Glacier National Park, located in northwest Montana, is a breathtaking sight, with its 1.5 million square miles mainly unspoiled by human activity with just ONE road connecting the park’s east and west gates. The area is known for its stunning mountain peaks and valleys studded with trees.
We’ve had this national park on our list for the past year, drawn to it by friends’ stunning pictures that they shared from their previous visits. We knew Glacier was a must-see when we organized our road journey through the 11 westernmost contiguous states of the United States. (Teaser: Glacier was our favorite of the four national parks we visited on this trip: Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Glacier!)
The drive from Seattle to Glacier National Park
The journey was worthwhile just for the drive to Glacier National Park. We were to arrive from the west (Spokane, WA, to be exact) according to our route. We experienced sun-soaked yellow fields of the summer canola bloom, panoramic lakeside drives (Flathead Lake, MT is HUGE), and winding curves on highways that hugged mountainsides on our route to West Glacier, Montana.
We had only two nights and 1.5 days to spend in the park because we were in the middle of an intense 5-week road trip. The hamlet next to the park’s west entrance, West Glacier Village, is home to the West Glacier Motel, which we were fortunate enough to book at the last minute. With a few eateries, mini-golf, a late-night bar, a grocery store, a gas station, and a gift shop, it has the vibe of a campground.
We’ve reached our destination.
We traveled from eastern Washington, and after a lengthy journey, we arrived at the Apgar Visitor Center early in the afternoon, in time to spend a little while exploring before boarding one of the park’s well-known Red Bus Tours. Although it costs $65, we felt it was well worth the money.
We traveled the Western Alpine route, stopping frequently en route to the summit of the continental divide. We learned about the park’s background and legends throughout this fantastic first day of activities, which also allowed us to see some of the main attractions.
After the tour, which ran from 3 to 7 PM, we returned to West Glacier for dinner. Choosing to try the one authentic restaurant in town, Glacier Highlands, we enjoyed a variety of its delicious cuisine options and excellent local beer selection. Although it was getting close to closing time and extremely packed, we really wanted to play mini-golf.
Our whole day in the park of Glaciers
We decided to make the most of our one full day in the park, so we went to bed early and set our alarms for an early wake-up. The next morning, we got up and headed out the door at 7:00 AM.
Going to the Sun Road (GTTSR): What is it?
Since GTTSR is the only route that makes it possible to go around the entire park from east to west, it will be referenced frequently in this article (or vice versa). In addition to giving you access to all of the hiking paths, lakes, glaciers, and overlooks along the route, driving along the side of the ancient road and up one of the most striking sections of The Continental Divide offers an exhilarating experience.
Some advice for these full-day excursions
It’s an enormous park. When organizing your schedule, consider how long it will take to get from one spot to another. Also, remember to fuel up with gas before you reach the park! Utilize the space in your car by putting additional clothes, food, water, and a first aid kit inside.
There are large temperature variations throughout the day (50-60 degrees in the morning and 90s in the afternoon), so layers are very important. Grab some groceries and snacks before you enter the park, as there aren’t many food options due to its large size.
The park has NO mobile service, so don’t plan on using your phone for anything that needs the internet. Our phones displayed LTE bars even in West Glacier, but they had trouble loading anything. During our vacation, we only had access to Wi-Fi at our motel. Even at the sprawling Many Glacier Hotel, the Wi-Fi is exclusive to visitors.
As a result, we have three suggestions for getting around the park.
Get an offline map of the whole park and its surroundings by downloading it from Google Maps; if your service is good, this should only take five to ten minutes. Though it may sound dated, pick up many maps; we were given several complimentary ones at the park entry, our motel, and other locations. More information about the hikes compared to glaciers, etc., was provided by others. Look for one that lists hikes along with their lengths and elevation gains, or take a snapshot of one.
We’re off!
We headed inside the park and onto GTTSR with our offline maps in hand and the car loaded. The previous evening, we did some research on AllTrails and chose to start with the Trail of the Cedars hike. (Just so you know, we only trekked approximately 12 miles of the park’s 700 miles of trails, so there is a ton more to do!) While traveling there, we pulled over to the side of the road to enjoy the view and feel the crisp, cool water as we took a few steps down to Lake McDonald’s beach. We were fortunate to find parking at the Trail of the Cedars / Avalanche Lake trailhead after our brief halt.
It takes about 2.5 hours to do the 5–6 mile out-and-back Trail of the Cedars/Avalanche Lake. If time is of the essence, you should make time for the Trail’s 30-minute circle that features a portion of a boardwalk. You can hike up Avalanche Gorge for a minute or two to see more of it once you reach the top of this loop. If not, we strongly advise doing the entire Trail; Avalanche Lake is large, stunning, and remarkably still (be sure to hike up to the beach area). It’s the ideal location for a lake float and picnic.
After our fantastic first trek, we got back in the car and headed east on GTTSR. We stopped at several overlooks along the way, such as Sunrift Gorge & Baring Falls (small walks that run up and down the slope from the same parking lot) and Jackson Glacier viewpoint (where we did a very short hike to a tunnel under the road).
Upon reaching the east gate of the park, we chose to travel north to Many Glacier rather than south to Two Medicine. These two additional roads lead into the park. They halt about a third of the way into the park and are only accessible from the east side.
Glacier National Park at dusk
We had a long trip back to West Glacier ahead of us as the day was coming to an end, but first we made the decision to stop at Logan Pass Visitor Center since we had trouble finding parking there earlier in the day. At the top of the continental divide, you can trek the Hidden Lake Overlook route or enjoy golden hour views of the striking terrain to your east and west. Although the trail is only 1.5 miles long, it seems longer (maybe because it’s mostly uphill). Wear your most appropriate footwear because even in July, there were three or four large snowbanks that we had to traverse on this very popular hike!
We started this trek at 9:15 PM at night, which turned out to be a little terrifying because we were by ourselves and it grew dark soon. It would be best to start the hike at 8:30 PM. Although it’s a large region and you won’t have to worry about anything ambushing you, we nevertheless suggest it as a wonderful evening stroll with stunning sunsets and cotton candy skies. Right on the Trail, we spotted two amiable mountain goats and five bighorn sheep!
Our incredible day comes to a close.
We were relieved to have returned to our car safely in the dark and then continued down the GTTSR, being especially cautious at night due to the steep drops and wildlife on/crossing the road. We arrived back at our motel about 11:00 PM. Note: We discovered that most restaurants remained open until after 10:00 PM. We were forced to eat our meal from the snacks we had brought with us when we returned.
