Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Glacier National Park,

Guys, there have been several threads here in the past about GNP. but my google-fu must be lacking, I see little in the archives using a google custom search,

If you know any of those past threads feel free to bump them up, or send me a link,

If you care to give her hell all over again in this thread, that's cool too....

Looking for ideas on family vacation this summer, and this time thinking of flying from Wi rather than 4 days driving back and forth.....

If I recall, huge advice on the fact that Browning was the coolest place of all to stay..............

Camp or stay in the Many Glacier Area for sure. There;s the Many Glacier Hotel, Swiftcurrent Lodge, as a well as a campground. Amazing scenery and great hikes out of there. Bear activity can be very high, so watch the warning signs.

If you're over 62 get one of the senior passes for the National Parks, You and everyone in the vehicle get in free or at big discounts. Can'[t remember where to apply.
We went to Glacier a few years ago, wonderful trip. We rented a VRBO in Whitefish, but then there were 9 or 10 of us.

I just got my senior pass at a national forest office, it cost $80 these days but I hope to make it pay off pretty soon with some free entries and 1/2 price on most of the camping.

What are your goals there? What kind of shape are you all in? If you can get there before the Highway to the Sun opens and can hike it you are in for a real treat.

Goals,

Do not turn into bear poop,
We're in good shape, love to hike(see above)
why before the Highway to the Sun opens?

Most others say avoid that.

What time of year?? Weather will dictate what you can hike.

realisticall speaking, spend how many days in that area?

We have up to 8 days to work with,

Can't imagine we would want to spend all 8 in the Park?

What else would be worthy in the area?

Grand Tetons?

We've done Yellowstone, (loved it)

Thinking July?

Yes, For sure do the senior pass deal, If one gets out much at all it pays. Luckily got mine when they were $10. Glacier is gorgeous with near every landscape recognizable from calendar shots. Do give ones self 3 or 4 days for time to pause and smell the roses though. Not overly impressed with the wildlife viewing compared to Yellowstone or Montana's Bison Range, but do keep an eye out. Jasper is somewhat better for wildlife.

For sure a camera with both telephoto and wide angle options.

Spring or early summer are likely best. For our last late summer outing, Canada and Washington's Kootenai country were on fire, and most of our shots looked like Glacier in the fog.

Can't comment on facilities as we were camping.

Most others say avoid that.
If you can get there BEFORE the Highway to the Sun opens and can hike it you are in for a real treat.

why before the Highway to the Sun opens?
For the same reason everyone says avoid it! Hint there are no cars on it when it is closed!

A ride up to hungry horse dam and beyond is worth the trip.

When the road is closed you can also ride bikes on it. The road opens around the 1st of July. Of course depending on snowpack and road damage.

Most trails should be open by early July.. most years. Rocky mountain bison range, flathead lake, spotted bear ranger station, and the Canadian side of the park are all worth a visit. Big fork, whitefish are more tourist towns. Browning is always nice. It’s big country, 8 days is nothing.

Agree on all counts. One of my family’s favorite trips, and we’ve done all the major parks. You won’t run out of things to do.

If you want to book a Reds tour, they fill up days and weeks out. Kick back with the top rolled open, old stoner telling us all about the geomorphology.

You can do this one one of your days if just want a laid back day.

We've done Glacier several times and while the Going to The Sun Road is great the first time or two, you want to get out and hike. Hike a day, spend the next day doing something easy, and hike again the next. You can burn a week real easy.

We've always stayed on the west side (usually vacation rental or camp)and just drove to where we wanted to hike each day. Make accommodations well in advance if you can. Leave early in the morning,enjoy some coffee and the scenery while you drive to the trailhead.

Our favorite day-hikes were, Siyeh Pass, Grinnell Glacier, and Ptarmigan Tunnel. We saw grizzlies, bighorn sheep, black bears, goats and a few elk and moose. You won't see as many animals as Yellowstone, but the scenery is fantastic. Pack some optics! Plan your hikes ahead of time. In some cases, the shuttle system can take you back to your vehicle after a long day on the trail if you come out near a pick-up point on the main road.

The Going to the Sun Road can be a cluster at times, visitor centers will be packed after 10 AM, and the more popular trails will have dozens of people or more hiking them, but we enjoyed the heck out of hiking there.

The big issue with Glacier P. now is parking. ...and at present the park does not have a shuttle service (the previous contractor quit). Keep checking the GNP website and start making phone calls for updates on info. If you can, make reservations as soon as possible to reserve camping spot/s and plan hikes accordingly. As was mentioned, the east side(Many Glacier etc.) gives you the most bang for your sheckles, but can be very busy as well.

We went in late August 2 years ago and had to totally change plans due to fires. In dryer years late summer can be an issue. This past summer we went late June. Got there the day Going to The Sun Road opened. Spectacular. But, it was also snowing at the pass. Spent first night after driving up in Hungry Horse at a local inn, then 5 days tenting it in the park. Lots to see. The town of Polebridge was a neat stop when we explored the western side of the park. Hike to Iceberg Lake was memorable. I saw mention of seeing Grand Teton NP on the trip by someone. We live at its backdoor. That is a long days drive from Glacier. We admit to being spoiled by living in Grand Teton and Yellowstone’s backyards, BUT are the first to say the trips were well worthit. The scenery is spectacular. A different landscape all together. Every hike we took was outstanding.

Since this is a family vacation, and time is precious, and you've already driven the "great plains," might want to change it up a little.

Flying into Montana is outrageously expensive. It's the "penalty" for living here. So, Spokane and Calgary might actually be the wisest fly-in option. Fly in there, rent a car, it's a full day for Calgary and about five-six hours on good highways from Spokane to Kalispell, three different routes all within about an hour total time of each other. The airfare savings might actually pay for the rental car, even more.

But if you fly, you can't bring toys or camping gear.

Our snowpack this year is doing well, which means a mid-June Sun Road opening. The "local" protocol for the Sun Road is to get up at Oh Dark Four Thirty and be in the park before sunup for your day hike. There is very little "backcountry" hiking or overnight hiking permitted. Otherwise, it's a crowded crapshoot until after Labor Day, and it can snow closed any time after that.

Another thing I would think about is basing yourself on the east side, East Glacier, Browning, Many Glacier, St Mary. I've not looked at the gate counts but I'd bet hard money that most auto driver visits on the Sun Road are on the west side, from Belton up to Logan Pass and back down because the Flathead is "sexier" than the east front side of Glacier. But in my view, and in terms of where I've hiked, the east face trails are "better" than on the west side.

Keep in mind also that the HUGE majority of visitation to GNP is focused on the Sun Road and hikes originating on the road. But there is the North Fork on the west, and 2 Med, Many Glacier, and Waterton, basically 9 10ths of the park, where nobody goes relative to Logan Pass Sun Road corridor. Everybody goes there. Oh man, it's crazy. No crazier than the Statue of Liberty, but it's pretty much a zoo, like Old Faithful gets.

If your family includes athletic kids (over about 12 years) and a sporty wife who actually has a pair of broken in hiking boots and walking poles, the park has a lot to offer. It's really not for sissies or the stupid. The well-prepared and adventurous are rewarded.