Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons

[fortwildernessishome]

I did an 8-week drive across the country last summer, through 32 states and 20-something national parks. Glacier was my favorite. There are a ton of gorgeous hikes there. Buy or rent some bear spray, though. It's not legal everywhere but it is in Glacier.

My dream trip! I would LOVE to have 8 weeks!!

I have been to 31 National Parks (and countless National Monuments) and my favorite is a tie between Glacier and Yosemite. We have another trip for Glacier next summer. Such a beautiful and amazing place!

 

[pmoments]

We just came back from doing Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We flew in and out of Bozeman. Really nice airport.

 

[adkkev]

If you enter after 5PM, no timed entry pass is needed, and you will still have about three hours of daylight left in summer. However, good to keep the timed entry pass in mind if you wanted to get in before that. By the way, you will also need a timed entry pass for Yellowstone.

You do NOT need a timed entry pass for Yellowstone NP.

 

[wiggy500]

I've done Yellowstone and the Tetons flying in and out of Salt Lake City. Our trip was a week with about two days in Tetons and four in Yellowstone. I wouldn't have minded having another day or two for each. It was a lot of driving. Whether you make it to Glacier or not, as active photographers I'm sure you will have an amazing trip!

 

[Shadera]

Just my two cents, but do NOT drop Glacier. Of the two parks, I'd drop Yellowstone in a heartbeat. Lived in Montana for a few years and have been to both parks. Went to Yellowstone once and found it to be way too crowded and touristy along with tough to move around in the parks at times with all of the traffic jams. Been to Glacier MANY times and adore it for its raw beauty and the fact that you won't see momma in flipflops and their eight screaming kids more than a few steps from the parking lots.

Take bear spray and bear bells. Enjoy and make sure you share pictures when you get back.

 

[Frwinkley]

Thank you for this! Since we are planning a summer trip, the crowds in Yellowstone have me a bit intimidated. No offense to anyone, but I’d prefer something less touristy and less congested.

What do you think of Whitefish? We love mountainous towns that are walkable. Could we stay there and take in Glacier? I realize it’s a drive, but I’m looking for the best of both worlds.

 

[bcla]

Thank you for this! Since we are planning a summer trip, the crowds in Yellowstone have me a bit intimidated. No offense to anyone, but I’d prefer something less touristy and less congested.

What do you think of Whitefish? We love mountainous towns that are walkable. Could we stay there and take in Glacier? I realize it’s a drive, but I’m looking for the best of both worlds.

Crowds can be manageable. It gets crowded around Old Fathful. We walked just a bit off to see rather incredible features, and the crowds were minimal. Few people venture outside the major areas. There’s plenty to see outside just the few places that attract big crowds, but even then visiting Yellowstone should include a visit to Old Faithful.

 

[Frwinkley]

Sounds like a great trip to me! We also live on the east coast aand have done 7 western trips. We always rent a car from one airport and return to another. The surcharge for doing that always kills me, but we always do it that way. We usually have two weeks, sometimes three and just dont have enough time to back track to the where we started. I just factor the price into the cost of the vacation.

We LOVED Glacier! I do think it is similar to the Canadian Rockies, but we loved our time there. We spent a night at the Glacier Park Lodge and another at the Lake McDonald Lodge. I regretted not spending a night at the Many Glacier Lodge. The Going To the Sun road is truly an engineering marvel, but the park is a lot more than just that. We spent 3 full days there and could have filled a fourth.

Its funny because Yellowstone is so often everyones favorite NP and some people will spend 4-5 days there or more. While we enjoyed Yellowstone and I do want to return some day it is FAR from a favorite and for us, 3 days was plenty.

Have fun planning!

We really want to include Glacier, although I'm really having trouble with accommodations on the east side. AC and Wi-fi are absolute musts for us. Any suggestions?

