Best RV Parks & Resorts near Fort Peck Project

This RV park was very accommodating and easy to find. Perfect for a quick stop overnight. They had clean bathrooms, laundry rooms, and grounds.

Our RV GPS and Waze wanted us to turn on 6th St in Glasgow, which has a 12’ 2” bridge under the railroad tracks. We had seen a review with this warning and seems they have mounted a sign right at the 6th St. turn that warns of the low bridge. We went two blocks further to 4th St. which is the truck route that took us to MT-24 for a 14 mile drive into Ft. Peck Marina. Once we got close, we followed the signs to Fort Peck Marina. We had tried to get reservations at a nearby COE with no luck and found this Campground(CG) via a Google Maps search. We saw the RV Park and pulled into the front of the CG area and took a 200 yard walk down to the tackle shop to check in. The road goes around by the tackle shop and boat ramp and we could have parked down there to check in, but as we are pulling a 40' rig and we couldn't actually see down there we didn't want to risk pulling down the road. Check in was quick. We were not given any kind of CG map or rules sheet. We then proceeded to the CG’s upper level to back-in site 33 with water and 50/30/20 AMP. The CG is essentially a large, well graveled parking lot. There was a ton of room in front of the site, so backing in was a breeze. The electric and water are at the back of the site, so we needed 25 feet of electric cord and water hose to reach the utilities. The site sloped to the driver’s side and we needed to place leveling blocks under that side’s tires. We had no issues with the electric, thankfully, as we were under a heat warning when we were there. Water was okay at about 40 PSI, but had a bad taste, even with our three filter system. There are no trees in the CG, so there was no problem getting a north shot for Starlink. We got 3 bars on Verizon. There’s no Wifi. The sites are long and just wide enough so you can park a boat. Most of the campers here are seasonal and for the most part, they keep their rigs and stuff around the site organized. But, be careful in the vegetated areas as most do not have their dogs on a leash and let them poop where ever. At first, we were wondering how the seasonals are doing their blackwater as the sign as you enter the marina states the nearest dump station is 3.5 miles, which is at Downstream COE CG. The man at the bait shop stated there’s a nice dump station in Glasgow at Scottie's Express Car Wash. He also said there’s a waste truck that will come out to the CG and pump you out, which is what the seasonal guests use. There are no shower facilities here but there is a vaulted restroom near the boat ramp that’s about 150 yards away. We checked out the Downstream COE we had tried to get into and it definiely would have been a better option, but this was our only option at the time.

Sites aren’t that level, deep gravel. There was a bit of trash strewn around but its quiet and in a good location. I backed in my van and had a view of horses grazing in a field near an old barn…along with a bit of backyard junkyards but that’s the nature of this remote small town. I could walk to everything, the owner was very kind and it was easy to access and had full hookups. Great stay while I visited family.

We stayed overnight at the Shady Rest on our way to Glacier. Privately owned by a nice couple. Great rate with full hookup and very quiet. Met our need. TIP: Call instead of booking online. The owner Cody is wearing many hats and doesn’t have a chance to check internet. Plus, she’s way nicer to talk to and it saved $5 platform fee from the reservation company.

The name fits this campgrounds perfectly. It is a great place to stop on your way to something or if you are attending an event in the area.

It has a lot of shady, full hookups, clean showers and bathhouse, a store, and even a place to wash clothes. It does have wifi but it was weak at my site #23. My cellular service was strong. The owners are wonderful. One note, if using GPS to find use the name. The address may get you into a different park that is hard to turn around in.

If you need a safe, clean stop this is what the Shady Rest Campground is.

General: 86-site US Army Corps of Engineers Campground located on the Missouri River in four loops, each with a different name: Lismas, New Deal, Wheeler, and Faranuf. Wheeler is for tent sites, the camper pads are gravel, and there are no electric hookups; the other three loops have mostly 30-amp but several 50-amp sites and the camper pads are paved. Faranuf has pull-thru sites that can accommodate larger RVs. 

Site Quality: All sites are level and are spaced a decent distance apart from each other. There are some trees for shade but still many are in full sun. 

Bath/Shower House: The New Deal and Wheeler loops have vault toilets and Lismas, and Faranuf have flush toilets and showers. The restroom in Faranuf is air-conditioned! The one in Lismas appears new (the old one is still standing but roped off) but points off for no soap! Also no hand sanitizer in the vault toilet in New Deal. 

