Rising Sun Campground
2Heads up1 park alert · 1 fire 29 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 831 of them walk-up
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Rising Sun Campground is located just west of St. Mary and halfway along St. Mary Lake. Campers at Rising Sun will enjoy beautiful sunrises in the morning with Red Eagle Mountain as a backdrop, and the campground serves as a convenient base camp to many day hikes located east of Logan Pass. Some sites are open, allowing for cool breezes throughout the day, while others are located among trees, accommodating those seeking some shade and privacy. Access to St. Mary Lake can be found at the Rising Sun Picnic Area, across the Going-to-the-Sun-Road from the campground. Keep reading
During peak summer season, nearby Rising Sun day use area offers lodging, a restaurant, camp store/gift shop, picnic area, and boat tours. Shower facilities may be available at the Rising Sun Motor Inn for a fee. Rising Sun Campground is typically open from early June to early September. During its open season, the campground is located within the Moutain Daylight Time zone (MDT).
Recreation
Rising Sun Campground is located on the east side of the park, which boasts some of the best trails available for day hiking. Trailheads start at a higher elevation than those on the west side, so less ascent is required to reach scenic vistas. The Otokomi Lake Trailhead is the closest to the campground and begins at the west end of the Rising Sun Camp store parking lot.
Facilities
Potable water is accessible in the campground, and restroom facilities provide flush toilets and sinks with running water. Communal bear proof food storage lockers can be found spread throughout the campground.
Natural Features
Nestled against a cliffside, Rising Sun offers primarily shaded sites. Mixed aspen trees flutter in spring and summer breezes and provide colorful splashes of yellow late in the season. St. Mary Lake which, although too cold and occasionally too rough to swim in, provides refreshing scenery on warm days. Campers at Rising Sun will enjoy beautiful sunrises in the morning with Red Eagle Mountain as a backdrop Nearby Attractions One must-see attraction is the sister park across the U.S.-Canadian border, Waterton Lakes National Park . As the other half of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Waterton Lakes offers fantastic hiking, scenic boat cruises and several scenic drives all centered around the Townsite of Waterton. Immediately east of Glacier National Park lies the picturesque Blackfeet Indian Reservation , spanning 1.5 million acres. Visit the Museum of the Plains Indian, in Browning, Montana, for a fascinating introduction to the rich cultural heritage of the largest Indian tribe in Montana. For information on nearby campgrounds, including on US Forest Service land or the Blackfeet Nation, take a look at Glacier National Park's website .
What the agency tells you
- Generators: generators are allowed between the hours of 8:00am-10:00am, 12:00pm-2:00pm, and 5:00pm-7:00pm. - After Hours Arrival. Campers arriving after hours with valid reservation may proceed to their campsite. Camp reservation tags will be on designated site posts. - Wildlife and Food Storage. Grizzly and black bears frequent the area; food storage regulations strictly enforced; when not in immediate use, all food, beverages, coolers, cooking utensils, pet food, or other attractants must be kept in a closed, hard-sided vehicle or secured in bear proof storage lockers near campground restrooms - Vehicle length limits. Vehicles or vehicle combinations longer than 21 feet (6.4 m) or wider than 8 feet (2.4 m) including mirrors are prohibited between the Rising Sun picnic area and Avalanche Campground on Going-to-the-Sun Road. - Entrance Fees. The park entrance fee is $35 per vehicle, $30 for a morotcycle or $20 for a hiker or bicyclist. The fee is valid for seven days and may be paid upon arrival or purchased in advance. The park also honors interagency annual and lifetime passes such as the senior or access. - Pass Discounts on Camping. Campers making a reservation using an Interagency Senior Pass or Interagency Access Pass for a 50% camping discount will be required to present the pass upon arrival at the campground. The owner of the pass must be camping in the site to be entitled to the discount. Annual entrance passes and Glacier Annual Entrance passes are not eligible for a discount on camping fees. These passes are for entrance fees only. - Maximum Stay. The maximum length of stay in the campground is 14 days. - Maximum Number of Tents. Campsites allow a maximum of 2 tents per site. - Camping Rules and Regulations. It is the camper's responsibility to be aware of all Glacier National Park Campground Rules and Regulations - Hammocks. Hammocks must be hung over non vegetated areas using one inch straps or wider. Vegetation may not be trampled to access hammocks. - Renting an RV or trailer? Per 36 CFR 5.3, commercial business may not take place inside Glacier National Park. This includes RVs and trailers being delivered within Glacier's boundaries. Renters of these must drive them in themselves. - Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more. - Directional Site Parking: All campground loops are one way traffic. Vehicles occupying sites must be facing the one way direction.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 83 · 1 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 21 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Store
- Nearby
- Bear boxes
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Evening Programs
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Scenic drives
- Stargazing
- Tree cover
- 0%
- Night sky · 153rd darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 15 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 81 of the 83 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
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 · 4
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
83 sites
All 83 sites
| A Loop | 1 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 10 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 11 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 12 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 13 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 14 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 15 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 16 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 17 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | |
| A Loop | 18 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 19 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | |
| A Loop | 2 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 20 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 21 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 22 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 23 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 24 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 25 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 26 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 27 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 28 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 29 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 3 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 30 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | |
| A Loop | 31 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 32 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 33 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 34 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 35 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 36 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 37 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 38 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 39 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 4 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 40 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 41 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 42 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 43 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 44 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 45 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 46 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 47 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 48 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 5 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 6 Hiker/Bicyclist Shared | hike to | ||
| A Loop | 7 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | yes |
| A Loop | 8 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| A Loop | 9 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 49 | type not stated | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 50 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 51 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 52 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 53 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 54 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 55 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 56 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 57 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 58 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 59 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 60 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 61 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 62 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 63 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 64 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 65 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| B Loop | 66 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| B Loop | 67 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 68 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | |
| B Loop | 69 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 70 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 71 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 72 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 73 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 74 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 75 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 76 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 77 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 78 (Hard sided only) | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | |
| B Loop | 79 (Hard sided only) | type not stated | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 80 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 81 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 82 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | |
| B Loop | 83 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft |
25 of 83 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the phone number
Where it is
Avalanche CampgroundGlacier National Park · 1.0 mi
Sprague Creek CampgroundGlacier National Park · 6.6 mi
Many Glacier CampgroundGlacier National Park · 9.6 mi
Fish Creek CampgroundGlacier National Park · 13 mi
Apgar CampgroundGlacier National Park · 14 mi
Apgar Group SitesGlacier National Park · 14 miThe weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for West Glacier, MT
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Rising Sun Campground 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 →