cupps

Sorry for the delay in posting this, but the past 6 weeks since the trip have been hectic.

First of all, let me say that anyone contemplating the trip to Glacier National park should definitely do it. The park was amazing, the scenery breathtaking, and the effort to get their well worth it!!

DFW to SLC then to FCA on Delta planned for July 9th. Unfortunately, due to bad weather in Dallas the flight in to SLC was delayed so I missed my connection to FCA. Be aware that due to FCA (Kalispell, MT) being a small airport that you can only get in on a limited number of flights and Delta I found was the easiest. You can fly either United from Denver or America back on Alaska from Seattle.

After my delay on July 9th I finally arriaved at FCA around 11am on July 10th. Jumped in to the rental car to head to Glacier National Park which is just about 30 miles NE of Kalispell.

Beautiful drive from the entrance up to Lake McDonald which is near the West entrance of the park. Had a nice treat when we first entered the first camp area in that we caught a glimpse of a grizzly through the trees. Weather was nice, sunny and in the 80's. Perfect hiking weather.

Drove from the East entrance on the Going to the Sun road until we arrived at St. Marys, MT. Stayed at St. Mary's lodge which was nice, but a bit pricey at over $200 per night for one bed due to the time of year. I would suggest getting your hotel arrangements made early if you go during early July.

Got up early on Sunday morning, July 11th and decided to head up to the Waterton portion of the park. Really enjoyed the view from the Price Edward hotel overlooking late Waterton. Beautiful old hotel, but very price for a stay as I recall over $350 US per night. Made our way through the Waterton portion of the park and also took in the Bison paddock up north of the entrance. Nice to see Bison, but they do not do much since it is really a corrall they are trapped in this area. I am sure the kid's would enjoy it if they have never seen bison.

Drove back down toward East Glacier where we would be spending the evening of July 11th. Enjoyed the drive along Rt 49 at dusk from Kiowa to East Glacier, but be warned it is treacherous and you have to watch for wildlife on the road at night. We nearly hit a spooked moose!

Stayed at the Dancing Bears Inn located in East Glacier. Price was right at under $150 per night and both Heather and Beaver made us feel right at home. One word of warning, if you arrive in East Glacier after 9pm you will be hard pressed to find any eating establishment open so plan accordingly.

The morning of July 12th we headed West towards FCA airport as our flight was departing that evening. Drove around the edge of the park on RT 2 which allows one to travel at normal highway speeds versus crawling in the park. Enjoyed the stop at the Goat Lick overlook just south of Walton. This area is a natural Salt deposit that the mountain goats climb up to get nourishment. One suggestion is to go up on the RT beyond the pull off and view the area round the bridge that goes across the rock face. We actually saw more goats from the side of the road from this vantage point than the marked area on the rest stop.

Did not really see much of Kalispell itself so I cannot speak much to the town, but the Glacier park experience was amazing and I would highly recommend it. Also, if you are here during the summer you have to give the huckleberry pie and huckleberry lemonande a try!

rmiller774

TimF1975: I'm sure that you saw on the GNP website that half of the rooms (this means about 60) at the Many Glacier Hotel are to undergo interior renovation during the 2011 season. That's a chunk of lodging that will not be available inside the park. The website does suggest that visitors phone with regard to 2011 lodging. Maybe that is why there is no 2011 reservation calendar displayed? To wait or not to wait - that is the question.

oldpenny16

Look to Vacation Rentals by Owner for some outstanding rental properties not far from Glacier. There are some very high quality homes available for rental.

TimF1975

Anything specific you can recommend?

TimF1975

I was told I can phone in reservations for 2011 now.

Anybody have an opinion as to which month is better for a visit: June, July or August?

manneca

Several years ago we visited Glacier (wonderful trip). We were on the Going to the Sun Road on July 4. It was snowing.

TimF1975

That's what I'm afraid of. Will shoot for early August...

rmiller774

The 2011 reservation calendar is up now so reservations may be made on line.

TimF1975

I'd appreciate a critique of my proposed itinerary:

Day 1: ORD->FCA, overnight in Kalispell (hotel recs appreciated)
Day 2: Stay at Glacier Park Lodge
Day 3: Stay at Glacier Park Lodge
Day 4: Stay at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn
Day 5: Stay at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn
Day 6: Stay at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn
Day 7: Stay at McDonald Lodge
Day 8: Stay at McDonald Lodge
Day 9: FCA->ORD

Will probably take a day trip to Canada one of the days we're at Swiftcurrent.

hackensacknj

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on which Amtrak stop is "better" for arriving and departing for some Glacier Natl Park sightseeing.

