Horse camping is the perfect way to enjoy Eureka. If you're an equestrian lover who prefers nature-based adventure, yet still wants comfort, this is the perfect opportunity for you. It's easy to find Eureka campgrounds for horse camping with The Dyrt. Find our top-rated horse campsites from other campers like you. Plan the perfect trip in minutes.
Bowman Lake campground is located in the North Fork area of Glacier National Park approximately 32.5 miles from the west entrance and 30 miles from the Canadian border. The drive to Bowman Lake is a very slow, dusty, and bumpy ride on dirt roads. Trailers are not permitted. The campground is located close to the shore of Bowman Lake and camp sites are within trees for shade and some privacy. Tent campers looking for peace and quiet will enjoy Bowman Lake for its serenity and remote location.
Weather Dependent Primitive Fall Season
October 9–October 31
Bowman Lake Campground's typical summer season is from mid-May to early September. If weather permits, a primitive camping season can extend into the fall between early September and late October.
$10 - $15 / night
Grave Creek Campground is located 4 miles north of Fortine on road 7061. The campground has 4 campsites with tables and fire rings and able to accomodate up to a 20' rv. Amenities include vault toilets.
Campground has 7 campsites tucked high up and far away in the Whitefish Range. Several trailheads are within hiking and riding distance. Stock facilities are provided for equestrians (feed bunks, hitch rails, vault toilet, and load ramp) Tuchuck Campsite Tuchuck picnic table Food Storage
This remote cabin was built in 1908 and served as an administration building for the Wolf Creek District of the Blackfeet National Forest. The Blackfeet NF was dissolved in 1935 becoming part of the Kootenai & Flathead NF. Fairview was used as a remote work station until 1980. In 2011 major work was done to restore the cabin and put it on the rental system. The cabin is open year-round and is accessible by car.
Opportunities abound from this location. Hiking, fishing, floating, hunting, scenic and historical driving tours are just some of the activities to be enjoyed.
The Fairview Ranger Station is situated near Wolf Creek at an elevation of 2,995 feet within the Salish Mountain Range of the Rocky Mountains in the Kootenai National Forest. Wolf Creek and its many tributaries provide habitat for a variety of trout and big game animals. Wolf Creek has been an important route through history as a trail for the Kootenai Indians, early prospectors and railroads.
$75 / night
Scout
Could’ve been a really cool camping spot but after setting up camp a couple came yelling right by my van. They were part of the homeless camp and I just didn’t feel super comfortable because they were saying really aggressive things.
Guide
We've camped all over...all over Glacier and all over the country, and this is hands-down one of our favorite campgrounds. 100% our fave national park campground! An authentic unplugged, quiet camping experience.
The remote location is amazing, and the campsites are nicely spread out in a moody, dark forested area with near full shade. There are a couple of paths directly to the lake, literally a 2-3 minute walk from anywhere in camp. Sites have fire rings and picnic tables, and there are a few vault toilets and several trash bins and potable water spigots. No showers or sinks. Deer galore! The visitor tent is pretty cool, especially for families with kids. It has activities and games like scavenger hunts, books/tools for identifying wildflowers/plants/scat etc. And there's a camp host onsite seasonally, also.
Note that all sites are FCFS. Rangers at the entrance usually have a fair idea of whether you'll get a spot.
Even though the park has gotten much busier in the past few years, Bowman still remains a quietER gem. The long road keeps people away, I guess - although some 2023-24 construction/improvements has made it quite a bit better.
Legend
It’s Saturday and no one is here but me. Picnic tables, metal fire rings with grills, vault toilets. Big pretty pine trees! I get one bar of Verizon service but it’s not very useful.
GuideWas a great campsite for river views and a short drive to glacier national park. River was very deep and a beautiful swim! However it’s a heavily travelled road and the boat ramp was being used quite often.
GuideNot super accessible to bigger rigs, small sites, the other camping off the left side of road is better for all size rigs, but also had some homeless camps within and no river access.