Activities: There is a paved recreation path that circles the campground and is about 2.5 miles. Other recreation activities include basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, cornhole, disk golf, and two playgrounds (one in Faranuf and the other in the day-use area). Recreation equipment is available to borrow. There is also a wonderful interpretive center where you can learn about the history of the dam, as well as past and present wildlife. In the summer, it is open Friday– Monday, 9 am– 4 pm and the hours are less in other seasons. A must if you have kids! Many in the campground had boats. Kelly, the volunteer at the gatehouse, was effusive about all the area had to offer. 

We were only there for one night passing through, but we did visit the interpretive center, and run on the nature trail. The only bummer about this campground was the persistent wasps that made eating and sitting outside challenging.

Notd that this campground has changed management and so is now technically the Hell Creek Recreation Area, so if Google maps tells you it's closed don't worry about it! You'll still get to the right place.

Other reviewers were not exaggerating about the road to get there. It was 20 miles of bumpy gravel road, took us 1.5 hours to get over and our motorhome hated every second of it. It was absolutely stunning though, and I have to imagine that if we hadn't been in a motorhome we might have felt very differently.

Only electricity at our site, very limited shared water source, and the showers were coin operated. The staff person there was so nice and welcoming.

So, if you have a vehicle that can handle a difficult road and you're willing to rough it a tiny bit, I would definitely recommend this place. If not, maybe skip it for now.

Well cared for. Most sites are electric. Didn't see any with water or sewer hookups besides the host sites. Hosts were super friendly. Only con is i wish they would move to more dark sky lighting standards, there are a lot of bright lights around the park that make it difficult to see the night skies.

Great, well kept campground.  Great views, great walking paths.  Wildlife sightings were abundant!

Reliable hook ups, clean showers. Go back every year!

Very nice, spacious campground. Clean grounds and facilities, with a new shower house. Electric only at the sites, but fresh water fill and dump station available.

When they say bring what you need they mean it. There are toilets, fire pits and picnic tables...no wood and no water. But the sunset, sunrise and star gazing surrounded by beautiful lakes is worth it! It is a 4-mile drive in on a dirt/gravel road, and mostly dirt road in the campground area, so if you don’t have four-wheel drive the rainy season might get tricky. Good camp sites for tents or R.V.s. Quiet when we were there (early Sept after Labor Day). Plenty of room—only a dozen R.V.s other than our tent and another van. Cows do roam through and coyote sing to you at night. We would stay again!

Great staff at gate. Sites are very well spaced. Half full at best in mid September. Nice bike and walking trail, and view of the dam. Interesting history. We had electric. Clean restrooms and showers. I loved the space around us and it was really quiet. Agree with another reviewer that it would be a great dark sky park. That is the reason for four instead of five stars.

Camped in early September. Beautiful campground with large trees. Quiet and peaceful. Has power at most sites. Sites are large and level. Will have new restrooms open next year. Army Corps of Engineers so less than $20. Half price for seniors.

Fort Peck Downstream Campground is a real gem.  My son and I were there for four days, 8/29-9/1/2020.  My son is a quad and uses a power chair.  

Benefits:  This campground is run by the Army Corps of Engineers, and it shows.  Well paved roads, wide spaces, lots of room between spaces, laid out logically and well, and plenty of power.  The service buildings are clean and well kept, and one of the shower / lavatory buildings is brand new with easy wheelchair access.  Surrounding the camp are roughly five miles of mostly paved trails, perfect for early morning or late night walks.  Night time and clear skies bring out great star gazing.  The campground easily accommodates the largest rigs, with spaces large enough to handle 45' Coaches / Toads / and Boats all together.  There is also a 'group' space that could handle, I'm guessing, around 200 people.  Most electrical hookups are 30A; roughly 1/3 are 50A.  There are tons of things to see, and walking to the town of Fort Peck is ok for those in reasonable shape (I'm 57 and .. eh .. well rounded ... ); if you have a bike it is a snap to get there.  The very small town does have a grocery, restaurant,  and hardware store.  Glasgow is just 30 minutes up the road.  

Tradeoffs:  This is not a campground one can just show up at and get in.  Being a Federal facility, it is, of course, a Federal process to 'check in'.  One must, without exception, set up an account with the website recreation.gov ... note it is 'gov' not 'com'.  Next, one must pick dates and location ... a difficult process without any knowledge of the layout of the campground or what sites are close to what ... like playgrounds ... or bathrooms for those traveling without.  It is critical one does this BEFORE getting there ... as cell service is spotty at best and the folks at the gatehouse are not allowed to help or use their phone.  Don't ask how I know this, just take my word for it.  Trying to find cell service on a narrow two lane road in the middle of no where driving a 12 ton bread box is not a good time.  Just saying.  Once in, however, it is great.  This campground is on the high prairie ... it can be very windy, and storms come in fast.  If mountains and lots of pine trees are what you are looking for, this isn't it.  There are, however, lots of cottonwoods and tons of birds.  The campground is at the foot of the largest earthfill dam in the United States, and amongst other things, it produces power.  Which means that, especially at night, one can hear the steady hum of the generators outside.  Being male with selective hearing, didn't bother me a bit.  However, it might bother you.  In the summer, it can be very hot and dry, mid 90's are not unusual.  Night time lows are usually in the low 60's on down.  If you are there in the fall, it may well get into the lower 30's / upper 20's.  

