Best RV Parks & Resorts near Fort Peck Project

We stayed in OF 8, which has no hookups. The site, as is many around it, is huge. This site is nearest road so keep that in mind. Traffic was relatively quiet when we were there during weekday. Many sites have view of water although some are just peekaboo. Shade in many sites but not the big OF sites. Sites with hookups have nice paved pad. A few of these are really deluxe being off on their own with great views. Campground is not walking distance from lake. Lake is impressively HUGE. Nice fire ring at each site. Most sites appear to not be super level. We did fine in 8.

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.

Nice campground. Spaces are fairly spacious. Some are almost private. Great hot showers. Nice to have mature trees too give shade. The Army Corps are obviously working constantly to improve the sites. Most are pull through, a bit tight to get in and out of with my 29' 5th wheel, will choose a back in in the future. I love that this campground is run as a first come first serve by only allowing day of reservations! A great model!

Really nice interpretive center free admission. We'll worth a visit. Marina nearby packed with fishermen. Play area is in the group camp area nearby.

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.

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.

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.