Best Glamping near Townsend, MT

If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to vacation in a post-apocalyptic landfill run by people who watched Green Acres and said,“Hold my beer,” then Kim’s Marina& RV Resort is the place for you.

We pulled in at 1:30PM—our assigned site already occupied by another camper who kindly apologized. The staff, however, offered nothing. No sorry, no heads-up, no water, no shade. Just a“shrug emoji” in human form. Their own check-in pamphlet said checkout was at 2PM—so why hand us a site that still had a family fully plugged in and grilling hot dogs?

Meanwhile, my 76-year-old mother (who confirmed the day before that her cabin would be ready at 1:30) was treated like a burden every time she asked if her room was ready. FIVE times she asked. They didn’t even start cleaning it until 2:40. It was 100 degrees. She waited in that heat like a forgotten prop in a bad country western, and when they finally let her in, the bed was bare and they told her,“Oh—you still need bedding.” Like it was a lemonade stand, not a paid rental cabin.

The grounds? Picture a campground that moonlights as a junkyard. Dog poop was everywhere. It was like a minefield from the moment you stepped out of your camper to the joke they call a“beach.” And the dogs? Off-leash, wild, and no one batted an eye.

The plumbing situation? Grab your hazmat suit. The water spigots looked like they were salvaged from a scrapyard, half-stripped, leaking like crazy, and—you guessed it—pooling water under the electric hookups. One sewer cap shot off like a geyser when I touched it. I wouldn’t wash a lawnmower with this setup, let alone plug in my rig.

The roads were a combo of gravel, pothole dirt, and vague paved patches—but folks sped through it like NASCAR tryouts. No speed limit signs. No enforcement. Just kids on bikes diving for cover.

The “beach” for kids? There were broken signs with rusted nails still sticking out of them. Nothing says “family memories” like a tetanus shot.

Bathrooms? Closed when we arrived. When they did open, it smelled like something had crawled into the plumbing and lost its will to live. Didn’t even risk a shower—especially since you have to PAY for one on top of your already steep site fee. Pay to shower in your own stink? Pass.

Now let’s talk about the nightmare fuel they call a laundry room. Clean and dirty laundry were stacked everywhere like someone gave up mid-fold. It looked like a middle school lost-and-found exploded. Vomit in the utility sink. I wish I was kidding. ONE washer worked, and TWO dryers were broken. Not that it mattered—the pile of abandoned linens made it impossible to find space anyway.

Oh, and the staff? If the dress code was“backwoods buffet with a side of resentment,” they nailed it. Rude, grunting, eye-rolling, dismissive. One guy looked like he’d used his shirt as a napkin from breakfast through dinner and capped it off with ripped jean shorts straight outta 1987. Customer service was nonexistent, but judgment? Flowing like that busted water spigot.

Trash? Overflowed all weekend. Piled up 15 feet high and smelled like the opening scene of a horror movie. At night, I wasn’t sure if I heard raccoons or zombies.

We booked 5 nights. We stayed 5 nights. But if we didn’t have family with us, we would’ve packed up and peeled out of there after night one.

Bottom line: Kim’s is not a“resort.” It’s a rotting relic held together by duct tape, fumes, and apathy. The only thing elite here is how fast you’ll want to burn your shoes when you leave.

Never again. Not if it was free. Not if you paid me. Absolute disgrace.

This campground was a pleasant surprise. We had initially planned to camp at Glacier but were thwarted by fire and smoke. We booked this campground when we arrived at the State Park, no problem. The road circles the campground. There are five loops inside the outer road, with about 7 campsites per loop, and the playground and bathrooms in the center. The sites have electric hookups. We were able to fill our water tanks with spigots centrally located throughout the campground, but could not keep it connected. No sewer, but the bathroom is very convenient. The site was level with a fire pit and very spacious. The State Park was awesome. We went hiking and the cave tour was great. They have two souvenir stores and one cafe near the cave. We stayed there for 4 nights which was perfect for what we had planned. Would highly recommend.

For scouts we had a huge campout here (like we do every year) and it still is one of my most memorable campground. The area is super clean, with the only trash I find way out in the mountain. Talking about that, there are cool “mountains” (basically steep hills with some rocks) you can climb or hike, that give you a great view of the area. The bathrooms are pretty clean and not too smelly as well. If you just want to go camping there are amazing places to pitch a tent and in ground fire pits. Also, if you happen to have a boat, you can park it next to your campsite and take it onto the lake during the day.

Located in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest near Butte, Montana, Delmoe Lake was a beautiful place to camp for a night. The area is popular with OHV’s and you will pass multiple staging areas on the drive up as well as many others camping along the way up to the campground. It’s a ~10 mile drive on a well maintained gravel road that is accessible from I-90 by taking either exit 241 or 233 (we're driving cross country so it was important to find some place that was easy to get to yet far enough away to feel like we were out in nature). There are two camping loops as well as a day use area. Sites cost $5/night plus $3 for any additional vehicles (we had 2 cars so it was $8 for the night). Sites include a picnic table and fire ring, and there was ample firewood left by others for us to use. Pit toilets are also available. We were here in late July and there were a decent amount of mosquitos. Echoing the previous review, there was a fair amount of trash around but it was still a pleasant place to spend the night.

Lewis and Clark National Forest Grasshopper Campground is a nice campground in the Castle Mountains. As you enter this campground you find a trail head to the left and then a picnic area to the right. The campsites start right after the first of two vault toilets for the campground. At the beginning of the campground loop, right behind the registration box you will find the hand pump for the campground. A creek runs right through the middle of the campground. One nice feature of this campground is once the campground gates are closed and locked, you can still drive to sites 1 and 2 as they are before the closure gate, so as long as you can still drive up the road you can camp. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. I did notice at least one site also had a BBQ grill in addition to the fire ring. Sites are $10 per night with a 16 day stay limit.

Experience Camping near where Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the Corps of Discovery camped at the headwaters of the Missouri river in 1805. Missouri Headwaters State Park campground is a 17 site campground located just a short distance from the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers. If you are a history buff or just want to learn about the Corps of Discovery journey then this is a must stay. Historical signs about the the Corps of Discovers stay at the headwaters of the Missouri and their journey are located through out the park. If you have never spent a night in a tipi you can do it here, just be sure to reserve it ahead of time. You can see how Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri by checking out the dug out canoe that can be found at the entrance of the campground. All the campsites have picnic tables sitting on concrete pads, and metal fire rings. Trash pins, water and vault toilets are also available. All the campsites are nice and flat. Most of the site are of good size with nice grassy areas to set up your tent, a few are a little small and cramped. All sites can be reserved. Many short hiking trails are in the park, be sure to take the short hike up to a vista to get the entire view of the headwaters area. If you like to fish you are in luck, you have four rivers to choose from, all with great fishing opportunities.