Best Cabin Camping near Heart Butte, MT

For full disclosure we were compensated for this trip for testing the Dyrt's reservation system.

Our trip to Swan Lake Trading Post & Campground started out by reserving the campground through The Dyrts's new reservation system. Reserving the site was extremely easy and fast to use, way better than other systems we have used before. We had a confirmation from the campground with in a few hours of using the reservation system.

Now for the campground. We were highly impressed by this small campground. The tent camping area was located around a small pond/lake. The site has picnic tables and fire rings as well as plenty of chairs available for siting around the fire or along the little lake. The campground has 8 RV sites, 3 cabins and 3 yurts (the yurts had not been set up for the season during our visit). The trading post has all your basic camping needs and anything you need if you forget something, they even have Ice Cream. If you don't want to cook breakfast the trading post will take care of that for you by cooking up a breakfast sandwich for you. The campground provides clean restrooms and showers. Tent sites were very reasonable at $20, just two more dollars than the Forest Service campground down the road which does not have flush toilets or showers. The camp host are very friendly. We were provided with the camps wifi password, but you do have to be on the trading post back porch to use it. The porch has plenty of table an chairs for sitting at. They also have games you can use to pass the time, we didn't use them but was nice to know they were available. It was nice and quiet at night with very little traffic on the highway, plus the creek running by really muffled any noise from vehicles driving by. This campground will definitely be on our list to stay at the next time we visit the Swan Valley and Swan Lake.

Whether you're needing a tent space, are car camping, or have an RV/camper, Johnson's of St Mary's has you covered. No matter your plans, schedule 1 meal of your stay to check out the cafe, which has some excellent food, decor, and family history.

The tent sites come with a picnic table and a fire pit. I noticed from walking around not all have a grill, so if that's important to you I'd specifically ask during reservations.

The grounds are located very close to the national park, and given how quickly the national park campgrounds reserve each year, having this oprtion close by and available was a life saver.

If you're looking to do some backcountry in the park but don't have a permit, you are well advised to show up to the backcountry offices as early as possible, and this place is nearby a station, so I liked having this option for arriving late the night before with a guaranteed spot. It was nice to be able to fill up the water bladder with potable water before all the excursions as well.

It's got token operated showers, and you get 1token/person/day with your reservation, which should be fine. Showers last 6 minutes. From the offices you can also purchase ice and firewood.

WiFi is free at the office and cafe, and available for a fee at your campgrounds. I had full bars of service at my site. It will take you 5 minutes to get to the National Park entrance, gas stations are down the road. Views from the grounds are OK, and shade is plentiful.

This small campground packs a tremendous punch! RVs (if I had to guess, accommodates 8-12 total), rustic cabins, two yurts, and pondside tent sites - there are no defined tent sites; anywhere along the pond perimeter is fair game.

We stayed just one night in one of the yurts ($35 summer 2021), which is equipped with two cots and a battery-operated lantern. After checking in with the camp hosts (who are lovely!), we got a key to the showers, bathrooms, and laundry room. The hosts keep these areas immaculate, cleaning often. There's also very limited wifi on the porch just outside the bathrooms/showers.

The campground has a great vibe and everyone is very friendly. Between the pond and Swan Lake just across the street, it is buggy, but you cannot beat the location! 

The general store is still closed due to flooding last summer, but new construction is well underway.

We booked here for a week and only stayed 3 nights! It's basically just a big open construction pit. It could be nice in the future but I would not waste your money on this until later on when it's fully done. Theres only one available shower right now, no 50 amp even though it's advertised, no laundry facility even though it's advertised. The owner told us he would deliver us a picnic table and make us a fire pit by 10 am on the second day we were there and neither of those things ever happened. We had to go get our own picnic table from a big dirt pile and we had to build our own fire pit with rocks that were scattered around the construction site. Once again, I will say maybe in the future this place will be nice BUT I would not go right now as it is a Full blown construction site still. I should also add the construction noise is loud and annoying. The whole reason we went to Glacier was to enjoy the peace and quiet not construction noise. So we packed up and left and went camping elsewhere.

We arrived to this brand new campground and stayed for a week at the tent site. We were a group of 11 and it was such an amazing experience! There was still some construction going on, and a few advertised details were not up and running, BUT it did not deter our group at all. There were 2 fully working bathrooms with showers, picnic tables, and a fire pit. The tent site was very open with soft dirt and grass, which was very comfortable for us, and gorgeous views of Glacier park! The nearest grocery store and gas station were about 15 minutes away. The east entrance to Glacier National Park was about a 15-20 minute drive! We will definitely be back here again in the future when it’s 100% completed, because I know it’s going to be PERFECT!