We will be in GNP 6/22 - 6/29 staying at Many Glacier Hotel. We will have a rental car. My question to those who have done this before is: Is is preferable to take a red bus tour of GTTS and Logan pass, etc.? or should we drive ourselves? I hate to have husband drive and miss some of the scenery---and was all ready to make a reservation on a red bus---but have read different opinions on this. The red bus tour out of Many Glacier is very long---6 - 8 hrs. Somebody commented that driving yourself in glacier is very easy-----but might we miss the commentary and info that we would hear on a tour? I value your opinions---make most of my plans based on your experiences.

I'm not the Red Bus type so I would drive myself.

There are many viewpoint stops you can do. There are short and longer hikes off some of the stops and at Logan Pass.

The Red Bus Tour is a tour bus. It does the driving but you make stops on its schedule and for its length of time.

I don't think they're interchangeable. I think it depends upon your travel style and what you expect from each.

About commentary. You should be doing research about any place you visit. There are maps with descriptions of the stops along the way that you can print. There are also info boards pointing out views of interest and describing and explaining at each viewpoint.

I saw what I think was a privately booked Red Bus Tour loading up at Rising Sun. We passed them a few times. At one stop about half of the people got off to walk around the viewpoint and read the info boards. The other half just sat in the bus. This just isn't for me.

I'm sure there are stops that they don't even make.

I had read about Lunch Creek just east of Logan Pass. We stopped there and walk several hundred yards up the creek. Great views and photo ops. There's a sign and a parking area for about 15-20 cars there.

I'm not sure about the Red Bus route from Many Glacier. I imagine it goes from MG to GTTS road and the length of the road. That means the first and last hour are strictly transportation with little to view of interest.

MG is quite scenic around the MG road and MG Hotel junctions. But in general that's a hiking area with two of the most scenic hikes in the park.

I drove and didn't miss scenery. I stopped when I wanted and often and got out of the car when I wanted. We just weren't there long enough so I'm going back again this summer in early August.

You can see my photos of Glacier at:
www.travelwalks.com

If you're based in MG the whole time I might do the following. Get up early and drive the east side of GTTS Road. However, make sure you're at Logan Pass by 9:30 to make sure you get a parking space there. Then hike Hidden Lake on one side and the beginning of Highline on the other side of the road.

Then drive west on GTTS road. Eventually turn around and drive all the way east making stops you missed or didn't have time for earlier.

Or you can plan on spending part of two days along GTTS Rd and hike to St Mary & Virginia Falls and do a longer part of Highline or even something on the west side.

On your own you have a lot of flexibility.

I have to completely agree with Meyer above. We have observed that the red bus tours are generally senior citizens who just want to see the scenery. If you have any desire to stop and take photos and do any short hikes, you need to drive yourself.

The short hike up to Hidden Lake Overlook is an excellent place to see mountain goats, however, that early in the season it will more than likely still have snow.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/hidden-lake-overlook.htm

One of the best waterfall hikes in the park is Virginia Falls which also takes you by St. Mary Falls.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/virginia-falls.htm

Once you get on the east side, you can stop at the Trail of the Cedars which is a one mile walk on a raised boardwalk to see some huge ancient hemlocks and red cedars.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/trail-of-the-cedars.htm

On your return to Many Glacier, stop in St. Mary for dinner at The Park Cafe and have some great food and one of thier many homemade pies!

I agree with both of the above posts. If you are physically able to do it on your own, do so.

I'm a solo traveler and have never felt that I missed the scenery when driving. And there will be plenty of opportunities to stop along the way.

Trail of the cedars is on the west side of the park.


You should receive a park newspaper when you enter the park. If not, stop at the visitors center and pick one up. In the center page is a list of all the high points of GTTSR. I also agree that driving yourself is the way to go. Traffic will be so slow that the driver will be able to see most sights.

That convinces me--we have always done the exploring an adventure on our own and we will continue----i do not like being on someone else's schedule. Thanks so much for all of your suggestions---i'm putting them on my "list". Thank you too myer for your pictures. Can't wait to go. You can do all of the research---but I still would rather go with suggestions by people who have been there.

wave725,

Hey, watch that senior citizen stuff!!! Most of the people on that Red Bus tour I described above looked a lot younger than me. It's just that some people want to check something off on their list and then say they went there.

