A lot of people just parked their RVs or vans in the many pull-outs along the road, which works as well but just be ready for lots of dust from passing vehicles.
The first sites have good cell service, but it gets worse the further up the road you go.
There’s a popular hike (Standard Peak) near the end of McGinnis Creek Road, that’s why there’s a decent amount of traffic every day. It’s a 6 mile hike that I highly recommend if you get tired of the crowds in Glacier National Park.
Stayed here in a 32 foot-long Trailer (RV). thecampingnerd would stay here again.
Blog post: https://thecampingnerd.com/free-camping-glacier-national-park-mcginnis-creek/
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Two sites, at least one has a fire ring, both seem to have decent views, right off FS803
Plus sides: quiet, decent view (somewhat obstructed by trees and brush when I visited), pretty good cell service, and lots of other nearby sites that are further up the road if this main site is occupied.
Downside: it's a few miles down a dirt road, and also, this site is at somewhat high elevation and is prone to major rainstorms, thunderstorms, and/or snowstorms.
North Fork Road, the final highway/road before you turn onto the Forest Service road, is in really good condition and only turns into an unpaved dirt road for the last mile or two before you turn onto McGinnis Creek Rd/FS803, however, McGinnis Creek Rd/FS803 is the road that has a few ruts/puddles in it. It's not a terrible road, but it's not ideal. If you drive slowly, you should be able to avoid driving through the ruts/puddles.
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Great spor with a beautiful view
To be fair, there was someone at the main spot so I stayed roughly 50ft away at a secondary camp spot... We were camping on 4th of July weekend and everything was packed. This spot was great though, beautiful views and very quiet. Close to a back entrance into Glacier, not too far from the West entrance. A ton of room at the main spot, the secondary spot could fit maybe two tents and looked rarely used.
Stayed here with a passenger vehicle and a tent. gjaszczak would stay here again.
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This is a great campsite with nice views overlooking the mountains of Glacier National and the scars from one of the 2003 forest fires. Very easy to get to and we had no problem getting a 33' Class C up the road to the site, however if the site were full I'm not sure were an opportunity to turn around would be - perhaps ask the occupants if you can use the site driveway as it is long. When you are going up N. Fork Rd it will turn to gravel about a mile or less before the turn for FS Rd 803, which is marked by the typical Forest Service bulliten board right at the entrance. Once you get to the site don’t let the driveway deceive you, it really opens up once you go down and turn the corner.
We spent four days up here and found it to be very peaceful with nice views and minimal bugs. The site is clearly popular as we cleaned an entire garbage bag of garbage out of it, but we didn’t notice much traffic on the road or people coming down to see if it was taken. There’s a fire ring up there and plenty of dead wood around for fires - just be mindful of the Fire Danger Level at the time you visit as you are surrounded by reminders of what can happen from a careless campfire.
Good Verizon and AT&T signal up here and good DTV channels too. Definitely worth a shot if you are looking for free camping on the west side of glacier. If the site is occupied you can just go back down N Fork Rd to the field which has ample boondocking space - and from there you can look up on the hill with binoculars to see when it becomes free.
Stayed here in a 33 foot-long Class C (RV). Nomadic Neighbors would stay here again.
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This spot was full, so we went on up the road the ten mintues dugs mentioned to a large pull out. To our disappointment, if the first spot is taken, all else are in a big burn area. It's from 2003, so not much char, but no views up the road - just desolate and right on the somewhat busy 803.
We definitely didn't love the spot - especially for daytime camp. Hot, no shade, lots of local traffic despite it being a dead end road. Wouldn't recommend unless you're just overnighting. And even then, Blankenship Road, which you pass on your way up here, has lots of spots on the SW side of the bridge - easy access, vault toilet nearby (on NW and SE sides)
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We couldn't find these breath-taking views spoken of in other comments, but we found a pull-out after driving about ten minutes up the road. The sites were far apart, and there are a lot of loose rocks on the road.
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The view was breath taking. There were two spot with fire rings at this location. We were not disappointed when we finally arrived.
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Great Spot at TOP of the Mountain if you can handle the 6.4 miles of dirt road
In this video we provide a comprehensive review of 3 of the free boondocking (dispersed camping) sites near Glacier National Park and Columbia Falls, Montana. All locations are located in the Flathead National Forest and there is a 16 day stay limit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0llxG33OdoQ
Free Camping Near Glacier National Park- North Fork Road, Canyon Creek and McGinnis Creek Dispersed
GPS Point for North Fork Road Dispersed Camping
48.499334, -114.131517
Natural Spring for drinking water etc.
48.447581, -114.165680
Conoco Station ($5 Dump and Water)
48.371583, -114.203917
Bonus Content GPS Info
Canyon Creek Dispersed 48.463612, -114.167320
McGinnis Creek Dispersed (start of road with North Fork Road Instersection)
48.52.3474, -114.128642
McGinnis Creek Large Boondocking Area from Video
48.531014, -114.157493
Stayed here in a 28 foot-long Trailer (RV). The Wandering Shores would stay here again.
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