I'm headed west in June. Kind of a spur of the moment thing on our part due to a different trip that got cancelled.

I have a week. I'm open to any suggestions on what to see and do on the way there or back from MN. Is it too late to get hotels and such? Camping isn't out of the question, but at this point it's not preferred. Is it a bit better to stay at places off the beaten path of tourists or should I stick with the more common types of areas for lodging?

Around Glacier it's all touristy as far as hotels go. Unless you stay in Browning and you don't want to stay in Browning.

What part of June? If it's not the last week you won't see much of Glacier. Even if it is the last week you may still not see much.



Travis

It's been a long time since I've been there but I always preferred camping over staying in a lodge when I visited GNP. The Going to the Sun road was always a cool drive and we always saw critters, even did a few hikes but this time of year I'd be a bit wary of bears.

That's beautiful country, take your time and enjoy the scenery and drive.

If you do camp, I highly recommend you camp at Many Glacier. The last week of June is about the only time of the year you can access most trails, the Going to the Sun Road (potentially) and not have to fight for a camp site.



Travis

Staying in Browning would add some adventure to the trip.

First time through there I had to stop and get gas. Now I plan a bit better...

If you spray your face with gold paint you fit right in.



Travis

It will the be the second week of June.

Second week of June the pass will not be open on the east side, they are getting on the home stretch of completing the Sun Highway rebuild. June 19 is the target date.
From the West, the pass should be open in a couple of weeks, snow is pretty sparse.
I'd start looking at Kalispell and Columbia Falls (stay the eff away from the People's Republic of Whitefish) -- it's a half hour to the park gate from either, pretty much.
Daylight will be hitting around 6 AM (you know that) but most visitors are on vacation. An early start for anything has you beating the competition.
The other thing is, things are relatively quiet until the pass is open all the way through. Then, it's an effing zoo.
I would say, make a reservation in the Flathead, then plan on doing a random daily drive and "oh, this looks interesting" hike. The more athletic you are, the better off you'll be. If you can grab elevation and are good with decomposed rocks (good judgement), you should have a great time.
As for Browning, it's a rough looking rez town, but I don't hear much about visitors being ripped off. It's small town Montana more than it is an ethnic ghetto. But the natives are not real friendly, there's a definite vibe. If you must, one night will not kill you if you have a decent, lockable car.

Way to paint Brown-Town with a broad brush.

When we were there 25-30 years ago, we took the "Jammer" tour in the old White touring vehicles and it was well worth it.

My family did that last week of June last year.
(they went without me)
They liked the Cars.
Rained every day and the highway wasn't open.


P.S. I had a great week.

Is the snow as sparse as it is through the rest of the Rockies? If so, it could be open a lot earlier this year. Some passes never got closed this year.

I won't even stop in Browning to get gas anymore, it's like third world country but worse. The rewards of socialism!


Any of the hotels around downtown Kalispell should be fine, Whitefish has gone full commie and I won't even buy dinner in the city limits. Take time to stop in Polebridge and the lakes beyond it. Many glacier should be open, most of the high country trails will still be closed but the lower elevation will be open. You can stop by some the parks around Flathead lake. East side of the park to Kallispell is about 2 hours via HWY 2, west entrance is about 30 minutes.

We had a early spring, but it still takes tome to clean up all the slides across going to the sun road. Normally the pass opens around July 1st, but you can go part way up earlier.

If you do spend a night in Browning bring your own food. Good cooking is a whole jackrabbit tosses onto a campfire, guts, fur, and all...


Well, not quite that bad but not much better, either. The Casino is probably a safer bet there.

If you get up to Prince of Wales, I would not pass up a meal in the dining room, finished up with a trifle.

Bad time to go IMO.



Travis

I agree.

I have the exact same thought whenever I stop in Browning for fuel, or God help me, food.

Looking around it really reminds me of a third-world country. Trash, rundown buildings, packs of dogs, loitering people etc. Not exactly a nice experience.

When I am staying up in that area for work, I stay in Cut Bank just east of the park. Decent Super 8 and some options for food. Really nice country around there as well.

The old, inside road along the North Fork Flathead is pretty that time of year, but it's a rough, barely maintained road, one lane with narrow pullouts. There is decent wildlife viewing across McDonald Creek in the area around The Cedars to Avalanche Creek on the west part of Going-to-the-Sun, but you need binoculars. On the east side, Many Glacier, the meadows along upper St. Mary lake, and Looking Glass Pass between Kiowa Jct. and East Glacier have good scenery. The last may not be open, it takes a lot of maintenance in the spring. High country will likely be inaccessible.

I agree. Glacier's FaceBook page is still suggesting July 1. Hit Yellowstone instead. Save Glacier for when you can see it all.

Bob

Hit Custer Battlefield, right off of I-90 near Billings. Then take the Chief Joseph highway and do Lamar Valley, Old Faithful and Geyser basin in the park. That's a full trip if you get out and about. If you fly fish, it's hard to leave Lamar Valley!

Bob

When we went up we hit Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone for a couple of days and then headed up to Glacier. Both have their strong points, but given the length of the drive it was nice being able to hit both. And there's always the Buffalo Bill museum.. hate to miss that.

I rode a motorcycle from near Houston to Flathead Lake once, by way of Lewiston and Moscow ID. Was gonna go clear to Glacier NP but by then I'd already seen so much country I saved Glacier for the next time.

Flathead Lake was so clear I do believe you could drop a dime in the middle and watch it all the way down.

Camped once in the Little Missouri National Grasslands in ND, was pretty, might be on your way.

If you could swing, down by the Little Big Horn Battlefield coming or going.

