Missoula KOA Holiday

The Missoula KOA appears to be the only game in town.  I guess that is why they can charge a premium price and leave you with two choices, take it or leave it.  Only problem is we could not find another place so we "took it".

This is a big and busy campground.  Lots of good things about it.  For example, for a premium price, you can get a site with your own private dog run.  Two older but OKay hot tubs and a heated swimming pool.  Bicycle and other stuff rental.  Everything from tent sites, cabins, small full hook-up sites to large spacious premium sites.  Despite some of the bad reviews, the staff was very friendly to us and, because of no parking for our Tesla, they were able to move us to a better site.  WARNING:  You are not allowed to plug in any electric car.  We were warned that if we plugged in our Tesla, we would be fined and asked to leave the park immediately.  The Tesla supercharger was less than two miles away so no problem for us.  Wifi was great.  34 mbs.  AT&T was 2 bars 5G.

The BAD:  Very busy.  Many days in summer they are 100 per cent booked.  Make reservations early and be specific what you need.  Be ready to pay a premium price, even for tent camping.  Camp is old but well kept.  Bathrooms are clean but very old style and shower stalls are very small and not handicapped friendly.  Surrounded by lots of older double-wide's.  Some well kept and some not so well kept.  Not friendly to electric cars (see warning above).  Several times during our stay they paused their golf cart in front of our Tesla,  I assume making sure we did not plug in.

This is Steve at the Missoula KOA. I have seen him being unnecessarily aggressive and yelling at clueless campers before. So when he aggressively chased and swerved in front of my brothers car WITH my kids in it for accused speeding I stopped and watched from a distance. When I heard him starting to yell I intervened. You don’t yell at, towards, or around my kids. I told him to back off and he refused. He only got angrier and louder. Granted, I yelled back but we eventually parted ways. I returned to my RV to get out of wet clothes and immediately went to the office looking for a manager. They said he has been notified and should be calling me soon. On my way back to my site I saw Steve pull up to my RV where my Wife, kids, and brother were. He came there looking for a fight and I could hear him yelling at my wife and brother from down the street. That’s when I STARTING YELLING AT HIM TO GET AWAY. I told him multiple times(not on video) to go to the office and get a manager. He only got angrier. Unknown to me at the time, he reached and attempted to pull out his gun multiple times. If it wasn’t for his loose pants catching the gun and co-worker showing up, I’d be dead. The manager never called. He never had the intention to call and smooth things over to make us feel at ease for the night. After two hours I called the office. They said“he should call soon”. I needed action taken that night so I had to file charges with the police. My poor kids were absolutely terrified at this point. I didn’t hear from the manager until the next morning when they kicked me out for yelling at their employee. All they did was defend him. Even after they reviewed video with law enforcement. Good thing I was already leaving. My kids were so scared and did not feel safe there. Do yourself a favor and go through the reviews. This isn’t an isolated incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drSXMAsr3vQ 

Or just search Missoula koa incident

If you want a beautiful campsite and unbelievable hostility and belittling treatment, this is the place for you. I use KOAs frequently. I booked and prepaid for a premium tent site at this, where the description stated a pickup camper was acceptable. I have a newer model F250 with a camper shell that I built out/converted into a very nice camping setup. Apparently that doesn’t qualify as a“pickup camper” in their books and instead qualifies as“vehicle sleeping”. They told me my options were to buy a tent- which I wouldn’t be allowed to set up because it was after dusk- or get a refund and leave. To quote the man behind the counter who spoke to me like I wasn’t there,“Well there’s a Walmart across the street. She can get a tent there or she can park in their parking lot overnight if you’re going to sleep in your vehicle”. Another staff member stated,“They’re strict you know, trying to keep out the homeless people and riff raff”. 1. Thank you nameless staff member for confirming that these rules are arbitrary and discriminatory by design 2. How does that at all explain why I couldn’t stay in my**already paid for** site and sleep in a camper buildout? They still checked me in, gave me a parking tag, bathroom codes and map. Said nameless staff member still led me by golf cart to my campsite. I, mistakenly, believed this was them giving me the go ahead to stay in my camper and that they were going to let it slide. It was one single night after all. I was showered, lights out, and in bed by 10pm. Wrong. At 11:15pm someone starts tapping on my window. It’s another KOA staff member telling me I have to have a tent. Except the Walmart is now closed and there’s nowhere to buy one. I explained I was traveling solo, out of state, had nowhere else to go, only there for the night, and asked what it was he wanted me to do in the middle of the night. He didn’t respond and walked away. I thought this meant they were just going to be decent human beings for the night. Wrong again. 12:15am police are pounding on my camper door.“The business wants you trespassed, you have 20 minutes to leave” 20 minutes to leave in the middle of the night, from a site I paid for, was checked into, and was already asleep in because I didn’t have a tent? Because I was sleeping a customized camper that locked from the inside because Im a woman traveling alone? Yep. The police explained my options were a truck stop 10 miles down the road or Walmart. I was traveling solo, staying one night after traveling from Arizona. It was the college homecoming so there were no hotel vacancies. The staff had absolutely no care for that fact or the fact that I was traveling alone. Again, I had booked and prepaid for this site 2 weeks prior. I read the rules. Thought I understood said rules. Still don’t understand how they considered that violating the rules. The staff and this KOA have absolutely zero concern for where you’ll end up when they turn you away.

This place is on my shortlist for favorites for my week long getaway with my daughter who is 5. To be honest I was a bit concerned after reading a couple reviews describing the place. But hey, we all have bad days, and if I can read 90% positive vibe from a review I will check it out. I will say This place is an oasis that is in a manufactured home area that is very nice. Once you are in, it is a pure KOA experience. So far no company consistently does better than OK always across the board.

Could not be happier with the customer service, and the staff that work here. Just simply top notch. They represent the true spirit of the KOA campgrounds. they lead you to your campsite, they will deliver wood for you, they monitor the pool at all times, make it easy to rent a little bike, and Wednesday through Saturday they have ice cream socials.

I was a bit surprised that I did not see more children here. They have all the amenities that they have in Billings. I think some of the other reviews do not paint a quality picture of this place from a child’s eye. This is my daughters favorite place. From the bike rental to the playground, putt putt golf, swimming pool (2 Adult hot tubs - very clean).

Of course as Tenters the big thing I look at is where I am pounding in my stakes :-) and the grass here in Missoula is perfect. They have several very creative approaches to tent sites. The one that I am staying at has a tent circle, five sites in the round, facing outward, fenced on each side with a picnic table, stand up barbecue, fire pit that is grated, picnic table, running water, electricity, and nice grass. I wish more campgrounds had this creative approach. Everything is well spread out and segregated between cabins, centers, and RV’s.

They even have two really nice teepees in the center of the campground. They are super deluxe and the next time I come here I will be staying in one of them. See the photos.

The campground store is the best stock store of all the KOA’s that I stayed in on this trip. They have everything from ice cream sandwiches to souvenirs.

The facilities are well-maintained and very clean. I’d like the cypher locks on the bathrooms/showers for safety. The driveways are well-maintained, they have a painted bike path for riders. Overall this was just wonderful!

If you have a couple days here I would suggest a 40 minute drive to the National Bison Range. The kids will love it!

PS - My daughter wanted me to add that they have three very large bunnies that roll around the campground. She loves them.