We're planning to visit the Glacier area for about 8 days in early August and are interested in exploring the areas just outside the park to the south and west. We've been looking at lodging around Big Fork and Whitefish, but we aren't familiar with either town. Has anyone stayed in either and is there anything to see/experience and does anyone have recommendations for places to eat?

Here is a pretty good site to get you started. Visit http://www.kalispellwired.com/ and select the local tab at the top. In that section you can find the different areas, click on the town your interested and they have links to information.

Screemie--before we went into Glacier we stayed at one the nicest bed and breakfasts (really more like a small inn) we have stayed in--Good Medicine Lodge in Whitefish; we enjoyed poking around Whitefish and they have some good restaurants. The hosts of the inn are great, give great restaurant recommendations and it was a really comfortable place to stay. You are right to get on top of this since many places will already be booked for August.

You will love Glacier--it is beautiful. On the way back, we stopped in Big Fork which also looked fun.

Hope this helps,

Mary in D.C.

Columbia Falls, Whitefish and West Glacier. We stayed at the Bad Rock Country B&B near Columbia Falls and loved the location, the room and the food.

The easiest towns to get accommodation in would be Kalispell or Whitefish. "The lodge at Whitefish Lake" is very nice/upscale condo complex on the lake. You're looking at 1/2 hr drive out to the park - which is beautiful! There is some accomm right in Apgar Village in Glacier N.P. overlooking Lake MacDonald, or in West Glacier. I'm not sure what it's called. Also, Big Fork is a small artsy upscale village - really lovely. Also about 1/2 hr drive from Whitefish. I would book early as it get's very busy down there in the summer. If it's your style, rent pedal bikes and ask about the bike trail from Apgar Village back to West Glacier, easy peddling, lovely scenery, and take's 20 minutes by bike. Huckleberry icecream at the diner at West Glacier is a must... I'm really tripping down memory lane here,... you'll love it!!!!

Whitefish is excellent. Lots of restaurants, a wonderful Art Deco depot, and a Frank Lloyd Wright building all compete with Victorian gingerbread. Charming downtown with galleries alongside real practical hardware stores.

Book early. It gets very crowded, not in the sense of lots of people but of not quite enough facilities for the number of people it does get. The local population swells in July and August, and there just are not enough service staff to keep up with all of them. This is not a problem if you are not a compulsive perfectionist, but it could be if you are.