LegendI had one bar of Verizon service, so I could send and receive messages, but pics sent very slowly. I was at the first campsite on the right, less than a quarter mile walk down to the pit toilets and river. Lots of trucks with trailers coming and going, plus the sound of traffic from the road, but it wasn’t too bad. The river is beautiful and has a little beach for swimming. My campsite had a good amount of shade and could fit a big rig easily. It was nice and flat, surrounded by pine trees. Lovely! Bugs were not bad at all.
Scout
Good RV park, it was clean and hosts are good. No pool onsite. Did not use the laundry. No shade in site 4. Mostly sunny in all spots.
No fires allowed.
T-Mobile is ok,
LegendLong, rough dirt roads leads you to this primitive campground at the gorgeous Bowman Lake.
The sites are roomy with lots of trees. Clean pit toilets and a few water spigots are available.
For those who want it, there is no cell service!
Spend the day kayaking or paddle boarding in this serene, remote location. Polebridge Mercantile is about 30-40 minutes away for a small selection of food supplies you might need.
GuideIn this video we review 2 more of the free boondocking(dispersed camping) sites near Glacier National Park and Columbia Falls, Montana. This time we focus on the Middle Fork Flathead River(Blankenship Bridge) and Glacier Rim River Access Locations. All locations are located in the Flathead National Forest and there is a 3 day stay limit at Middle Fork and 16 day stay limit at Glacier Rim.
GuideFirst let me say DON’T plan on camping here unless you have the proper vehicle to get you safely up that road. If you are driving a low profile vehicle you are likely to blow your suspension as it is a dirt road with lots of potholes. I was fine with my 4Runner but I definitely saw some people in cars that should not have been driving on the mostly uphill road. With that being said this was my definitely one of my favorite places I’ve camped. The sites are huge so you’re not on top of your neighbors, lots of trees to hang a hammock etc. it was so quiet & peaceful. Lots of wildlife, the lake is a short 2 minute walk down a designated trail. You can kayak, paddle board or canoe on the lake. There are tons of areas to sit around the lake to relax or have a picnic. Due to the remote location they only have pit toilets and a few water spigots around the campground. There is no cell service and even my satellite GPS was finicky at times. There were a couple bear boxes open to anyone but none on the individual sites. Everything must be stored inside of your LOCKED vehicle due to bear activity. Polebridge is about 30 minutes and they have a small store with the best baked goods. You can drive to Kintla Lake it’s about an hour on the dirt road. Kintla Lake is even more secluded, but worth the drive. I will be returning to Bowman Lake as it was one of my favorite places in Glacier.
GuideThis site is tucked away between the road and the river. It's super peaceful and there weren't many people around (some stayed in their car, and there was one other tent pitched by the river). Maximum stay is 3 nights. No signal
Guide
This is a great campsite. The pit toilet is clean and it is set up as a horse camp. Ramps for loading horses and trough for feeding. Plenty of space for tents and small campers but as noted before, the road from Polebridge is a little tough for RVs.
GuideWe were visiting GNP in mid-June 2021 and originally wanted to stay at Apgar, or another campground closer to the Going to the Sun road, but since we did not have reservation to get into Glacier National Park & going to the Sun Road, we headed up to the north fork area of GNP to see if we could get a campsite at Bowman lake or Kintla Lake Campground. When we arrived at the Polebridge Ranger Station the ranger thought we should be able to get a campsite at Bowman so we headed the 6+ miles down the curvy dirt road to Bowman Lake. When we arrived around 2pm there were only 3 campsites occupied so we found a nice level campsite to pitch our tent. The campsites were spread out enough that you had plenty of privacy (except for those dang deer and chipmunks that keep on visiting us). This campground only has pit toilets. The views from the lake are unbelievable and we enjoyed our hike around the lake. We also drove the 15+ miles up to Kintla Lake (the campground was empty and had only a few campsites compared to Bowman Lake). When we returned to GNP in September of 2021 we were able to get a campsite at Apgar but we took a day off from hiking and drove up to Bowman Lake, this lake is a hidden gem, so peaceful and so beautiful, definitely worth the long bumpy trip. Bowman lake is definitely my favorite lake at GNP.
GuideBe ready for a bumpy ride to this campground, but it is nice and secluded within Glacier NP.
