Fodor's Expert Review North Fork Road

Enter Glacier National Park through the back door by driving the North Fork Road. It's a rutted, bumpy, dusty gravel road that's teeming with wildlife along the North Fork of the Flathead River. The 40 miles to the Polebridge entrance station passes through thick forests, some of which burned during fires of 2001 and 2003. As a result, many of these areas become seas of purple fireweed in early summer. You can opt out early and enter Glacier at the Camas Creek entrance gate and avoid rough roads. If you make it all the way to Polebridge, stop at the Mercantile for lunch or one of their famous huckleberry bear claws.