We will travel from Seattle to one of these stops, do some sightseeing for a few days and then re-board an Amtrak to get to Chicago. Does one of these towns work better for car rentals and early morning departures than the other one does?

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

swei0009

Whitefish is a very artificial, very expensive, trendy little yuppie town. West Glacier is a touristy small town. It's also A LOT closer to GNP (as in, right by the entrance). If your goal is to see GNP, go to West Glacier.

I'm guessing car rental in both places is pretty poor. The "major" airport (and thus car rentals) would be in Kalispell.

FWIW the roads are still mostly open in GNP (http://home.nps.gov/applications/gla...roadstatus.cfm) but not open all the way. Whichever side of the park you come in (and you are looking at the west end) you'll stay there. You can't drive over the pass right now due to road construction, and soon due to snow :-)

OliverB

Okay, so I'm finally on to the Glacier itinerary now!

I've got the foundations for the trip laid out already. We'll be flying from San Francisco into Seattle where we'll be staying at the Sorrento for 2/3 nights. Then we're going to ride the Empire Builder from King Street Station into Glacier!

Here's where your help would greatly be appreciated...

I'm thinking of taking the traight directly to the West Glacier depot and spending a night at the Belton Chalet in one of the cottages. I don't really want to go any further as it will be a very long ride and after 10+ hrs on the rails, every additional hour makes a difference and we want to enjoy the journey!

So I'm thinking the first night will be at the Belton, then back to the WGL depot the next morning/afternoon to push East to our next stop...

Here's where I'm having difficulties with the itinerary. I'd first considered bypassing WGL as our first stop and taking the train straight to the Essex station for an overnight at the Izaak Walton. Since we won't have a car with us and will be travelling exclusively by rail and the red bus Park shuttle, I'd like to take advantage of the stations wherever possible to see as much of the park. So I would like to spend a single night at the Izaak Walton in one of the lodge rooms (facing opposite the train yard, I've done my research!). I think this would be fun.

From here, I'd like to continue on to The Glacier Park Lodge for 2 full nights. I'm not sure whether to take the train directly into Essex and spend our first night at the IW or stick with the current plan of taking the train into WGL for a night at the Belton... Furthermore, if spending our first night at the Belton as planned, I then wonder if we should continue straight on to Glacier Park Lodge for our 2 night stay, and then stop at the IW upon returning from that, as a halfway point before reaching West Glacier again?

Anyway, once that is all sorted, I would basically like to return to the WGL depot via the Empire Builder and then take the Park shuttle over to the Village Inn at Apgar for our first night int he Lake McDonald area.

I'm then thinking that it would be nice to continue along to the North Eastern part of the lake for a single night stay at Lake McDonald Lodge.

From here, we'd continue along the Park shuttle to the Many Glacier Hotel for 3 nights as you (djp98374) had suggested in the previous thread.

I am then wondering if it would be possible to be shuttled to the Canadian side of the park for a 2 night stay at the Prince of Wales Hotel?

If that is not possible, it would change all of our plans because I know for sure that a shuttle runs from both the West and East Amtrak stations, so if we're forced to, we'd rearrange all of these stops to do the Alberta side after Glacier Park Lodge. I'd much prefer to do Canada last however.

The only thing that's not decided is where we'd be flying out from and how we'd be getting to whichever airport makes the most sense. If we decide to take the Empire Builder back towards Seatlle (NOT all the way, just a bit West!!!) then perhaps I would stay 1/2 nights at Lake McDonald and stay a night at the Village Inn at Apgar as a stopover on the way back to ease the amount of travel.

I would definitely like to experience all of the historic lodges, inns and motels and the added benefit is that even though some might only be 40-50 mins. apart driving distance, we'll be without a vehicle and so it will offer a nice opportunity to base ourselves in different areas.

Obviously the Belton and Apgar Village Inn are right beside one another and so I would only be staying at the Belston as an easy overnight either coming into the park, returning home, or as a halfway point since it's right across from the train depot and will cut travel time.

If you could please offer yoru advice on the best way to do this and organize our nights and stops along the way, I would appreciate it so much! Your input in the last thread was incredibly helpful and I can't thank you enough!

Oh and very last question -- what would eb the most interesting and scenic time of year to visit? I imagine winter would limit our activities and some of the wildlife viewing so I'm looking more at spring or autumn. It probably gets quite hot in the summers. What do you think is the nicest and prettiest time of year to visit?

Thanks again!!!!

djp98374

You didnt have to put my screen name in the title....

IMHO.....you need to have a car to explore the park. The east side fo the park is a nightmare with shuttles.

As far as I know there is no park bus shuttle to get you to Waterton lakes part of the park. There could be some other private shuttle service that may do it. But I do not know of one.

