Beargrass Lodging and RV Resort near Glacier National Park: A Review
Beargrass Lodging and RV Resort in Hungry Horse, Montana, is an excellent choice for those looking to explore Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest, Hungry Horse Reservoir, and beyond!
This family owned and run campground is compact and charming with plenty of amenities to help you unwind after a long day of hiking, fishing, and kayaking.
Plus, its location in Hungry Horse means that it is within walking distance of souvenir shops, gas stations, and a grocery store.
We stayed here while exploring Glacier National Park and the surrounding area, and it was a convenient, family friendly place to camp.
In the review below, you’ll get details on the campground, amenities, and individual campsites, as well as photos of the property.
The camp store and entrance sign at Beargrass Lodging and RV Resort in Hungry Horse, Montana
This post contains affiliates. If you purchase through the links below, I will receive a commission at no charge to you.
Camping near West Glacier: What to Consider
We chose Beargrass Lodging and RV Resort to park our camper during our time at Glacier National Park.
While there are campsites inside of Glacier, they are limited and can be tough to nab. I’d already had enough stress on my shoulders navigating the Glacier reservations system, so I decided to look outside of the park for a campground instead.
Plus, my parents were joining us for this part of our road trip, and they wanted to stay nearby in a hotel.
So, staying in Hungry Horse near the west entrance to Glacier National Park worked perfectly for my family’s plans.
Even though we didn’t have the immediacy of the national park staying here, we were very close to other necessary amenities, including the Canyon Foods Supermarket in Hungry Horse and the (much bigger) Super 1 Foods in Columbia Falls.
You’re also within an easy drive of some great tours and experiences including:
Other Camping Options nearby
West Glacier is the most popular area of the national park, so it can be tough to get a campground site or hotel even if you’re staying outside the park.
Because of Montana’s short summer season, there’s only a short window when the vast majority of visitors pour into this area. And that means that hotel and campground reservations get snapped up quickly.
For that reason, I highly recommend booking early so that you can get the campground or hotel that you prefer.
While we ultimately chose Beargrass RV Resort as our home away from home, there are several other seasonal campgrounds in this same stretch of Highway 2 between Hungry Horse and the park’s west entrance.
Nearer to the entrance of the national park is the West Glacier KOA, which was one that I considered strongly. We’ve stayed in KOA properties across the US, but this time, I chose something other than the KOA because of the price.
When I was visiting Glacier National Park, it was part of an 8-week road trip through Colorado, Utah’s Mighty 5, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota, so I had to be really budget conscious. While we did stay in plenty of privately owned campgrounds, I did my best to choose ones that were as low cost as possible. Because of that, we passed on the West Glacier KOA.
To be fair, if I’d only been going to this area for a trip, I probably would’ve picked the KOA since it is very close to the park entrance. I’m glad I tried something new, though as we had a great time at Beargrass RV Resort.
We also strongly considered the Moose Creek RV Park and B&B, as everyone in my party could stay in the same property (my parents in the B&B, and my kids, husband, and I in the camper), but we all ended up deciding that we wanted to be a bit closer to the shops and stores in Hungry Horse.
Ultimately, we liked that Beargrass Lodging and RV Resort was walkable to everything in the tiny town and had plenty of on-site amenities for the kids.
It was nice to stay in a smaller RV park felt very cozy and homey.
Explore campgrounds from across the country with my interactive U.S. campgrounds review map!
Beargrass RV Resort: A Complete Review
Below, you’re going to hear about all of the things that we saw and experienced at Beargrass. But the thing that truly made our stay was the owners’ attention to detail.
They really care about their property, and it shows. We were with them for over a week, and we frequently saw them working at the camp store, answering questions, and helping guests.
We’ve stayed in a lot of campgrounds (to varying degrees of success), and I can say that this property really does feel like a family-owned and operated campground.
Plus, the owners go above and beyond to make their guests happy.
For example: As I mentioned earlier, this section of our road trip had some added logistics to it, as my husband and my mom flew out to join my dad, my kids, and I. My dad had picked up a rental car in Kalispell for him and my mom since all 6 of us couldn’t fit in the truck we’d been driving. We realized as we were driving the rental car back from the airport that our site didn’t accommodate 2 vehicles.
So, I asked Duane if I could park this rental car that wasn’t mine overnight in the parking lot of the motel that I wasn’t staying in. He checked to make sure there would be space, and quickly told me yes.
My dad and I were 100% ready to have to park it in the grocery store parking lot or at the gas station down the street overnight, but Duane’s quick and kind decision to go out of his way saved us both time and effort.
That’s just one example, though. When the ice machine wasn’t releasing much ice, I told the owners’ son-in-law, who was out there fixing it within the hour.
As a guest, it’s nice to feel as if you’re not just one booking out of the hundreds that they get in a season, and to know that the owners are truly on top of any and everything going on at the property.
Check-in Process
When we were headed to Beargrass RV Resort, we were coming in from Dillon, Montana, where we stayed at Countryside RV Park and visited the incredible Bannack State Park.
Our drive from Dillon to Hungry Horse was pretty easy and very scenic, but we were ready to get out of the truck after a 5-hour jaunt.
Beargrass RV Resort has a big sign out by the road, so it is very easy to find.
I pulled our travel trailer into the driveway and was getting out of the truck to go to the camp store when a man came towards me with a clipboard.
This was the owners’ son-in-law, who was super friendly and welcoming. He led me into the camp store and got us checked in quickly. While I was finishing up the paperwork, the owner, Duane, came into the camp store and chatted with my daughter and I for a moment.
Immediately, we felt the family vibes of the campground, something that was consistent throughout our stay.
Plan more of your Glacier National Park vacation with these posts:
Individual Campsite Review
Our Winnebago is parked all the way over to the right
With our easy check-in experience behind us, we headed towards our campsite, which is one of 24 on the property.
Since our Winnebago Micro Minnie travel trailer is only 22’ long, it can fit into some small lots. I knew that site 2 here was for smaller campers, and our travel trailer ended up fitting perfectly with enough room to park the truck perpendicular to it.
If you have a bigger RV or travel trailer, you will need to opt for one of the other sites as our end site wouldn’t work for those rigs.
We did a variety of sizes of travel trailers and RVs, all of whom managed to get into their sites. Some of the bigger ones did need to do some maneuvering since the campground loop does feel a bit tight in a few places, but they made it with patience and some multi-point turns.
As I mentioned, we had site 2, which was at the end of the interior of the loop. It is a back-in lot as are all of the sites at Beargrass.
We had several big trees on the right side of the lot, which was great when we were having dinner each night. On the other side of those trees was the loop road through the campground, and on the other side of the road were the tent sites and dog park.
Site 2 backs up to site 24, which is much longer and fit a Class A RV, our neighbors for most of our time here.
The site was gravel but even, and there is a small amount of grass surrounding it.
Some of the other lots are grass, so you’ll want to look at the photos of each lot on the Beargrass Lodging and RV Resort site to see which one is best for your rig.
We had water and electric hookups (all sites have 20, 30, and 50 amp). Each site also has sewer.
The hook-up towers were all very clean and well cared for, and not a spider web in site.
Who else hates going to plug in their RV and then finding an entire nature documentary inside the power box?!
You’ll also get a Wifi password when you check in. The wifi does work pretty well for checking emails and Instagram and the like, but I wouldn’t plan to stream a movie.
Campground Layout
When you turn in off of the road, you’ll have the camp store and check in area directly ahead, and the first strip of motel rooms back to your right.
A road cuts the property in half. As you get past the camp store, you’ll see the large grassy area with lawn games and a little playground. Beyond the grassy area much further to your right is a large white cinderblock building that houses the bathrooms, showers, and pool access.
On the other side of the pool, but still in that same area is the smaller building with the ice machine and laundry room. The grilling area is also nearby.
Continuing further onto the property, you’ll get the owners’ private residence to your left and then a parking area for the second area of motel rooms on your right.
Finally, the campground is at the back of the property, which makes it feel both private and quiet.
Motel and Cabins
A few of the motel rooms closest to the campground
One thing that I loved about this property was that it had both the campground and a dozen motel rooms, all of which were well kept up during our stay.
When you stay at the motel, you get access to all of the same amenities as the campground guests. So, if you’re visiting Glacier National Park and the surrounding area for more than a few days, it is worth it to grab one of these motel rooms so you can do laundry. About half of the rooms also have a kitchenette, which expands your options even further.