LegendI can't add much to Julie M.'s review. Very thorough and accurate. AT&T service was just ok. We did visit Hungry Horse Dam. Beautiful and the story behind the name is interesting. Montana Distillery is close by in Coram and a good brewery/restaurant in Columbia Falls. Lots of things for kids and teens close by. Amazing Fun Center, Glacier Highline, Putt Putt in West Glacier and many others. Really nice place for a basecamp.
RangerSuch a beautiful place to stay. Recommend late May stay or Mid August 🤘🏻
TravelerThe drive to Bowman is anxiety inducing with the ever changing potholes, tight curves, and white knuckle driving. But it is 100% worth it for the secluded sites and lake views. It was nice to get away from the Glacier crowds and meet like minded camping people who wanted to experience the more wild side of Glacier. The vault toilets were decent and the bear boxes easy to use.
LegendNice NPS campground within walking distance to Bowman Lake and several trailheads. This is a good spot to camp if you plan on hikeing or boating near/on the lake. Super clean, lots of shade and hammock trees, vault toilet, first come. I was surprised there was only one bear box for the whole campground to share instead of one at each site. Especially after seeing a leather deposit of bear scat on the Bowman Lake trail. No showers here but you can pay for a shower down at Polebridge Market Place, which you want to visitor anyway for their amazing baked goods (pizza after 3 pm too!). There was a ranger hanging out in the parking lot of the trail head area if you have any questions (though her job looked to be more traffic management than anything else).
TravelerThere is the old warden camp and down on the creek. No services, semi remote, very quiet, dusty, views of the mountains. You are in grizzly country. Lot’s of deer walking around, very safe , locals are very friendly.
ScoutCool spot to hang around for a couple days. The 3 hikes right off the campground are pretty cool with the Bowman lake trial being the easiest. Relatively busy campground while I was there. With the first come first served, lots of people drive through looking for a place. The view of the lake from the campgrounds beach area is awesome. It was pretty smoky while I was there but that’s summer in Montana.
TravelerThis is a remote beautiful camp. Host was extremely nice.
GuideWe counted 8 spots around the river access. Very beautiful and quiet. Toilets available.
GuideWent in mid June 2019 best trip ever.
GuideGreat place to stay. Big grassy area in the middle of the RV park with picnic tables, great for walking dogs or just relaxing in the grass. There is also a small basketball court. Minimal bugs- just a few knats that would seek out the lights at night. Site was level and just enough space for trailer and truck(a bit crowded but worked), full sun, no shade and a picnic table. Splitter on the water spiket provided. Light road noise from hwy nearby, but not bad. Customer service was nice and accommodating.$2 wash/$2 dryer so a little high, but the laundry services were clean. Gravel back-in site, asphalt roads, great for strolling around in the evening.
We stayed for 7 days so paid for 6 and the 7th was free. They also accept Good Sam members.
The wifi was a tad slow, but for the most part worked pretty good. Hotspot on cell for video calls and Netflix though.
Close to the grocery(Super 1 Foods) and 2 miles from the rodeo grounds and Blue Moon Nite Club where they have a weekly Thursday Rodeo in the summer. It was fun! Very accessible to Whitefish, Kalispell, downtown Columbia Falls, Hungry Horse, and Glacier National Park.*The cajun restaurant in Whitefish Tupelo Grille was awesome!!
TravelerWe spent a single night here. It was so good. Super quiet. Tons of wildlife (saw multiple deer, various birds, a grizzly on way in). I couldn't sleep any more so I got up at 4:30, made coffee, and walked down to the lake about 5 am. It was like a painting.
The ranger was super nice, too.
TravelerIt’s a good 7 mile hike in, but a beautiful hike and the destination is worth it. The site itself is right on the shore, with plenty of room for multiple parties to enjoy the lake at once.
Scout
My family and I stayed here for a week, if you’re looking to get away from it all, this is definitely the place. We can’t wait for our next vacation!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Eureka, MT?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Eureka, MT is Bowman Lake Campground — Glacier National Park with a 4.7-star rating from 31 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Eureka, MT?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near Eureka, MT, with real photos and reviews from campers.
