Fort Harrison RV Park

There is no quick and easy way to get from the freeway to Ft. Harrison. You’ll have to go through city streets and neighborhoods. Getting onto the installation is easy enough, but takes a few minutes. The guard who let us in the north gate gave us a treat for each of our dogs. He also confirmed the reason for using the north gate is the security barricades at the main gate are too tight to let anything large through. Getting and returning the key for the hookups was simple. As has been mentioned, the sites have curbs and are too narrow, and some of the hookups are on the wrong side. It’s a fairly new camp and whoever designed it was meticulous, but clearly knew nothing about RVs or RV parks. The Billeting office knows this, but there’s nothing that can be done for it. The park was carefully laid out and the camp host maintains it meticulously. As verified by billeting, he’s a real/official camp host not a self appointed wannabe. He really does an outstanding job, and looking around at some of the decorations, etc. I suspect he’s putting some of his own money into the place. We were only here for one night, but would choose this camp if we ever get a chance to stay a few days and explore Helena.

We are a 45' motorhome towing a truck. Directions are good and easy to follow. There is enough room by Gate 3 to pull in and be off the highway so no need to park by the side of the road when you call for security. The camp hosts could not be nicer. They keep the sites up and grass cut. I was told that there are free washers in the same office where you goo to sign in to the park, but we did not use the laundry. No showers at the park itself, but the fitness center with nice showers is about a block away. Also, no wifi, but Verizon does get 5 bars of service. If you are a longer rig like us, sewer is an issue. I needed 20 feet of sewer hose to connect which is no big deal, BUT the sewer hose had to go up over a curb and then uphill to the sewer and then up and over the lip. That's why I gave it a lower rating. There is a small military museum on Post, but only open on Thursdays. Site was long enough for the motorhome and the truck. Seems like lots to do in Helena which is the state capitol. Also end of July is a county fair and rodeo. Saturdays is a big farmers market where they block off a downtown street.

Nice campground. Like others have said, the sewage drains are a little high, would be better if they added more gravel or paved the parking area to raise up the RV. Very well maintained grounds. There are great bike paths just out the gate that run through town, but wear a helmet or they won’t let you ride back on base. Lots of hiking options in and around town, we liked Helena Mountain park for some of the best.

This is a National Guard base, no commissary or bx. The park is well maintained and offers the basics; water, sewer, and 50a elect. The Workout facility about 100 yards from the RV park offers showers, and the check-in building has free laundromat service. Everyone I've met has been friendly and helpful. It would be best, if traveling from the south, to get off on Hwy 12 before getting to Helena to avoid having to go through the downtown area. The North gate is the ONLY enterence to the base for RVs. The military police came within minutes when I called to have the gate opened.

Location is near shopping and groceries. The directions do not indicate how far from I-15 exit to Williams Street; it is about 4 miles. Once you get to Williams, there are clear signs to VA Hospital and Main Gate. The campground was easy to find. It is small but sites look new. There was no sharing of electrical as indicated in earlier information. Site were very well cared for: gravel was even raked. Sites are FHU and pull through; they are close together but level; no shade or wifi. Satellite reception was good. We did not use the bath house but it also appeared fairly new. Overall this is a good value for a place to stay while visiting the area. It is not a destination campground. The 3 rating for Cleanliness and Hospitality is lower because of way the category is combined: while everything was well maintained and a higher rating was deserved, the hospitality needs work. Our reservation was easily made and we received an email prior to arriving with our lock box # and code for late check-in. We arrived prior to that time, but the office was locked so we went ahead and got our key from the lock box. Curiously, I also had a second email for a second lock box. Since we were staying two days, we thought perhaps there was a different code for different days or something, so we opened the second box and found magnetic entry cards as for a hotel room. (During this time, another couple was looking for Billeting as well.) While we were closing the lock box, we saw an employee unlock the office door and enter. No lights were ever cut on, making it appear there was no one in the office. However, we went in and found a staff person; we told her that we were checking in, but did not understand why we had two emails, two lock boxes and the hotel cards. She said that we had two reservations: one BOQ and one campground. We knew we did not, but she insisted we must. After looking at the computer, she asked us who "John Doe" was -- never heard of him. Then she noticed that someone had entered my email into both reservations, so apparently John Doe never got his email because I got it. Anyway, finished checking in and getting maps and went on our way. We noticed the other couple that were looking for Billeting had found a staff member who brought them back to the office -- we had to tell them someone was in there because the lights were still off and you couldn't see if the office was staffed or not. We were there for two days and never saw the host, although we were told which site to go to if we needed him. We had to download the brochure on this site to determine check out time. However, Sun morning about 1040, the host knocked on the door to let us know checkout was 1100...NOT 1200 as in brochure. We also had to ask where to return the key since we were given 2 maps at checkin but no instructions or SOPs for campground. I found it irinic that we had been there Friday through Sun and the first tome we saw the host it was to tell us we had 20 minutes before checkout. The security staff at the gate were very professional and friendly. We did call to determine the correct gate, and the only question asked was whether we had any type of weapon. We declared my husband's handgun (concealed weapons license and law enforcement officer) and they simply placed a lock on it, but he was allowed to keep the weapon in the rig. We were told if we wanted it unlocked when we left base (since he is allowed to carry under Montana law), they would be happy to unlock it when we left, and relock when we returned. We never bothered. 

