Big Creek Campground (Flathead National Forest, MT)
1Heads up1 fire 45 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $22From, per site
- Sites
- 23All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Big Creek Campground lies in the expansive Flathead National Forest in northwestern Montana, 2 miles south of the Northwest entrance to Glacier National Park. Visitors can enjoy access to the Flathead River as well as the countless other recreational opportunities provided by the surrounding forests. Big Creek Campground has 22 campsites, 12 of which are reservable and 10 are walk-up, first come, first serve sites. The stay limit is 16 consecutive nights. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors enjoy the ample fishing and floating opportunities provided by the river. Trout are a popular catch amid the calm flow of the water. Boating is also an excellent pastime, as the river is perfect for floating, rafting and canoeing. Across from the campground is the Glacier Institute's Big Creek Outdoor Education Center, which provides learning opportunities for visitors of all ages. Programs offered include seminars and guided hikes, which point out the diverse natural and cultural resources of the Glacier National Park and the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.
Facilities
The campground offers several accessible individual campsites for tent and RV camping. Each has convenient access to the river and is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. A group camping area is nestled in the middle of the campground and can accommodate up to 200 guests. Campfire circles and group picnic areas are also available. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. The water is in 2 locations and are hand pumps. They are not for filling your RV so please come with your water full.
Natural Features
In the heart of the Rocky Mountains, west of the continental divide and just south of the Canadian border, lies the 2.4 million acre Flathead National Forest. Home to lynx, grizzly bear, and bull trout and with numerous lakes, streams, and rivers to enjoy, the forest is a premiere destination for visitors. The campground sits along the North Fork of the Flathead River, which begins in Canada and joins a couple other forks before depositing into Flathead Lake. It is a forested area of mature pine and fir trees that provide a sparse understory at an elevation of 3,300 feet. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (406) 752-7924.
Nearby Attractions
Big Creek Campground is just 2 miles from the Camas Creek entrance to the Glacier National Park. Columbia Falls, along the North Fork of the Flathead River, is located 19 miles south of the campground.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations made within the 4 Day Reservation Window will be "considered" for a refund, by the concessionaire, of Camping fees only and will automatically forfeit the first nights fee. Day of Arrival cancellations must be turned in by calling Cheryl at 406-752-PWAI (7924) or 406-404-4164 to get the information to the campground Host. All Considerations will be made after your original reservation dates have passed. *No shows have no chance of a refund.
What the agency tells you
CHECK OUT TIME IS 11:00 A.M. Check in is at 2:00 p.m.
If a site is not available for reservation online, it is shown as a first-come, first-served (FF) or walk-in (W) site. These sites will be identified at the campground on maps and campsite post markers with a W. First-come, First-served sites may already be taken as this cannot be updated on the Recreation.gov website. You may try to call for availability.
Reserved sites will be held until check out time (11am) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released.
Everything else this campground posts · 8
We do not allow reservation holders to change campsites and move to a Walk-up campsite upon arrival. Most of our campsites are available for advanced reservations, and you must occupy the site you reserve.
You are allowed 2 passenger vehicles per site, the first vehicle is included in the site fee and an extra vehicle charge of $5.00/vehicle per night will be collected at the campground. Sites that are identified as double occupancy can accommodate an additional camping unit. In this situation, you will be charged for each camper.
There is now a 10 day stay limit on all Group sites, starting in 2022.
Drop Camping is illegal without a Forest Service permit. If you rent a camper it may not be delivered by the owner.
There is a food storage order in effect on the Flathead National Forest. Know how to store all attractants all the time. See your Campground Host for more information or visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/flathead/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5347448
Electric, water and sewer hookups are not provided. There are 2 hand pumps for filling of your water jugs.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Click here for more information on the Flathead National Forest
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 23 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 48 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…areas are also available. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. The water is in 2…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…available. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. The water is in 2 locations and are…”
- Store
- Nearby
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 32 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 355th darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 2
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“To make reservations by phone: Call 1-877-444-6777 The rate for group site 001: 1-50 people - $175/night 51 - 100 people - $325/night Although you are allowed 2 motorized vehicles per site, the first vehicle is includ…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $22 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Cancellations made within the 4 Day Reservation Window will be "considered" for a refund, by the concessionaire, of Camping fees only and will automatically forfeit the first nights fee. Day of Arrival cancellations must be turned in by calling Cheryl at 406-752-PWAI (7924) or 406-404-4164 to get the information to…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
23 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 23 mapped sitesAll 23 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 23 of the 23 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 22 of the 23 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 001 | group standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 318 ft | 334 ft | 823 ft | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 1 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 245 ft | 145 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 10 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 217 ft | 84 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 11 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 218 ft | 149 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 12 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 154 ft | 329 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 13 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 159 ft | 383 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 14 | standard nonelectric | 94 ft | 120 ft | 468 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 15 | standard nonelectric | 85 ft | 124 ft | 558 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 16 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 177 ft | 582 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 17 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 214 ft | 566 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 18 | standard nonelectric | 61 ft | 252 ft | 506 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 19 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 350 ft | 509 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 2 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 43 ft | 256 ft | 41 ft | $22 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 20 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 344 ft | 479 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 21 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 390 ft | 485 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 22 | standard nonelectric | 119 ft | 507 ft | 502 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 3 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 324 ft | 157 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 4 | standard nonelectric | 286 ft | 83 ft | 759 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 5 | standard nonelectric | 169 ft | 133 ft | 477 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 6 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 132 ft | 250 ft | 326 ft | $22 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 7 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 276 ft | 196 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 8 | standard nonelectric | 74 ft | 248 ft | 130 ft | $22 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND | 9 | standard nonelectric | 68 ft | 232 ft | 82 ft | $22 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Logging Creek CampgroundGlacier National Park · 7.0 mi
Fish Creek CampgroundGlacier National Park · 8.9 mi
Quartz Creek CampgroundGlacier National Park · 9.0 mi
Apgar Group SitesGlacier National Park · 9.7 mi
Apgar CampgroundGlacier National Park · 9.7 miMoose Lake CampgroundFlathead National Forest · 11 miFrom Columbia Falls, Montana, follow State Route 486 north for approximately 20 miles to the campground entrance on the right. The road is pavement for 10 miles and gravel for approximately 9 miles. An alternate route through Glacier National Park would be to enter the park through West Glacier. Take Glacier Route1 Rd/Going to the Sun Rd for 2 miles. Turn left onto Camas Rd for 11 miles. Turn left onto North Fork Rd for 2.7 miles of gravel. Campground will be on your left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for West Glacier, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 52°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 19°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Big Creek Campground (Flathead National Forest, MT) is in Montana’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Ryan Zinke (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →