My wife and I are planning a vacation with the kids to GNP in July does anyone have recommendations for east entrance lodging in the St. Mary or Babb area? Suggestions welcomed!

Better hope the Indians open it up by then. As for now the east side still closed.

TN deer hunter: I have been visiting Glacier National Park and its surrounding areas for decades now.
My advice, for the safety of you and your family, is to NOT stay in East Glacier, Browning or St. Mary.
The reasons (my reasons!) would possibly be considered "racist" by some - so I will NOT elaborate on them (the danger) here.
I have toured Glacier so many times and have done hiking and camping in the back country along with jet helicopter tours (which I HIGHLY recommend!) along with the wonderful drive tours.
Stay in West Glacier, Kalispell or Whitefish.
I do recommend that you DRIVE through East Galcier and St. Mary during the day - and the south approach around the Park to those areas is very scenic and serene.
I recommend that.
I have a picture I took last September (Glaciers most beautiful month?) that I can E-mail you that I took just south of St. Mary looking west that is one of the most outstanding pictures I have ever taken!
In the past I would have highly recommended you also tour the Moiese Bison Range south of Glacier but since the Federal Governement turned it over to "indian control" several years back it has been destroyed.
This was a stunning place to go on an auto tour to view Bison, Elk, Bear, Bighorn Sheep, Mule Deer, Antelope and Whitetailed Deer - at one time I even got pictures of Mt. Goat there - the last time I was there (2 years ago) I saw NO Mule Deer, NO Elk, NO Antelope, NO Bighorn Sheep, NO Whitetailed Deer and was accosted at the gate/entrance by a family of drinking and drunken indians selling "Elk jerky" at a roadside stand!
Again my advice - do not be in or travelling through the Browning, East Glacier or St Mary areas in the early evening or at night.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I will be there the month before you

I have rented a condo in Whitefish thru VRBO. I got a 2 bedroom/1 bath for I think $170 a night and its 1 block of the main street in Whitefish.

After reading about Whitefish, it sounds like a cool place but I'm actually leaning toward canceling my reservation and going to Kalispell. Just sounds like I'd fit in better there.

I thought about trying to get close to the park entrance, but I'd rather be walking distance to coffee shops , restaurants, etc and then drive to where I want to hike. I figured wherever I go in the park its going to still be fairly long drive from the entrance.

Anything you can do to not spend money in WF is a good thing. Fugk that town. Honestly, what it sounds like your after your reservations are about ideal. Your a tourist, you'll fit in fine. But that town defines covtard.



It's not that damned bad, sheesh. When the sovereign nation of proud people don't have it locked down, many thousands of people go in and recreate that side of the park every year just fine.

KFWA: Good thinking there - everything in Montana is FAR!
Lesson I learned more than half a century ago.
I have high mileage comfortable cars to rely on to cope with this.
And if you can at all afford to do so the helicopter tours over Glacier Park ARE a life changing event!
Enjoy.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Billygoatgruff: You just go right ahead and drive your family around Browning, St Mary and East Glacier every evening all summer long if you care to.
I won't risk my or my families life, limb and safety by doing so.
Are you new to the area?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I had a pretty good retort typed, but I don't want to sully the OP's thread.

VarmintGuy it is far safer if you just stay in the nursing home.

To the OP, question gets asked on here about Glacier every year. Here are a couple threads that might give you some good reference info. Search functions sucks on here, but if your google-fu is better than mine you'll dig up more.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14909005/1

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14993994/1

This might be a dumb question about my rental car. At the moment I'm just getting a standard car like an Impala.

Going in mid June and planning on hiking almost exclusively. Should I be concerned about getting to trailheads in the park? Getting an AWD SUV will set me back another $200 for the week but I'd do it if its what you need to get around.

If you want to hike anywhere but the park I'd spring for the SUV if it were me. If all you're staying in the park then you'll be fine.

Look up Traveler’s Rest Lodge. Some nice little cabins just outside of East Glacier. My wife and I spent a night there years ago. We were through a couple summers ago and they still look nice.

GNP got hit so hard last summer there were 3-4 hour waits at the entrance. It was fugging full on retarded. East side of fine, just don’t stay in Browning.

We rented a nice small house near West Glacier outside of Hungry Horse from a VRBO. It was a fantastic trip. Drove all over the place. Don't forget Moose's Saloon in Kalispell!! Polebridge too. And of course Going To The Sun Road. We drove through Browning on the way to Two Medicine. Take the boat ride there!

You can Google up my old thread when I asked the same question. Flave suggested we stay in Browning. I had no idea why.

You might look for lodging in Hungry Horse.

It's a nice little town.

https://reservations.travelclick.co...mpaign=ds_6731921238#/accommodation/room

phuuugggggggg

I don't wanna hear that

We went last July, drove our Suburban and stayed in a super nice cabin just outside the entrance at something called Glacier Raft Company or something like that. It was fantastic, convenient, easy to get around and easier to get in the park. We had a great time in Glacier and were glad we went. No real waits in our experience. We did not get to the east side, the road was closed east of Going to the Sun, so I can't comment on that. I would stay closer not farther from the gate, myself. We were glad to have the Suburban for the entire trip. Its safer, easier to drive and more ground clearance than a car. The roads on the west side going north felt better in the Sub.

Finally, people from the East generally do not understand distances in the West, you might or might not, but it's common. Things look close on a map but they are not so close. Just trying to help. Vacation time is expensive, too. It doesn't have a price, but its expensive.

Take notes

If you want to do polebridge and the lakes in that area, spotted bear ranger station, etc(highly recommend), I would get a SUV. It's dirt/gravel and can get snotty if it rains. Polebridge is a off grid hippy community that has the best huckleberry bear claws on the planet. And make sure you have a spare tire since there is no cell phone service in most places outside town. Whitefish is setup for tourists, it will have everything and a good selection of restaurants close. Plan on very early morning plans because things get crowded and closed around the park. I would hit "going to the sun" at 5 AM, and be done with that part.

The good part is there is tons to do close without dealing with a crowd. There are some cool trails on HWY 2 without much of a crowd. There is a public gold panning area about 90 minutes west of Kalispell if you have never done it and it's free, hundreds of lakes around, you can run up the north fork 20 miles past polebridge to the border ( Numa peak is amazing), fish grayling at red meadow lake, etc. Tuesday is rodeo night at the blue moon bar in Columbia falls, fights start at 11 PM after the rodeo in the bar. Find a guided trip to wild horse island on the south end of flathead lake, it's full of wild horses and bighorn sheep. Spend the money to float the north fork (fish or raft), you won't regret it.

Machine guns MT, and sportsman ski haus are cool gun shops in town.

Last time I was at Polebridge I got there in a 1978 VW Rabbit.

Don't ask that hippie woman running Polebridge Mercantile if the gas pump has any gas in it. For some reason it makes her pitch a fit.

It's close enough, you won't regret it.

https://izaakwaltoninn.com/

She might pitch a fit about other things too. But that's the only one I encountered.

She might have a seizure if you pointed at one of the Huckleberry bear claws and said, "I'll take one'nem grape donuts".

It's worth a try.

I can't help with lodging, but I will recommend that you bring your binos and a spotting scope on a tripod if you have one. My wife and I were in Glacier in 2019 and I very much regret not bringing the spotter. We saw grizzly's, mtn goats, deer and sheep but my 8x binos weren't really cutting it.

We went a few years ago. Stayed in a cabin at St Mary. Ate and had drinks in the lodge. It was good. I don't remember seeing many Indians other than a few girls working in the bar and as waitresses. They weren't very scary. Our car wasn't bothered. Browning looks trashy, but the only place out west I ever saw much litter out west was on reservations. Maybe it has gotten worse since we were there. From my experience I would recommend St Mary Lodge or their cabins.

