mhutch196

I have had great help from Fodor forums for other trips, so I thought I would ask for help for this next trip.
I am planning a trip to Glacier National Park with my husband and 2 adult daughters in July. We are all in reasonably good shape but are not exactly long-distance backpackers. We love the outdoors and enjoy hiking and boating, but not to extremes (except for the whitewater kayaking my husband loves), and we have loved viewing wildlife on our other national park trips.

My daughter is attending a wedding in Kalispell, so we plan to fly in and out of Kalispell. I'm having trouble finding lodging, but the Prince of Wales Hotel has rooms available at the beginning of our trip (we like those old lodges), so this is the itinerary I have cooked up. Please share your opinion about this plan.
Day 1: Arrive in Kalispell around 1 pm (nonstop so less chance for problems I hope), rent a car and drive to Waterton. This looks like it's about 4 hours of driving, which is not ideal after a flight, I know. It should be a beautiful drive and we can make stops along the way.
Day 2: Stay 2 nights at Prince of Wales Hotel, touring and hiking the area.
Days 3,4,5: Stay near Many Glaciers, maybe in a vrbo (suggestions welcome)
Day 6: Stay in Kalispell before leaving

I'm worried about that first day, but that might be our only chance for one of the old lodges on this trip. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

tomfuller

I would not go all the way into Canada after landing in Kalispell at 1PM. If you can't get anything at Lake McDonald, http://www.usparklodging.com/glacier...FYOSfgodmD0ATw
get a small condo or room at the Meadow Lake Resort near Columbia Falls.
My DW and I spent our 30th anniversary there and drove up as far as Lake McDonald the next day. Our anniversary is in November so that was as far as we could go. The gate to the GTTS road was closed by then.
A couple years ago, we went to the east side via Browning and St. Mary on June 1. We got to within 4 miles of the top of Logan Pass before coming to a locked gate. There is no need to cross into Canada to see the beautiful scenery.

happytrailstoyou

I agree that it is not ideal to drive to Waterton upon arrival in Kallispel. The drive includes Going-to-the-Sun road, and it would be good if you could linger there. On the other hand, Waterton Lakes National Park is a beautiful place usually overlooked by visitors to Glacier NP.

Many Lakes is our favorite part of Glacier NP.

I have found that if I am persistent I can find a room at fully-booked national parks because there are always cancellations. However it requires tenacity.

HTtY

starrs

I agree too. We loved staying on Hwy 2 in the little community of Essex. Consider the Izaak Walton Inn -
http://www.izaakwaltoninn.com/

We loved being equidistant between West Glacier and East Glacier and it would be about an hour from the airport.

Our favorite memory of Glacier was stopping to watch the goats every afternoon at dusk.
http://www.crownofthecontinent.net/c...AECE4F2E71943D

The bar and the restaurant at the IWI is supposed to be very good but we picked up dinner most nights in East Glacier and had dinner in the cabin - after stopping to see the goats every night. I've never seen as many hummingbirds as we saw at the feeders at the IWI.

We ate great breakfasts at the Glacier Haven café (at the campground and small motel) -
http://www.glacierhavenrv-campground.com/

The owners gave us great tourist info, made our boat reservation for Many Glaciers later that day and then even rented bear spray from them.

We ate wonderful lunches at Many Glacier and Lake McDonald lodges, but really like staying in the very quiet Essex area.

We loved the little town of East Glacier and especially the Glacier Park Trading Company. If you want to stay in a historic lodge, see if the Glacier Park lodge has availability.
http://www.glacierparkinc.com/glacier_park_lodge.php
It's very similar to Old Faithful Inn but the bark on the rafters is still there, not peeled like it is at the OFI.

