Many Glacier Reservations

Let everyone know about your camping experience in the park.

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smahurin
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Many Glacier Reservations

Post by smahurin »

Others might have seen this already but I stumbled across this on recreation.gov.

"Many Glacier Campground will be offering the public the opportunity to make advanced reservations beginning January 27 2016.
Reservations will go on sale at 10 AM ET. If you are new to Recreation.gov, take time now to create your profile and search the site for other amazing recreational opportunities around the country!"

We knew it was coming, now we know when I suppose.
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by PeteE »

YeeeHaww!
I'm just so happy I could mud wrestle an anaconda snake! :arrow: :mrgreen:

Seriously...
It'll be interesting to see how this plays this summer.
I'll let others fight over any potential spot I might have taken. 8)

I'll stay at Johnson's CG in St. Mary.
True there's no ambiance, 8) but it's centrally located for both East side and Sun Road activities....and
There are also much better food offerings nearby, including right there at Johnson's.

pete :wink:
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by paul »

PeteE wrote: I'll stay at Johnson's CG in St. Mary.
True there's no ambiance, 8) but it's centrally located for both East side and Sun Road activities....and
There are also much better food offerings nearby, including right there at Johnson's.

pete :wink:
I always preferred camping at Rising Sun. It as everything you mentioned and great views. And you don't have to deal with the campsite madness of Many Glacier.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by Ear Mountain »

PeteE wrote:Seriously...
It'll be interesting to see how this plays this summer....
The way the recreation.gov site works is pretty nice. Once you load the campground page and enter dates you can see a map of the campground with the sites available for your dates shown. You select a specific site, confirm your dates and pay your fees in advance. If you have a special pass like the Senior Pass the discount will be applied when you pay your fee. When you arrive at the campground you either check in at the Campground Host or drive to your site and set up. It takes all the hassle out of knowing there will be a campsite available when you arrive. In the case of Many Glacier you should be able to check-in during the afternoon instead of arriving at 5:00 AM and fighting for an available spot.

If I planned to arrive at Glacier National Park on a specific date and wanted a campsite at Many Glacier I would definitely use the recreation.gov site to reserve a campsite.
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smahurin
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by smahurin »

paul wrote: I always preferred camping at Rising Sun. It as everything you mentioned and great views. And you don't have to deal with the campsite madness of Many Glacier.
I agree, I actually prefer to base out of the st. mary area when day hiking simply because its so centrally located. Having said that... I plan to snag a few many glacier nights this summer. Never stayed there, but if I go out and get a reservation, I'm out of excuses :D
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by PeteE »

I like Rising Sun for the reasons Paul and smahurin mentioned above. I used to stay there often---until the last few years.
It could be my imagination and/or bad memory, but back in my earlier days of car camping...
I could come over during non holiday times and always get a place at Rising Sun(ex g/f liked RS since it was smaller and quieter than anywhere else back then)

And as late as 2010-2011 I could usually get a spot at Rising Sun most anytime.
I made a couple truly "lame videos" at Rising Sun with my old TarpTent Squall I....back when I first joined this chat in 2010. 8)
Contrast that with...

During 2014 virtually every time I drove past Rising Sun, it seems I saw the "Full" sign out.
Granted it was often in the afternoon because I was coming from work/home.
And I don't have the patience to drive around looking for a place to camp. 8)

Now, my experience is, of course, not "definitive". However, it is my experience, and I have to deal with it....as we all do.
Keep in mind....I don't plan much in my life anymore. It's pretty much "one day at a time". 8)

It's much cheaper for me to stay at Rising Sun since I have a Golden Age Passport. And I would prefer staying there when I'm doing day hiking off the Sun Road or Logan Pass. I agree with the guys above. Rising Sun is great---if you can get in there these days.
We'll see.

Park visitation is up at record levels the past couple years and so, at the margin, everything is, and will be harder to get/do etc.
Part of the "New Reality" at GNP 8)

pete :wink:

PS

I guess I was being a bit snarky....but I bet there will be some "ill will" at Many Glacier over the new policy because many future visitors will not have gotten "the word" for one reason or another.
Technically, I don't have any issue with recreation.gov I have used in the past. I get their emails all the time. Got one Sunday.
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by paul »

Like you Pete, I remember showing up pretty late in the day at Rising Sun and finding a nice spot with ease. That was one of the reasons it was my go to place. I could pretty much count on getting a spot (usually a good one) even if it was late in the day.
I think that has changed in the past couple of years because of the increased visitation though.
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by smahurin »

Well hope people who wanted reservations were on top of things to get a spot. Still several slots left in late June, but basically everything else is filled through the 6-month out window starting in July.
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by teapot57 »

I was online a few minutes before 8:00 am Mountain time on the date reservations opened. I had everything set to go to reserve my chosen campsite when the clock struck 8:00 am. Unfortunately, someone else hit the button before me and I didn't get it. All of the sites along the woods and creek sold out instantly. I was able to get 5 nights reserved for the week I wanted, but it will require moving campsites a night or two. Everything was sold out within 5 minutes for the week I was looking.
smahurin
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by smahurin »

teapot57 wrote:I was online a few minutes before 8:00 am Mountain time on the date reservations opened. I had everything set to go to reserve my chosen campsite when the clock struck 8:00 am. Unfortunately, someone else hit the button before me and I didn't get it. All of the sites along the woods and creek sold out instantly. I was able to get 5 nights reserved for the week I wanted, but it will require moving campsites a night or two. Everything was sold out within 5 minutes for the week I was looking.
I'm curious, as I logged on a few hours after it opened, but could you start the process prior to 8am? I confess this is somewhat absurd and silly, but when I went to get some backcountry campsites for grand teton earlier this year I realized that the recreation.gov system is pretty easy to abuse. At least with grand teton it allows you to log on and select sites prior to the magic 8am hour for GTNP (or 10am for GNP) and they lock in those sites for you while you "complete" your application. However, it just won't let you finish the application until 8am. So you can go on early, select your sites, and just make sure to refresh your browser once every 15minutes and it perpetually locks in those sites as it just assumes your working to finish your application... I confess, I did this to snag some GTNP sites. Not sure if many glacier works the same way, but I suspect it does. So if you have no shame like me apparently, are at work early and on your computer, it really takes nothing to click over to a webpage and refresh once every 15minutes.... something to keep in mind for next year if you're dead set on a specific site. And maybe the system works differently for glacier than GTNP, but I suspect its probably the same.

It was pretty apparent when I logged on 1hr early for GTNP and over half the sites were already "full" for the week I was looking that many people had figured this out. Realistically the fairest thing would be for them to fix it. But if they don't...
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Re: Many Glacier Reservations

Post by teapot57 »

I wasn't able to get quite that far prior to 8:00 am MST. I could login and select my site for the chosen dates and it would show me that the site was available, but if I clicked to reserve the site, it would tell me that I had to wait until 8:00 am MST to make the reservation. So I was unable to get to the stage where the reservation was locked in prior to 8:00 am.
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