Not always that way. Did numerous hikes in the park last summer and was able to work around it, although finding a parking spot can be tough at times. As mentioned above there are some good hikes outside the park as well.

As to the rez. I''ve been in /around Browning either traveling through getting gas, (even tented a night in town to see the annual pow wow) off and on for nearly 30 yrs. and unless you're looking for trouble I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Many Glacier Lodge is pretty cool and the views are amazing, lots of animal activity, but not cheap. Its farther away from the rest of the park( not as centralized for the east side as St. Mary's is) but has a lot to offer. You wouldn't be let down if you stayed there for most of the vacation.

If you hug the park with your accommodations on the east side you'll be fine. There's some nice places there that butt up against the park. Browning isn't that bad, just wouldn't stay there.

I couldn't agree more. Several years ago my wife and I were staying at St. Mary's Lodge before heading up to Banff. We walked over to eat at the lodge and got through some wings and a beer before it got really interesting. Two really drunk Indians came in and sat at the bar and were acting just like drunken Indians do. The problem started when they came and sat at our table and one of the smelly [bleep] put their arm around my wife. I jumped up and grabbed her and was ready to kick the [bleep] in the chest as hard as I could, but the bar tender was right there with a ball bat and told them to [bleep] off. They waited outside for a while and of course split before the cops got there. Long story short, we packed our [bleep], got a refund of our room and headed for Canada. If there would have been one of them I could have held my own, but I'll admit I was worried for my wife's safety with there being a second guy. It's beautiful for sure, but we'll never go back to the East side.

Stay out of Montana.


Its covered up with Indians.

Thanks guys!

We will be flying into Kalispell not sure on the dates yet, still looking for available lodging in July.

Check out the Isaak Walton Inn. It is close to the E. entrance and pretty nice w/ a fun bar and a good dining room. The converted cabooses are great. If you go for a walk take your pistol we saw griz on 2 occasions.


mike r

Following along here, I and the Family had plans to hit GNP last summer, Covid changed all that. Now hoping for the best this year and thinking about a September trip.. From what I understand many parts and features of the park are still very much questionable on what will be open, or available this year....

I would not makes plans to see Glacier this summer.

They have a water park in Billings that has a giant bucket of water that dumps on you.


Thats where I am headed this summer.


#yolo

oh hell, here we go again.

I hope you can handle "traffic" better than Gruff.

He tends to fall apart.

Not really.

I just get aggressive and start swearing....to an obscene amount.

Kenneth , you and your family will be in great danger in Glacier park, grizzly bears love to eat tourist from Wisconsin, especially union liberals...... it's no place for you
And if the bears don't get you the Blackfeet will....
You can thank me later.....

Clarke just likes to be around lots of people, like LOTS. Would live in a tenement if he could. Best thing ever. More people. yeah!

I once watched Gruff stay in the same lane for six miles.

Because he "had a turn coming up."

LOL

Prudence is a bad thing now?

Well chit, no one clued me in. All we have are giant water slides that sometimes open in summer.

This is just my opinion having lived in Idaho and Montana. Skip the parks until the Covid scare. While Glacier has nice scenery theres other nice scenery in Montana to be had without the signifigant crowds. I would look outside of Cooke City area at the Beartooth area. Maybe Half Moon campground in the Crazy Mtns. Theres nice country south of Livingston, and the Bitteroots. Perhaps a portion of the Bob Marshal. Just sayin' the touristy national park have unique attractions but they are exteemely crowded. Oh yes, Beartooth pass area.

Even living in close proximity to these national parks i try to avoid them as a rule as theres really nice country without the lines to wait behind.

why ya gotta be hatin?

great places

You drive like a girl.

Drove to Polebridge twice last summer, bumper to bumper all the way up the North Fork road, never seen it like that before.

Second trip up the road was wasted, the gravel parts were washboard all the way.
Cars parked all the way out to the NF road from the Polebridge Mercantile, guess they sold a lot of doughnuts.