John

I assume you know that that prince of Wales hotel is in Canada. Be sure to notify the car rental place that you will be leaving the U.S.A. Also you will need passports to re enter the U.S. unless you have an enhanced drivers license. To my knowledge only the following states have enhanced drivers license: N.Y.,Mn.,Vt.,Mi.,Wa. Your correct, the drive to Waterton is approx. 4 hours via highway 2 and 89 depending on weather conditions. Border crossing at Chief Mountain in July will be open from 7:00 am till 10:00 pm. We can have snow anytime of the year here but July is a pretty safe bet on dry roads. The Going to the Sun road, the only road in the park that crosses the entire park from east to west, is due to open not before June 19 this year and that is weather dependent.
Many Glacier is a great place, IMHO the best part of the park. Lots of hikes in that area from easy to difficult. Check with a Ranger or go to St. Mary visitor center for trail maps. You may want to try and get a room in St. Mary or East Glacier should you not be able to find rooms available in the Many Glacier area.
Be aware that all trails may not be open that early in the summer, especially Iceberg Lake trail and Grinnell Glacier trail.
For the latest on road and trail closures, go to WWW.nps.gov/glacier

starrs

Unless your flight is very early in the morning, I don't think you need to spend the night in Kalispell. If it is, we liked the Hampton Inn.

longhorn55

I agree with the others about not staying in Canada for your visit to GNP. When we were there with our young adult children a few years ago, we spent 2 nights at a VRBO in West Glacier, 2 nights in a VRBO in East Glacier and 1 night at the Many Glacier Lodge (because my spouse really wanted to have the "old lodge" experience.) If I were to do it again, I would NOT stay in the Many Glacier Hotel. The rooms were pretty run-down with so little sound insulation that we heard everything that went on in the halls and next door all...night...long. And we paid more for those two rooms than we did for either of our larger, nicer VRBO houses. If you cannot find VRBO housing around Many Glacier (which we could not), consider staying instead at the Swiftcurrent Motel and go over to Many Glacier to enjoy their nice lobby and deck.


Here's the VRBO listing for West Glacier (Bear's Den):
http://www.vrbo.com/81334

And the VRBO listing for East Glacier (Railroad Creek Lodging H4 House):http://www.vrbo.com/95176

Both of these were great properties and the owners were both responsive and excellent to deal with.

happytrailstoyou

I agree with the others about not staying in Canada for your visit to GNP.

This is not unanimous. Watertown Lakes NP is a beautiful place that I have urged you to visit, and it is very near Many Lakes where you will spend most of your time.

Since there are four of you who can help with the driving, please don't let naysayers deter you from your original plan. (However, do make certain you can drive your rental car into Canada.)

HTtY

Ackislander

I would not have missed our stay at the Prince of Wales, though, yes, it does not meet modern standards.

But we had views from our room right down Waterton Lake to the heart of the peaks, and there were elk and deer browsing outside the lobby windows. The village is pleasant, and there is a huge site where you can watch marmots or prairie dogs living their lives. We saw a very grizzly from a nice safe boat on a sightseeing trip. He was tearing up trees, so we were glad to be a bit out of range.

The Canadian dollar is very much in your favor. There are shops and at least casual dining in the Village.

mhutch196

Wow! Thank so much for all the responses! I have a lot to think about, but it's only making me more excited about our trip. I'll do some more work and I might be back with more questions.

wave725

With such little time during your trip, and although Waterton is beautiful, I would focus on Glacier. Since you're arriving at 1PM, I would stay on the west side of the park in West Glacier. Just outside the entrance of the park is a beautiful old chalet, the Belton Chalet, which also has a lovely restaurant:

http://www.beltonchalet.com

Both Glacier Guides and Great Northern Resort also have nice lodging:

http://www.glacierguides.com/

http://www.greatnorthernresort.com

You could spend the remainder of your afternoon exploring Lake McDonald Lodge, the Trail of the Cedars and maybe even driving up part of the Going to the Sun Road.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/glaci...easy-hikes.htm

I would spend the next day making the drive across the entire portion of the GTTS Road. Yes, it's an entire day adventure with stops for hiking to Hidden Lake Overlook, part of the Highline Trail and St. Mary and Virginia Falls.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/glaci...-ten-hikes.htm

I would stay on the east side the reminder of the trip. You might want to check to see if St. Mary Lodge has availability. Although there are no spectacular views like the Many Glacier Lodge, if you're spending most of your time in the park, does it really matter? Most of the park lodging has cancellations all the time. It's best to call daily instead of checking the website to see if anything opens up.

Iceberg Lake and Grinnell are spectacular hikes in the Many Glacier area. Although these hikes, along with the HIghline and Hidden Lake Overlook may still be covered in snow/ice depending on how early in July you're arriving.

Some lower elevation hikes would be Redrock Falls and the hike around Swiftcurrent Lake.

Glacier is spectacular, you will enjoy!