ltillm

Does anyone know if Glacier National Park is accessable in June? I'm looking at traveling there on the 18th from Banff. Any suggestions on what to do?

Judy_in_Calgary

To be honest, ltillm, I have only ever driven through Glacier National Park on the TransCanada Highway. The Selkirk Mountains are very scenic, particularly Rogers Pass.

People go to Glacier National Park to hike, climb mountains and fish. The only accommodation in Glacier National Park is in the form of camping. The park has three campsites and three mountain huts. A website about the park states that the routes to the mountain huts are arduous and, in the case of two of them, require mountaineering expertise.

Back country campers require a Wilderness Pass, obtainable from Rogers Pass Centre or the Parks Canada Office in Revelstoke.

The nearest towns in which one would find hotel accommodation are Golden to the east and Revelstoke to the west. But one also can visit Glacier National Park as a day trip from Banff townsite or Lake Louise.

Oh yes, I almost forgot to answer your question about accessibility. Yes, Glacier National Park is accessible in June.

Suggest you read this website:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/index_e.asp

To get to Glacier National Park, you first will drive through Yoho National Park, and it has many scenic places, including Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, railway tunnels and a natural bridge over the Kicking Horse River.

And that assumes you already will have seen what Banff National Park has to offer, amongst others, Moraine Lake, Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon.

laverendrye

ltillm: Judy is not quite correct, as the Best Western Glacier Park Lodge is located at the summit of Rogers Pass, right on the Trans-Canada Highway. It is great place to stay while eploring the park if you don't want to camp.

Judy_in_Calgary

Thanks for the correction, Laverendrye. For some reason, I seemed to recall that this place was in Yoho National Park, but you're absolutely right about its being at the summit of Rogers Pass.

ltillm, when I did an Internet search for the place just now, all kinds of accommodations in and near Glacier National Park in Montana came up, so one has to be careful that one is getting info about the GNP in British Columbia, as you may have discovered already.

bob_brown

Glacier is a park famous for steep trails. I took the Great Glacier trail which is relativel flat, but also relatively pointless. You can go to the rocky face where the Illecilleweat Glacier (spelling is a guess) used to spill down the rocky face. It has now retreated so far back that you see where it was rather than where it is unless you go quite a ways.

If you have the legs for it, some of the trails like Perly Rock are a real challenge, but very rewarding. But it is a lung buster for anyone not in really strong condition.

June 18 may be pushing it a bit. I think the snow would still be on many trails. The earliest I have been there is mid July, about 3 week later than your date. It is not uncommong for the park to be clouded in and you cannot see much. the Selkirks and Purcells trap a lot of moisture!!
In my 4 trips over Roger Pass my clear day average is 2 out of 4. If you can see, the drive is scenic. But there is a heck of a lot to see around Moraine Lake and Yoho before you get to Rogers Pass which is the only paved road access that I know of.