The shuttle bus in the parks mainly run the main road through the park from St Mary's to West Glacier. The run a shuttle to the train station.

The park has a lot of parts to explore that you cant get to via bus. Especially on the east side of the park.

You can take the train and get by without a car to do the western part of the park.

To do the eastern side of the park and waterton lakes I suggest you leave from Lake McDonald and go and rent a car to then go and explore the east side of the park.

What you could do....

I suggest you stay about 2 nights each in Lake McDonald, E Glacier, St Mary's, MAny Glacier, and Waterton

train in. Stay at Apgar area

Day 1 West glacier Lake MacDonald
Day 2 West Glacier Lake MacDeonald
Day 3 go into Kalispell (there should be some sort of airport shuttle you can take) and rent a car then drive US 2 around the south part of the park and stay that night at Izaak Walton.
Day 4 drive to East Glacier and stay at the inn. That day explore two medicine Hat
Day 5 drive to East Glacier and stay at the inn. That day explore two medicine Hat
Day 6 Explore two medicine Hat area and then drive up to st Marys and stay in a lodge there
Day 7 using the shuttle explore the east side of going to the sun road stay at St Marys.
Day 8 drive up to Many Glaciers stay at one of the inns there
Day 9 explore the are stay at Many Glacier
Day 10 go to Waterton Lakes
Day 11 Waterton Lakes area
Day 12 Drive your way back to Kalispell area via the going to the sun road , return car, take shuttle to Apgar and stay there for a night before taking the train.

If you were going to add another day at a lodge I would add it at Many glaciers. there area alot of trails there.

With boat tours you need to make reservations. If I recall correctly there are 4....lake Macdonald, St Mary's, Two Medicine, and Many glaciers. The two medicine takes you across a lake then you can get off and do some hiking and then take the boat back.

hat attack

I can't imagine being there without a vehicle.
You've gone to a lot of trouble to get there and it is a vast park with unique and diverse areas.

Go in the summer. "Going to the Sun Road" is usually not even open until June and it can snow at any time, including the summer.

OliverB

Thanks so much and sorry about putting your name in the title, I've edited that.

Before I revise the whole itinerary, I just want to ask whether it would be necessary to have a car to explore the Two Medicine area of East Glacier?

I would ideally like to take the train all the way East from Belton to Izaak to Glacier Park Lodge and experience that section of the park by rail. Then ride back to the Whitefish station, rent a car along US-2 in Kalispell, and return to do the North Eastern portion of the park, beginning at the West entrance. A couple of nights at Lake McDonald, then drive along to Many, etc.

What's the best way to do Two Medicine and would we have to experience with a car from Glacier Park Lodge? That seems to be the closest base, however I would have preferred to have done that entire run of the park by railway exclusively and only pick up a car to do the Northern portion (starting at the Lake McDonald area and continuing up towards the border).

Do you recomend campgrounds around Two Medicine?

Once I have this confirmed, I'll be able to completely revise our itinerary and can post it for feedback and further editing. Since the historic lodgings along the Pacific Railway passage were constructed and served as gateways to the National Park almost a century ago, I would really love to experience them by that same route and I think driving into Izaak or GPL would detract a bit from that experience.

One of the aspects of the Parks that captivates me so profoundly is the feeling of being completely lost in time. There are so few places in the world that you can travel, let alone in the United States, that are left completely untouched and unmollested in their wild natural state. Even in the greatest cosmopolitan cities in the world that are vastly rich in history and culture, it's not possible to find any wholly enveloped departure from modernization. You can stay at any of the Old World grand dames in Manhattan, Paris or London, but you cannot escape the present-day surroundings, for better or worse. The National Parks are the last vestige of cessation from all else. You are truly in another place (in the venerable soul and heartland of America's primal wilderness) where time, the very essence of human construct, does not exist beyond the moon phases and passage of seasons.

This is why I'd like to start this leg of the journey by ditching any notions of modern transport, and riding the rails from sprawling metropolitan Seattle back through time. I just think it would be a really neat experience.

That said, I would not want to compromise the wonders and sights of the Park by doing so, and I agree with you that it would seem much more convenient to rent a car for the stretch between Western Lake McDonald up towards St Marys, Many and Alberta.

What do you think about this?

Is there a practical or possible way to do the Medicine Hat area whilst still following the first leg (from West to East) by rail, or would we absolutely need a car by the time we reached Glacier Park Lodge? What about horseback or shuttle to the Two Medicine area; is that too inconvenient?

Apart from this one uncertainty, the rest of the trip seems quite easy to plan and I'd just appreciate your advice in refining and fine-tuning our plans.

Thanks again!!!