Rising Sun Campground sits on the north shore of St. Mary Lake about six miles inside the St. Mary Entrance on the east side of Glacier National Park, part of the small Rising Sun hub along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. It is a mid-sized, first-come, first-served campground of about 83 sites, a handful of which can fit RVs up to 25 feet, with flush toilets and drinking water.

The setting is the draw: the campground looks out toward St. Mary Lake and the surrounding peaks, and the Rising Sun area has a camp store, a motor inn, a nearby restaurant and coin-operated showers, along with the boat dock where scenic cruises depart onto the lake. That makes it an unusually convenient primitive-fee campground, with services close at hand in an otherwise wild stretch of the east side.

Rising Sun is an excellent base for east-side hiking and sightseeing. The trail to St. Mary and Virginia Falls begins a short drive up the road, the Wild Goose Island overlook is nearby, and the full length of the Going-to-the-Sun Road climbs west from here toward Logan Pass. Being first-come, first-served, it requires an early arrival on busy summer days, but for campers who want lakeside scenery with a few creature comforts on the quieter east side of the park, Rising Sun is hard to beat.