McGillivray Campground (MT)
1Heads up1 fire 24 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $16–$50Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 39All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
McGillivray Campground has 33 total campsites and provides reservation opportunities for two group sites within the campground loops and a large group shelter located within the facility . The two smaller group sites in the campground will accommodate up to 25 people each. The group shelter will accommodate up to 200 people making it great for reunions and receptions. A high and low water boat ramp, swim beach and picnic area are also available at McGillivray Campground Recreation Fishing derbies are held multiple times each year and anglers can expect kokanee salmon, whitefish and a variety of trout. Keep reading
Facilities
The large group shelter (site 1) is equipped with a rock fireplace and multiple tables. Two Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided nearby. Two large cooking grills, horseshoe pits, path to beach area, fire ring and a 1-acre meadow adjoin the site. A large paved parking lot is available for large parties. The site is gated for security of rental parties and it is recommended that the gate is swung closed. Electrical outlets are available within the shelter, however reservationists must provide their own generator. Firewood is provided for the shelter. The two group sites (site 7 and site 23) within the campground provide parking for up to five RVs. Each site has three tent pads, three picnic tables, fire ring, and a large cooking grill are within the sites. All sites at this campground have no electricity and firewood is not provided.
Natural Features
The McGillivary is located on the western shore of Lake Koocanusa in northwest Montana, at an elevation of about 2,520 feet. It is nestled in a heavily forested area with dense vegetation on the forest floor. The adjacent 46,500-acre reservoir has over 127 miles of shoreline and is formed by the 422' tall Libby Dam on the Kootenai River, which stretches about 90 miles and into Canada. Osprey often fish around Libby Dam at sunset, making for enjoyable viewing opportunities. Bald eagles can be seen hunting kokanee in the river and lake during the fall. A variety of wildlife also makes its home in the area.
Nearby Attractions
The Kootenai River, below Libby Dam, is a blue ribbon fishery. Guided tours of the dam and powerhouse are offered at the visitor center throughout the summer season. Visitors enjoy driving the 100-mile loop around the reservoir. Several trails, including some that lead to scenic waterfalls, are located along the route.
What the agency tells you
The large group shelter/pavilion (site 34) is gated for security; for information and combination, contact the Libby Ranger District at (406) 293-7773. Directions: After entering the recreation area, turn right at the junction and follow for 1200 feet. The gate and shelter are on the right. Check in is 2:00 pm check out is 11:00 am
The groups sites (site 7 and site 23) are located within the campground, these sites are not gated and have no combination. Please make sure you stay at the correct site. Directions: After entering the recreation area, turn left at the junction. Follow the direction of the campground loop to your site. Check in is 2:00 pm check out is 11:00 am
16 Day Stay Limit
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Non-reservable sites are first come-first serve. Saving sites is prohibited.
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 39 · 5 tent-only, 3 group, 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 37 of 39 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 39 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…tables. Two Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided nearby. Two large cooking grills,…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Reservoir, Lake, River, Beach, Meadow
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 277th 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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $16–$50 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.
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
39 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 39 mapped sitesAll 39 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 32 of the 39 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Group Pavilion | Group Site 1 | group shelter nonelectric | yes | 2135 ft | 780 ft | $100 | |
| Loop A | 17 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 104 ft | 634 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 18 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 124 ft | 505 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 19 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 40 ft | 639 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 20 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 104 ft | 576 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 21 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 70 ft | 621 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 22 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 137 ft | 437 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 23 - Group Site | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 250 ft | 421 ft | ||
| Loop A | 24 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 669 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 25 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 70 ft | 561 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 26 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 665 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 27 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 62 ft | 803 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 28 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 62 ft | 749 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 29 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 67 ft | 854 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 30 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 60 ft | 790 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 31 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 60 ft | 792 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 32 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 40 ft | 676 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | 33 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 77 ft | 772 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop A | Tent 1 | tent only nonelectric | 81 ft | 300 ft | |||
| Loop A | Tent 2 | tent only nonelectric | 180 ft | 337 ft | |||
| Loop A | Tent 3 | tent only nonelectric | 220 ft | 117 ft | |||
| Loop A | Tent 4 | tent only nonelectric | 81 ft | 303 ft | |||
| Loop A | Tent 5 | tent only nonelectric | 155 ft | 178 ft | |||
| Loop B | 1 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 121 ft | 758 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 10 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 97 ft | 1,038 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 11 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 76 ft | 948 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 12 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 127 ft | 1,069 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 13 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 76 ft | 937 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 14 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 172 ft | 1,115 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 15 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 136 ft | 964 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 16 (Camphost Site) | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 155 ft | 1,032 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 2 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 93 ft | 683 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 3 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 93 ft | 610 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 4 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 88 ft | 729 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 5 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 89 ft | 678 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 6 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 88 ft | 687 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 7 - Group Site | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 174 ft | 868 ft | ||
| Loop B | 8 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 174 ft | 935 ft | $16–$50 | |
| Loop B | 9 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 97 ft | 1,062 ft | $16–$50 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 39 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Timberlane CampgroundKootenai National Forest · 10 miRocky Gorge CampgroundKootenai National Forest · 12 mi
McGuire Mtn. Lookout RentalKootenai National Forest · 15 mi
Fairview Ranger StationKootenai National Forest · 15 mi
Big Creek Baldy. Lookout RentalKootenai National Forest · 15 miPeck Gulch CampgroundKootenai National Forest · 17 miFrom Libby, travel 15 miles northeast on State Highway 37. Turn west on Forest Development Road 228 and continue for about 10 miles to the site.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Libby, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 34°F, day 57°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 22°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
McGillivray Campground (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 →