My parents wanted to stay here, but we booked too late (so plan ahead!). They ended up at the Mini Golden Inns about 2 blocks down in Hungry Horse, and their room was nowhere as near as nice as the motel rooms at Beargrass.
My mom remarked more than once that she wished they’d been able to stay at Beargrass over where they ended up.
We were there over July 4th weekend, and the noise from the no-holds-barred town fireworks display was SO much louder at the Mini Golden Inns than it was at Beargrass, so that’s another thing to consider when booking your summer stay.
Additionally, you can rent several cabins of varying sizes from the campground owners. These are a great option if you’d like to glamp but still want all of your creature comforts!
Campground Amenities
On-site rentals
If you’re flying in or getting a rental car, you won’t be able to pack some essentials like a cooler.
We didn’t fly in, but my tiny trailer has absolutely no room for a cooler big enough to fit drinks, snacks, and sandwiches for 6 people.
Thankfully, the Beargrass camp store has an easy solution and rents out coolers by the day. There are a couple of different sizes available, so you can pick what you need for your Going-to-the-Sun Road adventure, fishing in Hungry Horse Reservoir, or whatever else you plan on getting up to here.
Game library
Also in the camp store is a game lending library, which is excellent for rainy days or lazy evenings.
When my kids discovered this amenity, they were so excited. Because our trailer doesn’t have a lot of extra storage, we’re limited on what the kids can bring and rely heavily on e-books and card games most of the time.
Here, they got to try a new game each night while the adults were prepping dinner. Their undisputed favorite was Battleship!
Pool
The pool in the early morning
We were surprised to find that this campground—which is only open for about half of the year—even had a pool!
While Montana summer aren’t anywhere like summer back home in South Carolina, there are still plenty of days that it’s nice enough to take a dip.
My kids and I enjoyed hanging out here in the evenings after our hikes and sightseeing. We met so many other campground guests this way!
The pool isn’t huge, but it is clean and tidy. There are several chairs around the pool if you want to watch your kids.
I also liked the way that the pool area was set up: there’s not much direct sunlight since the bath house building blocks it for most of the day. That made it much more comfortable for me when I was there to supervise the Camping Kiddos.
Grilling area
As I mentioned earlier, we were there for Fourth of July, which absolutely meant a cookout! It was also the first time in 6 weeks that we’d seen my husband, who had to stay behind for most of our road trip, so we wanted to celebrate that, too.
The campground doesn’t allow fire pits or grills in the sites since they’re too close for that, but the grilling area near the pool and playground is a great alternative.
The grills were easy to use and easy to clean up.
Playground
My son enjoys the swings at the playground
My kids lived at the playground while we were visiting Beargrass RV Resort. The playground isn’t very large, but it does have a couple of swings, a slide, and an elevated play area.
Since our campsite was at the end of the campground closest to the playground, the kids often ran over there while we were puttering around the camper or fixing dinner.
Camp Store
The camp store is open daily from 9 AM to 9 PM.
The camp store is where you’ll check in, and it’s right by the road and overflow parking.
In here, you’ll find all sorts of souvenirs, including stickers, jewelry, can koozies, home decor, and postcards.
This is also where you’ll pick up and pay for your rentals.
Laundry room
The laundry room is small but workable. While we were there, I had to do laundry twice (a tiny camper means we only get a tiny amount of clothes!), and I was easily able to get a washer and dryer both times.
It’s not the most picturesque of laundry rooms, but it was highly functional and well located near the pool.
Bath house
The bath house is large, and both the men and women’s halves included several shower stalls, sinks, and toilets.
It wasn’t ever crowded when we were in there, and it was always clean.
The shower areas were spacious with a solid locking door to the changing area and a separate shower stall with curtain. This set up helps keep your clothing dry and allows you space to get dressed after your shower without getting water everywhere.
Final Thoughts on Beargrass RV Resort
Thanks to a reasonable price, various amenities, a great location, and welcoming owners, the Beargrass RV Resort is a great option for your trip to Glacier National Park.
While it is smaller than other campgrounds in this area, it makes up for a lack of space in the campsites with a well kept property.
We loved being within walking distance of the tiny town of Hungry Horse and within an easy drive to the west entrance to Glacier.
Whenever we get back to this part of Montana, I will be looking for a vacancy here first!
