Glacier NP - Just Starting to Tinker
 

Just starting to tinker with the idea of going to Glacier NP (MT) the end of July (2012) of start of August.

I would plan on about a week.

From my first few minutes of researching it would appear the east side (St May, Many Glacier) might be the place to stay. Correct?

Kalispell appears to be the more comvenient airport rather than Great Falls. However, it's possible the Going to the Sun Road might freak me out. I notice that driving around on Rt 2 doesn't seem to take any longer (only a few minutes). Is that correct? Is it tamer?

If I drove around I would find other ways to spend time on the GTS road.

Lodging. I see lots of options. Ste Mary area appears to be most convenient as is provides easy access going west as well as to Many Glacier. Correct?

Any guidance from those who've been would be greatly appreciated.

My DW and I spent out 30th anniversary at the Meadow Lake Resort. http://www.meadowlake.com/
We arrived on the Empire Builder and were picked up by their van. The next morning, our rental car was delivered from the Kalispell airport. We were allowed to leave the car at the train station when we left. I can't tell you much about the east side of the Park. You could also check out the Isaak Walton Lodge on the south side. The lodge has one of Amtrak's very few flag stops.
Next time we go to Glacier, it will be summer when the GTTS road is open and not in November when our anniversary is.

Tom,
I imagine GNP is a very different park in July/August than in November.

What was accessible then?

We went up to the lodge at Lake McDonald where the gate was closed to GTTS road. The weather was good that day but there had been snow up higher. We did see some elk on the way back to Columbia Falls. Whitefish was still a great busy town at that time.

Myer,

Have you looked into Granite Chalet or Sperry Chalet for just one night? This would basically be luxory overnight hiking. Of the two, Granite looks the best to me.

The hikes that I had planned to do this past summer were from Logan Pass and Many Glacier area. We had planned on doing several boat tours(most of them included optional easy to moderate hikes). I had also planned on taking a red bus tour and doing the Tea at Prince of Wales Lodge in Waterton on the canadian side. We were also going to go to Whitefish and do the zipline there and hike Danny on the Trail there. The rafting and fishing looked interesting and we hadn't made are mind up for that. We also were planning to do a helicopter flyover of the park. There are a lot of ranger-led hikes that looked good and the boat tours all looked good. There are a variety of Red Bus Tours. We had planned on doing a little bit in the Two Medicine area also.

The lodging that is in the middle of the park and what I would consider best(if you only want to stay in one spot) would be Many Glacier, Rising Sun, and Swift Current Lodges. St. Mary Lodge is actually just outside of the park and is operated seperately(kinda like Ruby's Inn in Bryce-kinda part of it, but not really)is the perspective I was getting.

luxury**

Effectively, staying in St Mary allows exporing St Mary and Many Glacier.It's convenient if you like hiking...
If hiking is not your only goal, best could be 2-3 nights in East Glacier and 4-5 nights in St Mary or Many Glacier.
While in East Glacier, you can explore Two Medecine and Cut bank(boating and some easy or moderate hikes-Twin Falls, Old Man lake, Cobalt Lake, twomedecine lake shores,... in Two Medecine, nice historic souvenir shop) and some easy hike in Cut bank(Medecine Grizzly lake).
Only problem in East Glacier is the lodging option...There is the railway here and some nights traffic is busy.
Two years ago, we were at Traveler's nest nice cabins not expensive but near railways...Next year we'll be at Glacier Park Lodge...There are some motels in East Glacier.
For St Mary, the best option is Rising Sun the motel unit.Calm, clean, large and request a room with porchview on the valley and lake.
The two dogs flat restaurant is a good option for breakfast and diner.In St Mary there is a family grill bar restaurant with excellent pies...(some nice same type adress in East Glacier...).
Some nice hikes : Red Eagle lake, Okotomi lake, Florence falls and you are not far from Logan Pass.
In Many Glacier our option is Swiftcurrent Motor inn, the motel units. Nice hikes here...The best diner option is Ptarmigan restaurant in Many Glacier Hotel if open...
In Rising Sun or Swiftcurrent, there are some other options like rustic cabins with private baths or sharing bath...
You can effectively explore St Mary while in Many Glacier or the inverse...
Road 2 is a good option from Kalispell to East part of the park , scenery but sometimes busy traffic and in 2011 there were a lot of roadwork and so some delays...
Erik

spiro & Erik,
Thanks for all the info that I'll have to review several times over the next few days.

I never do difficult. However, as I get older and the issues multiply the number of hikes and their length will be decreasing.

I don't need luxury but I do want private facilities/bathroom.

My DW and I would certainly go back to Meadow Lake. You don't have to play golf to enjoy that place. We enjoyed the hot tub in the condo.

For your lodging , better to do the reservations early, because there are not a lot of rooms with private bath there.
After november options are less varied...
The easy hikes :
Hidden lake overlook from Logan pass, the Highline trail from Logan pass to Granite chalet,
Red Eagle Lake from St Mary,
Iceberg Lake(Many Glacier), Bull head Lake(beginning of Swiftcurrent pass in Many Glacier), Grinnel Lake and Hidden falls(MG), Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes shores(MG),
Twin Falls(two medecine), Two Medecine Lake shores, Upper Two Medecine Lake
Medecine Grizzly lake in Cut bank.
Erik

Erik,

Thanks for the additional information.

More to review.

I took my first trip out there this past July. I would recommend staying in 2 places - a few nights on the west side and few nights on the east side. I highly recommend staying in the park if you can get a reservation. Kalispell makes sense for flying into - that is where I flew into.

I went there solo and am very terrified of heights. Yet I felt fine driving the entire Going to the Sun Road. I had taken the red bus tour and realized I could handle it - so the next day I did.

I only stayed one night in the park because I couldn't get reservations. I stayed a few nights in Whitefish and a few nights in West Glacier. My final night was supposed to be in Kalispell but I took a chance and called Lake MacDonald Lodge to see if they had any cancellations and they did. While the in-park lodging is much more basic, you just can't beat the atmosphere.

hlsam,
I was very interested in you going solo.

I've gone on a few of these types of trips with a friend but he has some issues. My wife isn't interested so it's either me alone or with my adult daughter.
And she has issue leaving her husband and daughter behind for more than a couple of days.


I'm glad somebody with height issues drove the GTTS road and was ok.

Glacier is my favorite national park (tied with Grand Teton) I agree with splitting the trip into east and west sides of the park. We stayed in Many Glacier Lodge 2 nights (last minute reservations, 2 separate rooms.) Sitting on the porch for sunset was wonderful, and one night we saw the most amazing lightning storm sitting with about 50 other people. It was the highlight of the trip. One night we stayed in East Glacier at Brown House. 2 years ago it was like $60 for the night. I was afraid that it was going to be a dump, but it was excellent.

The other half of the trip we stayed in Whitefish, a nice town which is convenient to the park and other attractions. We spent a day in Kalispell (Conrad Mansion recommended) which was a beautiful old town and also Big Fork. There's so much to do in that area, including but not limited to the park. I bet you'll love it.

GTTS was not a difficult drive. I was worried before we got to the park, but we've been on much windier roads.