Sprague Creek, Glacier NP, West Glacier, MT

Five sites actually on the water. 

SPRAGUE CREEK  

RUN BY: Nat'l Park Service

LOCATION:  Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT

UTILITIES: none

COST:  $20

OUR RATING (1-5): I-4 

NOTES: Even though this is "our" campground; i.e. where we work from May 1 to mid-July; we have to honest with our rating. It is a marvelous 25 site campground but there are no trailers allowed, some of the sites are rather close together, there is no phone signal, and some site can have road noise.  Despite these short-comings Sprague Creek is one of the most sought after campgrounds in the park often being filled before 9am.  96% of all campers are there in tents or hammocks. We have five sites that are the only campsites in the entire park (1,500 square miles) that are directly on water. People start lining up trying to get those at 5-6:00 in the morning. We are frequently visited by bears in the early season and Mule Deer throughout the season. You camp among the old growth hemlock and cedars. 

Environment:  Heavily wooded. 

Amenities:  Bathrooms. Communal water sources.

Phone Service: none

Location:  about 10 miles into the park from the West gate

Our Host site.  Only trailer allowed. 

Proximity to shopping: There is a camp store about a mile away. For more there is a small grocery and gift stores in West Glacier, about 12 miles away.  For any serious shopping you need to go down the canyon 24-30 miles. 

Camping Population:  The park has a strictly enforced stay limit. At Sprague you will generally find people who are there for outdoor and back-country adventure. This is where hiker, climbers, cyclist, kayakers, etc. try to stay.  They will be off on their adventures when the sun comes up and asleep by 8pm. 

Sites: Some can be small and close together. Visitors don't seem to mind. A few are near Going-to-the-Sun road which is generally not a problem later into the evening. 

Finished at Sprague & moving on to our next assignment

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RATING KEY: category - score

Categories:
I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

II - boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

one might choose to stay for more than a night.

III - over-night areas

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service