Bruegger Centennial Park

We came to Bruegger Centennial Park thinking we would spend at least a couple days here as they have a 5-day limit, so why not explore what they have to offer?

It could have been me and all that’s on my mind, what’s going on in our surroundings, or everything combined, but we only stayed the one night.

US-2 is under construction through the entire town, but we patiently awaited the pilot car to guide us and many other travelers through. The campground is on a dead end street and more like a parking lot with an adjacent park. There are no specific sites or delineations. While there was an occupied popup camper when we arrived, another travel trailer pulled into the lot shortly after, then another parked on the street as well as a camper van to call it their respite for the night. Later, a tenter setup camp under a shade tree within the park. It was coincidentally busy for a Tuesday evening.

Besides the 5-day limit, the campground rules say that generator usage is restricted between 6am and 9pm. They do not offer electricity of any sort but have trash receptacles, a dump station with fresh water, and public restrooms (no showers). There are no fire rings but picnic tables and pedestal grills are near the campsite and elsewhere in the park.

The park is a nice setting. Two small rail cars reflect on the coal mining of the area in the 1940’s and 1950’s. On the topic of trains, you will not only hear them, but the vibrations were pretty substantial, especially inside our motorhome. The park has a modern playground like I’ve never seen, and while I don’t exactly know, it may even be for children of all abilities. As I have other priorites needing my current and immediate time, I did not give the effort it deserved to find out. For a small town population of around 750, it pleased me that much consideration was given for the comminity’s childeren. What wasn’t so pleasant was seeing a few dead and/or dismembered birds in the grass within a hundred or so feet of the campground. I don’t know the cause, and not sure I want to know, either. It could be an eager cat, or could be toxins... regardless, it was a little unsettling. Some youths in a golf cart zoomed through the area and campground several times, while it looked like they were having fun, they were a little reckless, too.

Before getting to the campground, Al stopped by the Visitor Center and Town Museum. Seemingly preoccupied with the road construction disturbances, they didn’t offer much to do in the immediate area but did provide a Montana map and some information elsewhere in the state. While I understand that the construction is necessary, it was in a terrible and careless disarray and don’t want to imagine what it would be like driving through at night.

The next morning, we went to the Missouri River Bridge on the outskirts of Culbertson in hopes of utilizing the morning light for photos, but it was difficult acquiring a vantage point without the vulgar disrespecting phrases spraypainted in dismay, ruining the atmosphere of what could be a beautiful area. We then went back to the campground, tidied up, and proceeded to the next waypoint without even using their dump station. We just didn’t want to be there any longer. Sadly, we don’t have many good memories of this town and will likely not come back, but thank you for the place to park for the night.

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