If you plan on kickin' around Kalispell your first or last night in Montana check on avalibilty at https://kalispellgrand.com/ it's right downtown, you can walk out the town from there and never have to drive, their rates are cheaper than most and it's been updated very nicely.

The https://lodgeatwhitefishlake.com/ is nice if you plan on spending anytime in that area but it's a bit more pricey than some, you do get what you pay for there though.

As I posted before, don't skip by the https://izaakwaltoninn.com/ , it's away from the Glacier Park crowds and far more than unique, pretty fair priced as well.

If your plans are to stay in one spot I'd definitely be looking into vacation rentals and soon, they can offer the best accommodations for the best price.

The truth is; the northwest is the one of the most beautiful areas you will find and Glacier is a pretty decent part of it. Anyone who has traveled or lived in the area over the last fifty years will be aware that the most striking thing about this area might be the burgeoning population. That aside, it's still an attractive area. GD

I grew up darn near within walking distance of Babb on the Canadian side. I don’t live much further away now. I’d never stay there on purpose. But their are darn few places on earth, I’d imagine, that are more beautiful than Glacier National Park.

I camped and I loved it.

ribka: If you consider a person trying to keep himself and his family safe then YOU indeed are as stupid as YOU make YOURSELF sound!
If those places are so safe and wonderful then I assume YOU live there?
Sheesh.
Perhaps the best advice would NOT be coming from a "trans gender non binary transcendent mermaid queen-king" or what ever you are?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Depending on when you go in June, you might not be hitting the Going to the Sun Road (the only road in the park). Just casual averaging in my head, looks like the 3rd week of June is when it typically is cleared of snow and open for business. I don't know if they 'partially' open or not, some others will be in the know on that. Not sure how the current snowpack is, or forecasted for the rest of the winter either.


PDF of historical opening days-

https://www.fodors.com/community/at...open-close-dates_press-kit-6-26-2017.pdf

Quick grab from the last 20 years-

2000 May 27
2001 June 7
2002 June 28
2003 May 30
2004 May 30
2005 May 22
2006 June 23
2007 July 1
2008 July 2
2009 June 26
2010 June 24
2011 July 13
2012 June 19
2013 June 21
2015 June 19
2016 June 16



11 of us stayed in a VRBO west of Whitefish 7 or 8 miles on a creek a few years ago. House and property was nice, but not a quick trip to the park. We did do some hiking on National Forest Land though that had no crowds to deal with.

Whitefish is contantly said to be yuppie/liberal-ville on here, and rightfully so. But going to town to buy some coffee or eat at a restaurant won't turn you in to one, other than financially supporting them is bad...

A friends family owns the KOA at West Glacier. We got on the 'red jammer bus tour' there at the KOA. It was a super nice facility. My family enjoyed the bus tour (travels the length of the Going to The Sun Road and back. We saw deer, elk, bears, goats, moose, and I'm sure some others from the seat of the bus. Driver did say it was not typical to see that much from the bus though.

The same family had a son that was a Park Ranger Forest Service LEO (edited per BGG's local knowledge) killed by a grizzly as he was riding his bicycle outside of the park a few years ago. Grizzly came out of the timber, knocked him off his bike, and killed him. Was all over the national news when it happened.

Hiked the Hi-Line trail one day, some guys passing us going opposite direction said they'd just seen a grizzly cross the trail in front of us 20 minutes before. I was glad the ham sandwiches were in the wifes backpack....

For our hiking, we parked at the visitors center, then grabbed a shuttle to take us to the trailhead and back after the hiking was done. Shuttles are constantly running up and down the road.

Brad Treat (the man killed by the grizzly) was Forest Service LEO not Park Service.

Well....what if you miss the turn? What then?


Best not to take chances.....

Don't listen to scared old guys. Cripes its not that bad. I spend plenty of time there every year and have for more that a decade with 0 (zero) problems. Thousands (1000's) upon thousands (1000's) of visitors enter the park from the east every year, pre covid.

