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Glacier National Park trip

tman24

tman24

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2008
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The wife and I are wanting to go on a trip to Glacier National Park. So far the plan would be to see Badlands/Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone/Grand Tetons either along the way there or on the way back. We plan on driving our own vehicle and camping most of the nights. As for what to do once we get there, I am stuck. There seems to be a ton of things to do at Glacier. Mainly have been looking in the Many Glacier area. What are peoples recommendations for any of the parks?
 
If they still do the open air bus tours! I went around '99 with a bunch of Girl Scouts, but it was really fun!
 
There were great places to eat, sadly I don't remember their names. Horseback riding, you can go into some of the pools of water there.
 
I worked in Montana for four summers (2008-11) and went to Glacier each year. I would recommend going to Apgar Village first, and stopping in to talk to the ranger there. Tell them what type of hiking you're looking for and how long you want it to be, and they'll be able to tell you where to go from there.

Other than that, I recommend Avalanche Lake and the St. Mary's waterfall. They're on opposite ends of the park, so depending on how much snow has melted on the Going to the Sun Road, you may not be able to get to both. If you can only hit one, though, get to St. Mary's--you can jump off the bridge right into the water (~20' drop).

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any other questions about Glacier or Montana, in general!
 
You're planning the same exact vacation I went on in 6th grade with my family. We went to all those spots you want to go to. For Glacier National Park all I remember doing was driving on Going to the Sun Road, and hiking Logan's Pass.
 
If you like wide open spaces, head straight north from Rushmore to Wolf Point, MT and then head west across the state on Highway 2 "the hi-line". I took that route on my motorcycle on my way to Glacier. Two of the best days of riding in my life.
 
Glacier is a wonderful choice. I was out there in June of 2003. On more than one occasion I was awoken by the sounds bears grunting and sniffing through camp. Hungry Horse dam is kinda nice.
 
tman24 said:
The wife and I are wanting to go on a trip to Glacier National Park. So far the plan would be to see Badlands/Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone/Grand Tetons either along the way there or on the way back. We plan on driving our own vehicle and camping most of the nights. As for what to do once we get there, I am stuck. There seems to be a ton of things to do at Glacier. Mainly have been looking in the Many Glacier area. What are peoples recommendations for any of the parks?
Click to expand...

2 things:
1) You can't see all those parks and do any of them justice. Edit your trip and save some for next time.

2) Glacier is not a "car park." It is the best of the national parks in my opinion but is not meant to be seen from the drive through. You will need to get out and hike a lot and you will see some of the most beautiful country in the entire world. And see the glaciers before they are gone...they are nearly gone. I would highly recommend backpacking there. There are even some great cabins you can backpack to. I will say this, other than Alaska, I worry about bears most in Glacier of any park in the US. They are there, and because the park isn't as well traveled as others they are more likely to be encountered. So, talk and make noise while you hike. Enjoy it.
 
everyyard said:
2 things:
1) You can't see all those parks and do any of them justice. Edit your trip and save some for next time.

2) Glacier is not .......
Click to expand...

everyyard said:
2 things:
1) You can't see all those parks and do any of them justice. Edit your trip and save some for next time.

2) Glacier is not .............
Click to expand...

I agree with # 1

Polebridge -- pretty cool

Huckleberry anything.

My sister and brother live in Kalispell

My brother and girlfriend have about 10 Kayaks

My brother loves to hike. And an ISU grad. He is 65 years old.

He is as outdoors as you can get.

There are ancient hieroglyphs accessable only by boat on flathead lake.

There are hieroglyphs right off the highway west of Kalispell, a few miles past Kila.

Get a T shirt at Mooses Saloon in Kalispell (the last time I was there they were still using sawdust on the floor.)

When you enter Montana / Wyoming you are only halfway there.

Take highway 212 for the scenic route, avoid it at night though, if you can. It is real Buffalo country. Stop at the Custer Battlefield.

On your way or way home take the route on the east side of Swan Lake, neat drive.

Bob Marshall Wilderness

Hike camp near Hungry Horse---Lots of neat things

Man can I go on on and on---The area reminds me of Summit County/Denver x10000, without the big city.
 
Beartooth pass (Highway 212 on the northeast of Yellowstone) is supposed to be one of the most beautifuls roads in America. I intend on seeing that for myself next time I make my way out there.
 
everyyard said:
2 things:
1) You can't see all those parks and do any of them justice. Edit your trip and save some for next time.
Click to expand...

This is true, the wife and I did black hills, yellowstone/teton, and rocky mountain loop 5-6 years ago. However, we knew that going in and chose to do it anyway. The reason was either 1: It'd be a 'scouting' trip to prioritize them for later trips, or 2: If we couldn't get back, at least we've seen a little of each of them.

Thus far it's been the second one, life and kids got in the way thus far (I'm thinking next year we'll be ready to take that on). I'm glad we did it, know what to expect of each if we go back.

OP: if you're doing that many, and are going into it knowing you're not going to see everything at every one, here's my advice: Don't even try and see everything...it's supposed to be a vacation, not a rat race. We tried to pick a morning activity (a hike, one of the 'must sees', etc.), then left the afternoon open but had a list of things that we we would like to do, but wouldn't have to. That way, if we felt like it, we hit one of the ones off our list. If not, we rested, or did something that we discovered along the way.

We liked the combination of scheduling some thing so we got the biggest things done, but not packing too much into schedules so it didn't feel like we were always rushed.

Good luck, have fun!
 
no2cyclones said:
I worked in Montana for four summers (2008-11) and went to Glacier each year. I would recommend going to Apgar Village first, and stopping in to talk to the ranger there. Tell them what type of hiking you're looking for and how long you want it to be, and they'll be able to tell you where to go from there.

Other than that, I recommend Avalanche Lake and the St. Mary's waterfall. They're on opposite ends of the park, so depending on how much snow has melted on the Going to the Sun Road, you may not be able to get to both. If you can only hit one, though, get to St. Mary's--you can jump off the bridge right into the water (~20' drop).

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any other questions about Glacier or Montana, in general!
Click to expand...

Years ago, I caught about 50 trout in a day of fishing after hiking in to Avalanche Lake.

I went on this vacation when I was probalby 11 or 12 with my family. Great trip, beautiful.
 
NickTheGreat said:
I thought Crazy Horse sucked :shrug:
Click to expand...
I just stopped along the road to check it out. I figured there was no reason to actually go in. Personally I think that it would look incredible from the road if it was ever finished. Unfortunately I don't see that happening in my lifetime.
 
Check out Reptile Gardens, if its still there. My mom, who was scared to death of snakes, came out of there with a new appreciation of them. If you are backpacking or hiking in Glacier, I'd pack pepper spray.
 
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