Birdwatcher

Thanks. That's what I was wondering. If Yellowstone would be better that time of year?

Real good idea here.

That is probably the best time of the year to hit Yellowstone. The crowds will be minimal and I doubt the snowfall is going to keep you from seeing most of the popular schit down there.




Travis

Excellent. Thank your sir.

I've never been to either GNP or YNP, so ill take that too.

Yellowstone is great if you visit it any months besides July/August because of the crowds. I would also drop by cody and and hit the museum and the rodeo.

Talked about this before,...and it's been a long, long time since I was camping and hiking around Glacier National Park. But we selected a little village on the edge of the park named "Hungry Horse" to buy supplies, gasoline, and to do laundry.

It was a tiny little place back then,...didn't have much in the way of amenities, but it had a decent little grocery store and a gas station and it wasn't a dump.

You might find a good place to "hotel up" there, but you probably need to reserve it well in advance.

This page breaks it down enough to get a decent understanding of the place.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hungry-Horse-Montana.html

Can't speak knowledgably about this place, but it looks like a pretty decent little motel.

http://www.hungryhorselodging.com/

Here's a page with a lot of info.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g45222-Hungry_Horse_Montana-Hotels.html

Tzone, you need to head to Yellowstone as others have said, 2nd week of June could be absolutely perfect.

The week the Kids got out of school we headed west, enough snow up high to keep all the critters at the low elevations,

Black Bears and Grizzlies eating green grass roadside.

We saw 28 bears, 16 blacks and 12 grizz, some where feet from the Tahoe.

Neighbors went that year in August, they saw zilch, most animals had headed high by then.

I've been to most of the Major Scenic attractions in North America,including Denali park, Yellowstone is my favorite.

Countless picnic areas in Yellowstone, pack the cooler with food and drink, avoid the tourist centers for food, waste of time...

You're gonna have a great time.

Last time I was in Yellowstone, it was a Winnebago parking lot.

Glacier National Park was the frontier.

GNP will be the Parking lot, as some of the roads will still be closed.

2nd week of June, that's the Key.

As suggested Camp at many Glaciers or I have stayed at Johnson's Campground in E Glacier.

I go every year first week of June to hike and fish the lakes on the Blackfoot reservation ( great trout fishing btw) and some of the rivers in the GNP.

And Browning is a an interesting town. I always make it a point to stop by grocery store there to do my shopping.

GNP hands down beats YNP IMO

All this talk about Glacier has got me to thinkin'.

It was in 1980 that I really looked the place over,...camped all out in the primitive areas and hiked the place like I can't do any more.

Anyway,...

We camped in this primitive campground on the edge of the Blackfeet Indian reservation out there.

No electricity, showers, or any of that stuff. It *did* have a water pump and one chemical toilet booth,....fairly high up,...about 8000 feet.

Wasn't too many people there,...and the one's who were wasn't very close. You pretty much staked out an area and had it to yourself.

Well,...not too long before dark an old Ford LTD pulled in,..all 4 doors opened and I thought Indians wasn't ever gonna stop crawlin' outta that damn thing. Most of 'em either had long braids or just long hair that was tied into a pony tail with a leather band.

They didn't really act bad. They were just there to party.

I hung out and tossed a Frisbee with 'em for a while.

Later that night me and the wife cooked up a dinner over a fire and the Indians built a big fire and sat around it in a circle,...got pretty drunk,...got kinda loud,..

I went on to bed when it was bedtime.

Next day the Park Ranger who was assigned to the campground came around talking to the folks. He wasn't much older than me and stayed in a very nice log cabin up the road.

He was all apologetic about the loud, drunk Indians. It wasn't an issue to me. I'm a hillbilly. I've done my share of layin' drunk around a campfire. In fact,...if I hadn't had the wife with me, I woulda probably ended up over there with them before the night was over.

But evidently, there was a lot of snivellers in the campground that complained about the drunk, loud, Indian situation in the campground.

I was pretty much all "National Geographic" about the situation. Here I was,...a young hillbilly boy up on top of a Rocky Mountain on the other end of the country,...and I encounter a herd of drunk ass Blackfeet Indians,

My thoughts on the matter was, "Oh,...so this is where the Indians around here come to party".

It never occurred to me to complain about it.

I was a stranger in a strange land,...and I didn't have no say in what went on there.

,...didn't really give a damn.

As I said,....I was a 23 year old hillbilly,....and I'm gonna complain about somebody gettin' drunk around a campfire and havin' a party?

,...not hardly.

It will the be the second week of June. [/quote]

Bad time to go IMO.



Travis [/quote]

I agree. Glacier's FaceBook page is still suggesting July 1. Hit Yellowstone instead. Save Glacier for when you can see it all.

Bob [/quote]

Thanks. That's what I was wondering. If Yellowstone would be better that time of year? [/quote]

I've done both places several times and I'd go Yellowstone that time of the year. We've had some great trips with numerous griz, wolves, and black bears sightings during that time frame.

I heard from some friends that did a short trip in the north section of YNP last week. They had very good access. Not much snow. Still getting down below freezing at night and up into the 60's during the day. Perfect! Lots of animals seen from the roadway. Not any bears for them. You should have better luck seeing some in mid-June. I would plan a lot of time in the Lamar Valley area if griz and wolf are what you're looking for. For sure make it over to Geyser Badin and see Old Faithful and the rest. You'll have a hell of a good time. Make sure that you don't try to see everything in a few days and end up staring thru the windshield the whole time. There's lots of good trails for hiking. Get a guide book while there. Enjoy the trip.

Bob