VG must have one heck of a time hunting on public land if he can't find any wildlife on the Bison Range. Generally you can see bison from HWY 93.

Thanks for the correction (I was almost kinda close)-Didn't know him or his family, just did some work with his cousin who was telling me the story after I'd just vacationed there.

I didn’t mean to sound like a dick, hope you didn’t take it that way I was just correcting the record.

I drive like a girl with a large cock and beautiful beard.


I’ve missed my exit in big shidthole cities and busy towns enough I don’t like to fugk around. Clarke likes to zip around and cut people off like he’s in a major metro area. I don’t. I can and have but I don’t like that style of driving.

Didn’t take it that way at all. Facts is facts and I welcome the corrections. Now if we could get my wife to understand that...

yea, I hiked in Banff in mid June and while the roads had no problems in getting there, two trails we hiked ended up requiring we turn around due to waist deep snow. I am just not familiar enough with GNP to know if that was an issue or not, and was part of the reason I was asking about an SUV, specifically an AWD one.

I also hit Yosemite once in late April and they wouldn't let me in the park unless I had snow chains on my car (which was also a rental) so I had to park at the visitor center and hike just what was close by which sucked.

I will be there June 16th

It opens and closes bit by bit, usually they keep it closed at the Loop on the west side until the pass opens.

It never totally closes, I've driven in there every month of the year.
Some really good cross country skiing and photography opportunities early on as well as fishing on Lake McDonald.

They get it open to "Avalanche" first then Logan Creek and the Loop after that. It's pretty much open to Lake McDonald year round.
You can keep up with the progress while they open the road here..
https://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm

For some early can be a better time to visit if they have don't care about going up the wall part of the road to the pass. They don't charge a entrance fee early and there is no crowds at all.

Don't expect to find any of the facilities open early, it's like a ghost town.

Bump it up for a cyber fiend .

I’m planning to be out there mid July for a few days.

I'd hang off on staying anywhere east of Essex (the Walton Inn) until the tribal government officially opens the reservation. Last couple times through Browning it's been openly hostile to transitory whites wanting to get coffee or a snack at the mart. The vaccines are going to be slow coming, not by June for sure, and maybe not September for enough of the gen-pop.
Also, the Park was, by all accounts very crowded because all the traffic was "in and out." My Dad and I tried it once, we've been there a million times, and he insisted on turning around at the first overlook on lower Lake McDonald, go watch trains on the Pass instead.
You would THINK with travel so restricted, the usual crowds would be thinned out. In this case, they're concentrated because of the nature of the COVID beast and we're getting another demographic that normally vacations in more-urban environments.

bumping this back up.
We are considering staying in Whitefish mid-June, day trips in park + hiking surrounding areas...

https://lodgeatwhitefishlake.com/

Or a vacation rental.

If you have to stay in Whitefish.

You'd never be sorry if you based your trip out of https://izaakwaltoninn.com/ instead.

Sis lives in Whitefish and they tourist trap you pretty well there. Cute little town with high prices, but Amtrak goes there and it is a good way to get there and through GP to get to the west side. Kalispell is way bigger with more traffic issues. Columbia Falls is only 14 miles to the "Park" and closer to the airport than Whitefish. Whitefish, Kalispell and Columbia Falls are all pretty close to the airport and you can rent a car there. Columbia Falls isn't near as touristy as either Whitefish or Kalispell and probably has lower rates for near anything than those other two. The Amtrak "station" in Browning on the east side was laughable. It looks like a bus stop enclosure.

FYI,going to sun road won’t be open until late June or early July.

FYI
The Izaak Walton is a flagstop located between Whitefish and Browning. Amtrak stops there to dropoff and pickup hotel guests.
They rent cars there as well.

Is the Izaak open after Labor day?

It's open year round.
Good food, nice bar...

Libtard Whitefish will probably still have all there mask B.S in place in June.

Guaranteed.