East Glacier KOA is the sister rv park located on the eastern side of Glacier NP in the town of St. Mary, MT. The eastern side of Glacier NP is not developed boasting one lonely motel, the St. Mary Village, on Route 89 which passes thru the Blackfeet Indian Nation. However let that not dissuade one from visiting; located at the eastern end of Going to the Sun Road the area has many wonderful sights to visit and explore. Unfortunately to get there from West Glacier requires a circuitous route since rv travel on Going to the sun Road is limited to small Class C and B rv’s due to tunnel heights and switchbacks. Accordingly from West Glacier KOA take Route 2 thru Glacier NP to Route 89. And so it would appear that East Glacier KOA may be an outpost located in Montana’s backwoods and undeveloped town of St. Mary, MT; however to call East Glacier KOA rustic is not realistic. This campground offers many amenities that urban rv parks do not offer. The road leading up to the entrance is a narrow two-lane with no issues and pulling into the paved campground staging area was uneventful. Check-in was efficient and requires unhooking to traverse the ground to our site. At 45’ long it was not difficult navigating the gravel road to our site. Most sites are located on a gentle slope and exiting presented a rather steep drop which concerned us concerning bottoming out. Instead we backed out of our site when we left which was not difficult. The sites themselves offer a welcome reprieve from the surrounding backcountry setting. The lot was graveled, not too far out of level and provided chairs, table, and fire pit. We were surprised to see a beautiful pool located downhill, next to a bathhouse and a BBQ hut that was open weekends. Up at the welcome center is a store, espresso & ice cream bar; and a beautiful deck overlooking the lower campground and surrounding landscape which provides dramatic landscape vistas at sunrise and sunset. The showers and laundry are clean even if country rustic. This building also houses the pizza store where they offer great homemade pizza. So one may ask why journey to St. Marys? What we discovered was an escape from the throngs of tourists that plague the West side of Glacier. Here we kicked back and soaked in the beautiful landscape and solitude. And what is attractive is the slow pace to experience serene St. Mary Lake, view the sunset against mountains to the Southwest (East Flattop Mountain), Apikuni Falls, or a drive to Waterton Lakes National Park (making up the second part of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park), and make sure to tour the Prince of Wales Hotel built in 1927.
The Takeaway: St. Mary KOA offers simple amenities in the rugged and unpopulated East side of Glacier NP. This KOA offers gravel, mostly level sites with table, chairs and fire pit. The pool is a welcome feature as are the BBQ shed, espresso & ice cream bar and the homemade pizza shack. The grounds and facilities are clean and well maintained. This campground is well worth the circuitous drive from the West Glacier KOA not only for the aforementioned amenities, but for the tranquil offerings of St. Mary Lake, Apikuni Falls, and other attractions.
Go to www.rickpicks.com for other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of this park as well as reviews of restaurants, etc.
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