Things to be aware of:  Make your reservation before you get there.  (Recreation.gov).  There is no water at the sites, however, spigots are scattered throughout the camp, if one has 50 feet of hose they can probably get to a spigot to 'top off the tank' ...

There is a dump station on the road into the camp, there are no full service sites.  The dump station is at most a mile away, and easy to get to if your teenager takes a twenty minute shower and fills the tank ... be aware that there are nice showers on site, at both ends of the camp.  The camp hosts are very friendly and helpful, even to old cranks like me who show up not knowing about making a reservation.  

For those who are in a wheelchair, this campground is a real treat.  There are miles of relatively flat, paved, walkways, including to fishing ponds.  The showers and facilities are handicap accessible, and one shower is specifically set up for folks in wheelchairs.

We only stayed one night as we were traveling through, the camp host was extremely friendly and welcoming.  He called us back promptly with information and also was there to greet us at our site even when we pulled in late (9PM).  Sites were level and paved and had lots of space.  Spacing between sites was very generous and campground was clean and well maintained.

Lots of space between campsites. But, being central Montana, there are almost no trees or brush. So, there is no privacy.

There is another campsite half a mile west that is set down in a private hollow. No table but really nice if you can do without.

Good light show... ??
Clear sky and full moon. Suddenly I saw the brightest meteor I have ever seen streak 3/4 way across sky. Brighter than the full moon. WOW! Do they do this light show every night or was this done just for me?

This is a primitive campground in the American Prairie Reserve.  It seems to be a relatively unknown place and we were the only people in the campground for the night (there are 6 tent sites and 7 RV).  It was about 40 miles of high-quality gravel road to get here.  Near the campground, there is a research HQ for the reserve which is not open to the public and otherwise we didn't see anyone else the entire time.  

Tent sites are walk-in and and on platforms, which you are required to use.  This means if you have two tents like us, you'll need two sites.  You tie the tents down to lashing points on on the side of the platform.  Each site has a fire pit, picnic table and there is a community covered picnic area and fire pit as well.  Free firewood is available next to the toilets.  There are vault toilets and non-potable water sources in the loop.  The walk-in is only about 15-50 yards, depending on the site.  From the campground, there is a small auditorium and nature trail available.  Bugs were pretty bad the night we were there, so we didn't try much of the nature trail.  

Everything felt new and almost unused, like the campground had just opened.  The toilets were only okay in cleanliness, the main reason I took off a star.  It was a fantastic experience for the kids.  A buffalo herd roamed the area and even through the campground at night and in the morning.  Prairie dog towns were all over.  It was one of our most memorable camping experiences but definitely come prepared since nothing is available on site or nearby.  Many of the roads in the preserve are in pretty primitive shape so 4WD is recommended to get around the preserve, but you won’t need it to access the camp site.  We had a big windstorm come through during the night, so lash down carefully!

This is one of the best places to take in that Big Sky that Montana is famous for!  The combination of the rolling hills that seem to go on forever and the reservoir make this a great spot to camp!  There are tons of opportunities to recreate in so many different ways!  At most of the grassy camping peninsulas you can launch your boat or SUP right into the water!  There are places where you can get some solitude and other places that are fit for a reunion or weekend party/getaway!

Now getting to the actual campsites.  Most of them are relatively primitive with only a few fire rings and picnic tables scattered about.  The grassy peninsulas are also not really split into individual campsites and it feels more like a camping field.  This means that if its busy your neighbors will likely be right on top of you if you can't get one of the isolated spots.  There are vault toilets near most of the spots along with running water at the day-use areas.  Another great thing about these spots is the presence of a great fish cleaning station!  To get cheap gas and food head into the nearby town of Glasgow which will be at least $1 cheaper per gallon than the marina pumps

Pretty much just boating and fishing to do here. It’s a great stop along our boat camping trip along the Missouri (also accessible by car). Pros: some sites reserved for walk-ups, some sites close to docks, clean, outhouses, swimming. Cons: open and no privacy.

This campground has great lakeside sites and the people at the marina are very friendly!

Lots of fishing, swimming, and boating up Hell Creek!