Blue Bay, near Flathead Lake, Montana, is a unique campground that offers a mix of scenic beauty and cultural experience. With sites right on the water, you can enjoy stunning views and easy access to swimming and fishing, making it a solid choice for those looking to unwind by the lake.

The campground features picnic tables and fire pits at each site, perfect for evening gatherings. Visitors have noted the clean facilities, including free hot showers, which are a nice perk after a day of outdoor activities. One camper mentioned, “I was about 10 feet from one of the cleanest and clearest lakes,” highlighting the prime location for water lovers.

While the campground is alcohol-free, it fosters a family-friendly atmosphere that many appreciate. Some campers have pointed out that the sites can feel a bit close together, especially during busy weekends, but the overall vibe remains welcoming. If you're looking for a spot to relax and soak in the natural beauty of Flathead Lake, Blue Bay is worth considering for your next camping trip.

Blue Bay Campground, Lodge Complex and Day Use Area is a commercial business owned and operated by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes and managed by the Wildland Recreation Program and Blue Bay Campground staff. We strive to provide a comfortable, healthy and safe environment for all guests to enjoy the scenic beauty and recreational opportunities Flathead Lake and the surrounding area offer. Fees collected help provide only a portion of the total costs needed for personnel staffing, grounds operation and maintenance and improvements.

Blue Bay

Looking for the best campgrounds near Polson, MT? There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Polson and user-submitted reviews.

Polson

The Best Camping Near Polson, Montana

I lucked into this campground thanks to a packed state park campground. On the advice of the campground host at the state run site, I drove up the road to find this tribal owned and run campground. The staff is wonderful, and the campground is clean and well taken care of. My site is right on the lake with lake access. It’s a short walk to water, trash, and bathrooms (not all in the same location). While there is little separation between sites (no privacy), they do have dry sites separate from hookup sites and for once the dry tent sites have the premium location on the lake. I can watch the sun set into the lake from my tent. It is summer and there is a lot of smoke from Oregon wildfires that is making the view very hazy.

Great camping on Flathead Lake

I lucked into this site due to the local state parks being booked up and the friendly advice of a campground host. This is a private, tribal run campground about half way up the eastern shore of Flathead Lake. This well run and clean campground has lots to offer- separate dry sites from RV hook up sites, showers, a boat ramp/marina, lodges for tribal activities, sites right on the lake, swimming docks, and ice at the entrance. My site is right on the lake! The only down side is that while there are some trees and shrubs, there isn’t much privacy and sites are pretty small. All sites have the standard picnic table and fire pit, and there are some water spigots and trash cans scattered around the campground. In the evening the sea gulls start circling the campsites looking for handouts or opportunities to snag some free food, so watch your food when you start to cook (and after!).

Secret campground on Flathead Lake

If you want calm lake access this spot is great. Decent amenities. Have to be ok with alcohol free though.

Beautiful lake fronts spots on quiet and calm section of the lake

$20 a night for a spot right on the crystal clear water. Native land &amp; no alcohol. Fire ring with grill attachment and a picnic table. There’s electric/water sites not on the water and I believe the ones right on the lake are not. Dogs allowed. Spacious spots, some with a decent amount of privacy. Bathrooms. 

Beautiful spots right on Flathead Lake

I came on a Thursday before a holiday weekend and loved it so much I changed my plans to extend.

- Very clean,
- Dog friendly,
- Free showers (hot in the morning!), firewood, wifi near the day use areas,
- Unparalleled lake access. I was about 10’ from one of the cleanest and clearest lakes in the populated world. Just awesome,
- Cool to meet and talk to locals and CSKT members,
- If you boat or fish this is apparently the place to be, 
- Towns and stores not too far away (but they feel far away).

I came to regret that last night because it was a holiday weekend. I don’t think it would have been that big a deal if it was a normal weekend.

- There were two huge family reunions going on, people were LOUD, kids were screaming all night (both play-screaming and unhappy baby-screaming).
- Sites are small and packed tightly together, so the screaming was very very close and nobody seemed to care about quiet hours.
- Some adults were way more, uh, boisterous than you would expect from an alcohol free campground. I’ll leave it at that
- People gamed the “first come first served” system pretty badly. At first the campground seemed to be vigilant about this, I saw them take down an empty tent that Grandma had set up to save a spot. As I kept watching, it got worse and one staff member appeared to be in on it (I asked to move to a vacant quieter site and she said “oh, someone’s coming for that one later”).
- Facilities got WAY dirtier over the weekend.

All of that said, I’ll still give this five stars because I truly believe it was an outlying experience. The first night or two were incredible. Just pick your timing.

(Note: Prices have gone up as of 2022. Their site and this site say $20 a night but it is $30 a night.)

Awesome 99.9% of the time!

At least 20 lake front dry tent sites, second row back from the lake is tent sites or small rigs with power. There are swimming docks, a boat launch, sunning lawn and a newly added concession stand.  The water shallow for a long distance of beautiful colorful rocks (like Lake McDonald) and perfect for swimming of all ages. Camp crowd was quiet and well behaved perhaps because no alcohol is allowed? Great stop on the way to Glacier National Park. Why not 5 stars? Bathrooms and campsites were dirty, potable water is hard to get.

Family friendly

Blue Bay Campground is on a first come first serve basis, but they have plenty of spots and we were able to call ahead and confirm there were still openings for the night we stayed. There were a handful of sites that were closed for maintenance, but there were still plenty of open spots regardless. We paid $30 for one night, and stayed at site 2 in a van. Many sites backed right up to the water, all sites have a table and a fire pit, some have water spigots and spots to plug in as well. Relatively clean bathroom facilities with free showers, and ice is available to buy at the office. It appears there is normally a very small camp store as well, but we were not around during normal store hours to check it out. If we weren’t on a schedule we definitely would’ve stuck around for a few more nights! 

Gorgeous spot to camp 

The good, 
Good phone service for Verizon, great view of the lake, 

The bad, 
Had people walking by telling us to get off there land, bathrooms are very dirty, very expensive for the type of camp spots available. 

Good for a quick stop, but not an extended stay. 

Stayed fri-sun. Mid June of 2024. 

First off, I think people are afraid to leave honest reviews. Probably due to this Park's location. I will be as objective as possible. 

We found this on Dyrt, thankfully, as we were driving 1300 miles home from Glacier. This had openings, and was on Flathead Lake. Huge win there. 

We pull up, and the girl working there gave us both a brief look that we both thought was a bit strange. We didnt think much of it. There were several cameras at the entrance. We paid $35 and went to our lake front campsite. We set up quick, and went to use the bathroom. My girlfriend said there was blood all over the floor in hers. The men's had 3 adolescents hanging out in there. They weren't particularly friendly, but not rude either. They were charging their phones. There were bugs everywhere, including the showers. I wouldnt use the shower here. I was about to leave the bathroom, and a crying child came in. I asked what happened and he wouldn't tell me. 

We got back to our site, and my girlfriend started crying. This was a unique experience, as we do a fair bit of camping, and haven't experienced anything like this. As this is happening, a 30-something man comes around the corner flipping some sort of ninja stick around. He wasnt threatening, but that added to the already somewhat bizarre experience. He ended making 4 or 5 laps around, but was ultimately minding his own business.

If you are not Native American, you will most likely be a minority here. This might bother some people. I personally dont care, and even enjoy being exposed to other cultures. 

TL;DR: This has the feel of a public park, on a reservation, with campsites. Affordable and available lakefront camping. I'd camp here again, but I may not count on super restful sleep. It wouldn't be my first option, and I'd feel better having something to protect myself. 

Photos of Blue Bay

Real photos from real campers