We have a cabin rented for 3 nights in the middle of July that is about a mile outside Polebridge. We are going to be renting a vehicle for the 2 weeks we will be in Glacier.
The road to Polebridge is not paved. Has anyone had any experience driving this road? Would you recommend we get an SUV instead of a car? Obviously the SUV is considerably more expensive then a car and it doesn't sound like we would need it for anywhere else. We've gotten conflicting opinions when we called the rental agencies. One said get a mini SUV the other said she drives it in her car and has no problem.
There are just 2 of us so we don't need the space, it's just the issue of the road, not wanting to get stuck or damage a rental car.
Thanks,
CindyP
Driving the road to Polebridge
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We did this drive (day trip) about 8 years ago when we visited Glacier and did it in a car with no problems. I suppose it's possible the road conditions have worsened in the meantime, but likely not enough to warrant an SUV, in my opinion. Perhaps someone with more recent experience will weigh in.
My recollection is that the road from Polebridge into that part of Glacier was very rough. But that was in 1999.
To be more precise, it was the road to Bowman Lake.
In case anyone else is wondering this same thing:
I asked the people at Glacier Guides Lodge in West Glacier this question and they said that the road will be fine in a car. We will need to drive slowly in the bad spots, but we would have done that anyway. They said the Inner Road is worse than the Outer Road, but still driveable in a car. Ditto for the road to Bowman.
We will not get a compact car, but a regular economy car should suit us fine.
Thanks for your replies.