Sprague Creek Campground
3Heads up1 park alert · 2 fires, nearest 32 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 3622 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Sprague Creek is a small campground located on the northeast shore of Lake McDonald, just off Going-to-the-Sun Road. The maximum size limit allowed for all vehicles as well as combinations of vehicles and towed units in Sprague Creek Campground is 21 feet in length (including bumpers) and/or 8 feet in width (including mirrors). The campground is located within trees, providing shade during warm summers. Some sites near the shore have unobstructed views of Lake McDonald. All sites require a reservation. Most sites have a 6-month booking window with a good handful having a 4-day booking window. Keep reading
Recreation
Amenities such as a camp store, resturant, gift shop, tour buses, boat tours, and horse rides can be found at the historic Lake McDonald Lodge, about a mile away from the campground. Evening programs with a ranger are also located at Lake McDonald Lodge. Use Glacier's free shuttle service at this campground to access other shuttle stops on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Facilities
The campground is small with 21 reservable campsites in close proximity. The sites are best suited for small-footprint tent campers; although small RVs under 21 feet are allowed. No towed units of any size or generators are allowed. Potable water is accessible in the campground, and restroom facilities have flush toilets and sinks with running water.
Natural Features
Sprague Creek is heavily forested with partial shade. Some sites have views of Lake McDonald. The park is named for its prominent glacier-carved terrain and remnant glaciers descended from the ice ages almost 10,000 years ago. Its diverse habitats are home to nearly 70 species of mammals including the grizzly bear, wolverine, gray wolf and lynx. Over 270 species of birds visit or reside in the park, including such varied species as harlequin ducks, dippers and golden eagles.
Nearby Attractions
One must-see attraction is Waterton Lakes National Park, Glacier's sister park across the Canadian-U.S. border. As the other half of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park offers great hiking, scenic boat cruises and several scenic drives all centered around the townsite of Waterton.
What the agency tells you
RV Maximum Length in the Campground. The maximum size limit allowed for all vehicles as well as combinations of vehicles and towed units in Sprague Creek Campground is 21 feet in length (including bumpers) and/or 8 feet in width (including mirrors).
Vehicle length limits along Going-to-the-Sun Road. Vehicle and vehicle combinations longer than 21 feet (6.4 m) or wider than 8 feet (2.4 m) including mirrors are prohibited between the Sun Point parking area and Avalanche Campground on Going-to-the-Sun Road.
No Generators. Generator use is prohibited at all times in this campground.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Food Storage and Wildlife. 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.
Maximum Stay. The maximum length of stay is 14 days.
Fire Rings Only. Camp sites contain fire rings but do not have fire grates for grilling/ food preparation.
Hammocks. Hammocks must be hung over non vegetated areas using one inch straps or wider. Vegetation may not be trampled to access hammocks.
Maximum Number of Tents. Campsites allow a maximum of 2 tents per site.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood within the same county in which you plan to camp. Moving firewood is illegal in some states.
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 36
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 21 ft
- Accessible sites
- 4
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Dump station
- No
- The agency record says no. recreation.gov’s amenity list says “Dump Station”. The record stands.
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 247th darkest of 501 in MT
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 26 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 22 of the 36 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
36 sites · the site map
All 36 sites
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Administration | Admin Site 1 | type not stated | yes | ||
| Administration | Admin Site 2 | type not stated | yes | ||
| Cutbank CG | Cutbank CG Scan and Pay | type not stated | yes | ||
| Sprague Creek | 01 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | yes | |
| Sprague Creek | 02 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 03 | type not stated | 21 ft | 175 ft | |
| Sprague Creek | 04 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 05 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 06 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 07 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 08 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 09 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 10 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 11 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 12 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 13 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 14 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 15 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 16 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 17 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 18 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 19 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 20 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 21 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 22 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 23 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 24 | type not stated | 19 ft | ||
| Sprague Creek | 25 | type not stated | 21 ft | 167 ft | |
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 25 SHARED | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 25b | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 25c | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 25d | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 3 SHARED | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 3b | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 3c | type not stated | |||
| Sprague Creek | Hiker/Biker 3d | type not stated |
25 of 36 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Avalanche CampgroundGlacier National Park · 5.7 mi
Fish Creek CampgroundGlacier National Park · 6.1 mi
Rising Sun CampgroundGlacier National Park · 6.6 mi
Apgar CampgroundGlacier National Park · 7.2 mi
Apgar Group SitesGlacier National Park · 7.2 mi
Big Creek Campground (Flathead National Forest, MT)Flathead National Forest · 13 miSprague Creek Campground has multiple entry points on the east and west side of the park.
West Side
- West Entrance – From Columbia Falls, take Highway 2 east to the town of West Glacier (approximately 33 miles/53 km from Kalispell).
- West Entrance – From Browning, take Highway 2 west to the town of West Glacier.
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Sprague Creek 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 →