Waterton Campgrounds

If you have questions, comment or experiences in Waterton Park in Canada, please post them in this section, although Glacier is the Focus, Waterton is the sister that has much to offer.

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Deb1741
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Waterton Campgrounds

Post by Deb1741 »

My grandson and I will be in Glacier for a week the end of July after I pick him up at his summer church camp. I had put in for an advance 3 night backpacking trip but didn't get it :( . My plans then changed to do 4 days of day hikes based out of our cabin at Johnson's Campground and then try to get a walk-up for the 3 night backpack. After talking to my grandson on our Yellowstone Park trip a couple weeks ago we decided to go up to Waterton those 3 days instead of doing the backpack.

Right now I am looking at Waterton Springs Campground for tent camping. Or there any other campgrounds that make better sense for us? We don't need much as basically it is just a place for us to sleep. However, we need access to public showers within at most, a 10 mile drive. If we do decided to stick with Waterton Springs Campground do I need to make reservations for a tent site in advance or would be it ok to just drive up and get a spot?

Grandson will not turn 16 until August 4th so he is ok with birth certificate and notorized letter from both his parents and I have a passport so we're good on that front.

Any suggestions and advise would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Deb
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Re: Waterton Campgrounds

Post by Stmarypete »

The Waterton townsite campground has showers and is a nice facility. It is open and can be windy. The location is good and you can make reservations online. We have stayed at Johnson's several times and they are comparable.
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Re: Waterton Campgrounds

Post by Deb1741 »

petedoc@cableone.net wrote:The Waterton townsite campground has showers and is a nice facility. It is open and can be windy. The location is good and you can make reservations online. We have stayed at Johnson's several times and they are comparable.
Thanks for the reply and recommendation. I checked out the Waterton Townsite Campground and its reviews. I was really leery about the reports/reviews that it is not a very good campground for tents due to the wind there but decided to check to see if I could get reservations. We need reservations for 3 nights but they had nothing available for the 3rd night.

I liked the pics of the tent sites at Waterton Springs Campground as they had more trees for a windbreak and shade so I called them this afternoon and was able to get a reservation for all three nights there.

:arrow: So we're all set for 4 nights in the basic camping cabin at Johnson's Campground and 3 nights in a tent at Waterton Springs Campground. :arrow: I will be sure to do a review of Waterton Springs when we get back (it won't be right away as we're meeting the rest of my family for a week in a cabin on the Flathead Lake after we leave Waterton). :arrow:
Deb
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Re: Waterton Campgrounds

Post by Selkie »

Thanks for this thread, Deb!
I haven't visited Waterton or the Canadian pleasures of the International Peace Park, but when I do, I will want to plonk down on the Canadian side for a few days.
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Re: Waterton Campgrounds

Post by Deb1741 »

I almost forgot to come back and give a report.

Waterton Springs Campground is about 3 kilometers north of the entrance to Waterton Lakes Campground. I think from the entrance to the actual town of Waterton it is another 5 kilometers so it wasn't a terrible drive to and from the park each day. With the exception of the showers, I didn't take pictures of the campground. The tent area is around the corner from the main check-in/shower building. You have to drive to the shower building from the tent sites.

The tent sites are in a heavily-treed area. The campground is in a conservation area. The road in the tent area was very narrow with tree branches hanging into the drive area. I have a toyota 4runner and I frequently had branches hitting the side of it, especially when turning the tight corner coming out of my campsite spur road. A lot of the tent sites, including ours had a VERY small foot print. I don't know why we were assigned to such a small site because there were LOTS of empty sites the entire time we were there. There was only one bathroom facility for the tent sites and it was pretty dingy. We paid $25 a night for 3 nights but ended up packing up the last day to come back to St Mary's and Johnson's Campground for the last night.

Showers used tokens which were $1 for 4 minutes. There was a bench behind the curtain. No door to lock while taking a shower.
Image

We drove by the Waterton Townsite Campground a few times and I think if I ever go up to Waterton again that I will just stay there and deal with the wind. I had decided against the townsite campground because I couldn't get a reservation for the 3rd night. In retrospective, I should have gone for just the two nights as we were ready to come back to Glacier after the two nights. Not because we didn't have anything to do but because I was running out of money :roll: . It cost a little over $7.50 per person per day to enter the park so for the 3 days it was $46. Gas in Waterton was about $5 a gallon so make sure you fill up your tank going up there. A bottle of pop was $2.50.
Deb
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Re: Waterton Campgrounds

Post by BCD »

Yikes!
I took the water tour to Goat Haunt and back. $50 smackers!
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