 

[Colleen27]

Glacier is the most beautiful place I've been in the Lower 48, so I wouldn't suggest skipping it unless you can't work out lodging. When we were there, we camped so I can't help with recommendations on that front, but Whitefish is a really cute little town to explore that isn't too terribly far from the park. We spent one night in a KOA there because we got in too late to get a spot at the first-come, first-served campground where we spent our other three nights in the area, and my girls loved walking around and getting coffee in town. It isn't super close to the park, but it was close enough to get two teenagers up and moving and to Lake MacDonald in time to find a campsite for the rest of our state (the FCFS sites there are usually full by 7 or 8am, even before the pandemic crowds).

On the east side of the park, we went up through St Mary to hike Apikuni Falls and I don't remember seeing a whole lot of hotel/motel options in the immediate area, but I wasn't looking either. And since we left US2 before East Glacier, we might have missed the areas that cater to park visitors.

If you do combine Glacier with Yellowstone & Grande Teton and you happen to be there in cherry season (late July), driving the east side of Flathead Lake is worth the few extra minutes it adds compared to staying on the highway to the west just for the abundance of roadside stands selling lovely fresh sweet cherries. We ended up stopping 3x on that stretch because my girls finished the first batch and almost got through the second and I wanted to have some left for the next couple days!

 

[fortwildernessishome]

We really want to include Glacier, although I'm really having trouble with accommodations on the east side. AC and Wi-fi are absolute musts for us. Any suggestions?

Sorry I am no help as we stayed at the Glacier Park Lodge on the east side and they do NOT have AC or wifi.

I would google hotels in either St. Mary or East Glacier Park and see what comes up. I would imagine that most if not all of the places in either location would have both wifi and AC. I would also think that you wouldnt have any trouble making reservations, especially since your not planning to go for a bit. I always find that to get lodging in the National Parks you need to reserve a year in advance, but usually only a few months in advance for places right outside of the parks.

Sorry I am not more help. Good luck!

 

[wabbott]

We really want to include Glacier, although I'm really having trouble with accommodations on the east side. AC and Wi-fi are absolute musts for us. Any suggestions?

Browning, MT has a couple of hotels. Also try East Glacier Village, MT, & St. Mary, MT. US Hwy 2 that skirts the lower border of the park has several lodges. Google Maps will show them.

 

[Frwinkley]

Thanks so much for the great suggestions!

 

[1GoldenSun]

I already said it but I can't help saying it again, please don't skip Glacier if it's at all possible for you to make it there. Just the thought of it is hurting me a little.

Yellowstone and the Tetons are incredible, but I can look at pictures of the sights there and think, yup, that's what it looks like. Photos of Glacier just aren't like being there. The phrase "doesn't do it justice" is trite but apt. Like I said before, my teens and I were on an 8-week trek around the US (husband flew out to join us when he could) and we were about 5 weeks in when we got to Glacier. My kids were BURNED OUT. My 17-year-old daughter missed her boyfriend and her friends and her room and her own space and her "alone time" and had mentally checked out of the trip back somewhere in Colorado I think. My 13-year-old son stated while we were at Bryce Canyon that "arch" is a four-letter word and that he didn't ever want to see another one in his life (unbeknownst to him the park we were visiting the next day was Arches). But when we got to Glacier, they both perked up and were in awe.

Of all the places we went, Glacier stands out in my memory the most. It is of course heavily touristed but it didn't FEEL touristy the way many of the other parks did, it felt real and raw and true. Looking around you made you feel huge and small at the same time, like you couldn't be contained in the universe but were also just a tiny speck in it all. I guess that sounds ridiculous but it's how it made me feel.

I love seeing nature but am not one of those people who just likes to sit and enjoy the beauty. But it was different here. We stayed at the Many Glacier Hotel and it was just...heaven. I could sit on the deck and just look around me for hours and it was better than a movie.

If you can possibly make it work to stay at Many Glacier PLEASE DO. We are not people to vacation in the same place twice (except Disney) but I am pining to go back here, and I will.

