GREAT FALLS – A popular campground on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation has prohibited soft-sided camping due to bears.
Chewing Black Bones Campground, which is on the eastern shore of St. Mary’s Lake and north of the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road, will now only allow hard-sided camping until further notice.
Soft-sided camping units include tents or units made of thin material. Hard-sided units are campers, motorhomes, or vehicles.
In a social media post, campground staff wrote pop-up campers are permitted, but canvas cannot be exposed.
The closure was implemented due to bear activity in the area.
According to Reserve America, Chewing Black Bones has a northern area and a southern area. The southern side is for day-use and includes a boat launch and dock, group campsites, picnic shelters, and a Tipi Village.
The northern side allows overnight camping with 110 campsites and some sites along the lakeshore. Chewing Black Bones is located to the west of Highway 89 and about three miles south of Babb.