It reminds me of Yellowstone. People take a bus tour. The driver calls ahead to get the approximate eruption time for Old Faithful. The bus pulls into the parking lot 10 minutes before, the people walk over to the boardwalk and watch the eruption. Then they get back on the bus and off they go. What about everything else?

I agree with you about benefitting from the experiences of others. What I really meant is that there's a map online that shows all of the viewpoint stops and describes them all.

A comment on the Hidden Lake Overlook hike that Wave mentioned:

We were in GNP in late June 2009, the same time of year as you will be, Viewgirl. One of the hikes we did was the Hidden Lake Overlook which, at that time, was covered in 3 - 4 feet of snow. It was probably the highlight of our trip hiking through the snow on that trail. The scenery was fabulous and it was fun to watch people who had brought their skis to ski the "slopes" along the trail. There were mountain goats at the overlook, too. If you hike this trail, I would certainly recommend doing it in hiking boots. Sneakers would not be a good choice for footwear.

Viewgirl, longhorn55,
I was there in early August of last year and while the temperature was in the mid-80s and we were in shorts, we hiked on snowfields several times.

It was funny to see most people in shorts and a few all dressed in long snowsuits.

John, thanks for correcting my location of Trail of the Cedars!

Meyer, I fall into that senior category too and was not trying to offend! Just wanted to point out that if your someone that wants to get out and explore you may not enjoy the restrictions of the bus tour. The Red Jammers are definitely a part of Glacier's unique history and for a lot of people a great way to see the park.

I will disagree with the others and I am not a senior.

I've driven GNP by myself and I thought I enjoyed the park.

On my last trip, I took one of the jammer tours, mainly because I wanted to experience the historic buses. What a difference! A HUGE difference. I did not mind driving at all. But being a passenger allowed me - and every once else in the car - to relax and just enjoy the view. Our driver was delightful too.

The jammer tour was just a few hours of the time we spent in the park but some of the best time we spent in the park.

I HIGHLY recommend taking a tour on the jammer.
You can always go back and revisit the areas you toured in your own car if you like.

I very much enjoyed the Yellow Bus Tour in Yellowstone. I am driving the GTSR myself, and then going to take a Red Bus Tour to Two Medicine(it is only a couple of hours). The one that goes to Waterton with afternoon tea in the Prince of Wales looks interesting too. I don't think of these really as "bus tours" like you see everywhere. These are different. It is slower paced than what I normally go, but sometimes thats all right too.

Remember that the park has FREE shuttle service the lenght of GTTSR beginning July 1 . This is a SHUTTLE not a tour but covers the same ground as Jammers WITHOUT commentary

I guess we are all different.

On some other sites I've been reading complaints about the free shuttle bus service that to save money they've stretched out the schedule. I don't know how true that is.

However, when I was there last summer I didn't see very many of those shuttle buses.

Shuttle buses on the west side run approx. every 20 minutes. Buses on the east side every half hour. Schedule has NOT been stretched out. There are 25 buses.

I've done it both ways, and I much prefer to let someone else do the driving while I soak up the scenery.

Good that we all have our own preferences.

In Zion, due to the large number of large shuttle buses and relatively short distances, I really like the shuttle.

In Glacier, where there are a lot of stops and the potential to want to change your mind and zigzag, I think I prefer a car.

I think I agree with Starrs here.

I drove us and got to see virtually nothing. If I go back, I will take the Red Bus. In August, there was no place to park at Logan Pass, and we had to take turns sitting in the car while others went in to the toilets. I would never have been able to pull off or on to the overlooks so many of you enjoyed because they were full.

There were plenty of places to hike from other then the GTTS highway.

Maybe June will be very different.

Actually, Logan Pass is the only place we saw a full parking lot. And it's the largest one.

I always recommend that if you're going to Logan Pass (Hidden Lake and Highline hikes) get there before 10AM.