Camp host was extremely helpful and friendly. Sewer hook up requires a board/blocking in order to allow it to freely drain from rig due to curb and connection height. The range is right down the street, but wasn’t too busy during our stay. There is a small shopette on post, but plan on shopping for groceries in Helena. We had a great stay and will stop in again if we venture close.

Cozy little park close to Helena, MT was a great place to stop and catch up with repairs/PM on our coach. With only 12 slots it's best to call ahead and get a reservation although the first two weeks of our stay not all spots were taken. As it got closer to Independence Day the park started to fill up. remoandiris did a great in-depth review and I won't rehash their review so just a few highlights. 1. Pedestals aren't all on the street side as you pull in so have extra length of electrical cord and water hose that will go under your RV to the other side. 2. The curbs are way too high so be careful if your RV settles when leveling so you can still have access to your basements AND don't catch your steps. 3. If you have PTSD (one of the short-term campers did) this is probably NOT the place for you as the range is just up the road and you will be serenaded by automatic weapons fire, helicopter training, etc. 4. Keep a camera handy to take photos of the fox family and deer that wander around the garrison. Jesse, the camp host is very friendly and helpful BTW. We enjoyed our stay and will stop in again when we're in the neighborhood. 

Once you get on US-12, just stay on it until you see the VA/Ft Harrison sign. If coming from the east, your GPS might want to route you onto Joslyn St and then Country Club Ave. If you have a big coach, Country Club is a bit rough. It is a more direct route to the Truck Gate though. As per the instructions I received from Billeting when I made my reservation, I called the Main Gate as soon as I saw the Fort. A contract security guard just happened to be there and he waited the few minutes for us to arrive. He took my ID, called in my license plate and name, then I had to let him inside my 5er for a quick look. He later admitted he had no idea why they are required to look inside. You have to call them when you leave, too, so they can open the truck gate for you to depart. Next was a quick stop at the Billeting office which is just a block or 2 straight ahead from the truck gate. I parked on the main street in front of the building. I received the key for the electrical box and and water spigot locks. Key has to be returned to Billeting upon departure. After dropping the key, that is a perfect time to call security to open the truck gate. There is a drop box outside the office door. I also received a copy of the rules, a base map and a fam camp map. Was an easy drive to the RV park and easy to pull into the site. As mentioned in other reviews, the sewer connection is high. Mine was so high it was virtually useless and there is no dump station. So, when I left, I drove around to the opposite side of my site (site 12), putting me on the loop road and high enough to empty my tanks. Slightly inconvenient, but really no big deal. Whomever the engineer was that designed this or contractor who built it, they really dorked up the sewer connections. You can also see each site's utilities are positioned at slightly different spots. Water closer or further from the driveway, same with the sewer connection or electric box. No fenced in dog run, but there is a walking/jogging trail that goes thru the park. Just make sure to pick up your dog's waste. The pet alone rule stated above under "Pet Information" is no longer true. The rules recommend you take your pets, but they are allowed to be left alone inside. Portable pet fences (such as X-pens) are allowed. There is no grass between the sites, just packed, coarse sand. No laundry facilities or showers at the park, but the fitness center is close for showers and there is a laundry room with free washer and dryers to use in the same building as the Billeting office. No cable or wifi at the park, but sites are wide open for satellite and my mifi worked great. Both FedEx and UPS will deliver to your site. There is a Montana military museum near the main gate. This place is very quiet and has nice mountain views. The park host this year is a USN retiree named Jesse and he is a real nice guy. The only real negative I have is the sewer connection. Other than that, it is a nice place for a short stay. 

Small Army National Guard RV park located west of Helena MT. We were there about a week. No issues making reservations several months in advance. We called the security guards with the number provided as we approached the RV gate (North gate) and they were there quickly. Very pleasant folks. They directed us to the check-in (lodging office) building just down the street on the right, and we parked right on the street with our 4-way flashers on. Enter the building on the south side walk-in door. Check-in was painless and they issue you a key that unlocks the electric box and the water hydrant at the RV site. Note: The street names on post do not completely match Google Maps so be aware. Turn left at the ball field and right at the Navy Reserve building. The RV park is on your left. The RV park was built with very high concrete curbs separating the sites, which can make navigating into and departing from your spot a bit tricky. They also did not install electric boxes for each site, so every other one has to run the power cord from the left side of your rig, under neither to plug in. Water pressure was great and water quality was great. No issues with power (50A). Sewer flow is tricky with the tall concrete curbs and elevated sewer connection. Very small PX and not well marked. It is near the service club and the rear of the building faces the street. The biggest negative is the apparent homesteaders. We understood the rule as 14 days max, but there are many that we heard have been there a long time, such as high ranking officers and contractors working at the VA facility nearby. These places are not meant to be trailer parks for long term residency. We made our reservations early so this did not impact us...this time. If you are unable to get a site, this may be why.

The post was very clean, everyone was great. It's right out of a movie set from WWII. Lots of old buildings and a museum from WWII. Deer walking right next to RV. Very quite, peaceful, relaxing. RV spots were a little close together and the sewer drain was about 12 inches in the air, made it tough to connect to. The sites are pull on and very easy to get to.

Nice campground with new sites, full hookups and beautiful mountain views. When you come in on Williams St, note that the road has turns, but it still is Williams St! The sites have the power boxes between each site pairs. So the even site numbers have to bring their power cord to the passenger side to plug-in.