Also, we decided to take our trip about four weeks before we left. I had to get room reservations, park reservations for many places, campground reservations, reservations to drive Going-to-the-Sun Road, etc. It was a huge hassle. But we got reservations at great places everywhere we went, although it took a LOT of effort and perseverance. So if you check and there is nothing available, keep checking, multiple times a day, and I can almost guarantee you that something good will come up. I had a list of what I wanted and what I was willing to settle for. If something opened up I grabbed it, even if it wasn't ideal, then if something better opened up I grabbed that and dropped the initial reservation. Sort of like Disney dining, haha. Anyway, even during a summer in which travel to national parks exceeded all expectations and with minimal planning ahead of time, we were able to get lodging pretty much everywhere we wanted. If you can stay at Many Glacier, DO. It is really another world there.

This thread really makes me want to go back!

 

[RamblingMad]

Pick one and explore. But I'd expect all of these parks to be really busy. Banff is a good alternative to Glacier. You will need permits for the Going to the Sun road. So unless you already have them, that park might be potentially out. It's also a really big park. I spent a week exploring, and half of the park was closed.

Ideally, you book everything pretty much six months to a year out. Then, you hike based on the weather.

Here's a good write up on required permits and reservations:

https://www.outsideonline.com/adven...-america/national-park-reservation-loopholes/

I'd also get an America the Beautiful pass.

https://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html

There is also stuff to do on the rivers such as white water rafting. Check out the Snake River.

And some parks you have to go back more than once.

 

[Frwinkley]

This is a trip we are planning for summer of 2023. I'm always thinking of the next vacation before I've taken the one for this year! I really am thinking we might just do GNP. Although we have 10 days or more, I am overwhelmed with all the driving, etc. to get to the other parks. Having said that however, we need a combination of "civilization" (for lack of a better word--walkable downtowns, restaurants, shopping, etc.). That is why we loved Banff so much! It truly was the best of everything. It was a dream trip!

I'd like to combine this with other places in the US that we've never been to (without all the driving to get to Yellowstone or Grand Teton). Maybe Spokane, northern Idaho?

 

[wabbott]

This is a trip we are planning for summer of 2023. I'm always thinking of the next vacation before I've taken the one for this year! I really am thinking we might just do GNP. Although we have 10 days or more, I am overwhelmed with all the driving, etc. to get to the other parks. Having said that however, we need a combination of "civilization" (for lack of a better word--walkable downtowns, restaurants, shopping, etc.). That is why we loved Banff so much! It truly was the best of everything. It was a dream trip!

I'd like to combine this with other places in the US that we've never been to (without all the driving to get to Yellowstone or Grand Teton). Maybe Spokane, northern Idaho?

Along US Hwy 2, just east of the Idaho/Montana border is Kootenai Falls. We visited last summer and it completely surpassed expectations. Not to be missed, and won't cost you but a couple of hours.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...enai_Falls_Swinging_Bridge-Libby_Montana.html

 

[RamblingMad]

Thank you for this! Since we are planning a summer trip, the crowds in Yellowstone have me a bit intimidated. No offense to anyone, but I’d prefer something less touristy and less congested.

What do you think of Whitefish? We love mountainous towns that are walkable. Could we stay there and take in Glacier? I realize it’s a drive, but I’m looking for the best of both worlds.

I stayed in an airbnb in Whitefish. It's about an hour drive to the park entrance. I'd plan for very early mornings. We went in before the rangers even got to the entrance. And the parking lots were filling up by 7a. No idea what this looks like now with reservations. Do you need one if you get in early?

 

[luv2cheer92]

We spent one night at a hotel in Columbia Falls, then the rest camping in the park. The hotel wasn't anything special, but it was clean, decent, and got the job done (and super friendly staff!). It was like 30 minutes to the park. But it was on the west side, so may not be what you are looking for.