mhutch196

I also posted this in the Montana forum, and hope it's not inappropriate to post here too.

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 Glacier, 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!

elphinstone

Sounds like a nice trip. Whitefish, a half hour out of Kalispell, is a charming mountain town with accommodations.

The Crypt Lake and Carthew Alderson hikes at Waterton are great.

panecott

If you make reservations at places with a liberal cancellation policy, you can keep calling the park lodges to check for availability b/c there will always be cancellations.

When I went to Glacier I booked less than a month in advance and was able to get reservations at 3 of the park lodges.