How to Enjoy Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park was on our bucket list and it did not disappoint! In fact, I’m leaning towards it being my favorite National Park right now. We spent 4 days there, and could have done more, but if you’re strapped for time you can easily see a lot in just a couple of days. However, there are a few important things you should know about how to best see this park.

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Quick Tips

Here’s my quick tip list (because this is a long post), which I’ll explain more in depth:

1. Take a tow car if you have an RV, you will need it.
2. Make reservations 6 months in advance if you plan to stay in the park.
3. Get the Junior Ranger booklet on your first day – this is a big park and it takes a while to do everything.
4. Get up super early at least once to view wildlife.
5. Buy or rent bear spray – you actually do need it here if you’re hiking. There are places you can rent it in the park, too!
6. Drive all the way around the park at least once – there’s a lot to see outside the park and on both sides.
7. Check out the Blackfeet Indian Reservation on the east side of the park.
8. UPDATE: Going-to-the-Sun Road now requires a reservation ahead of time. It’s only $2 and you can book at www.recreation.gov

What to do in Glacier National Park

Going-to-the-Sun Road

The one thing absolutely everyone does at Glacier National Park is drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road and there’s a reason for that: it’s spectacular. It is a very winding mountain road, but there are height/length restrictions for vehicles. (See restrictions info at https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gtsrinfo.htm) So, a smaller car is much easier to maneuver there. There are areas where the rock juts out over the road and other areas with cliffs and hairpin turns and drop offs, but it is 100% worth it. However, since I have a fear of heights, I had to put on my big girl pants for this road!

We asked a ranger about driving Going-to-the-Sun and she gave us two great pieces of advice: drive it early, and drive from east to west. We took her advice and we’re so glad we did. There are fewer cars in the morning, and fewer cars driving from east to west. The route from west to east puts the sun in your eyes (there’s a reason for the name!) so start at the St. Mary entrance (east side).

Why is it so great? I’ll try to do it justice. It’s the Rockies, so the mountains in most parts are jagged and spiky. In between the peaks are glaciers that look bluish-green in the sunlight. We drove it in July so there was only a little snow but lots of snowmelt, and it was beautiful to see the waterfalls all through the drive. There are plenty of turnouts as well as parking areas for overlooks, picnic spots and hiking trails. There’s a Visitors Center at the “top” of the road, right near the Continental Divide where we happened to see a group of Bighorn Sheep. As you start the descent, there’s a waterfall that you can drive under – super fun for kids!  This whole trip can easily take a couple hours if you’re stopping.

Lake MacDonald

This beautiful lake with the multi-colored rocks is a central attraction in Glacier National Park. There’s a lodge there with a bar/restaurant and shop so it’s a popular lunch spot. The lake is where the you can rent boats and kayaks, and there’s a short pier where kids (and parents!) like to jump off into the water. Also, it’s a spot where you can set up on the beach and swim in the shallows; this would be a great spot if you have little kids. We rented a rowboat and, in spite of how many people are at the lodge area of the lake, we rowed out for just 5 minutes and all of a sudden it seemed like we were the only ones on the lake that day. It was so tranquil and gorgeous, and since our daughter had never been in a rowboat, it was super fun for her.

Two Medicine Lake

Two-Medicine is on the east side of Glacier. I highly recommend going to this side, through the Two Medicine entrance (east side). It’s so much less crowded than the West side. We got to Two Medicine too late to rent kayaks, but we ended up watching the sunset there and it was spectacular. It’s our goal to kayak there on the next trip.

Hiking

We did several shorter hikes in Glacier. We heard about the hike to Avalanche Lake from several people. It is pretty strenuous, 5 miles and it’s almost all uphill through forest on the way there. I’m going to go against popular opinion here and say that this hike wasn’t my favorite. It was really crowded so when we got up to the lake there was almost nowhere to hang out and enjoy the scenery. Maybe at a different time of year it’s better. My favorite hikes were: 1. St. Mary and Virginia Falls off of the Going-to-the-Sun road, and 2. Running Eagle Falls from the Two Medicine entrance (this one is super easy, accessible and great for littler kids). For more seasoned hikers, there are much bigger hikes to do in this park. **TIP:You actually do need to have bear spray while hiking in Glacier. There are places in Apgar village where you can buy/rent it and they will teach you how to use it.

Wildlife Viewing

Glacier National Park is one of the best places to view wildlife. While there, we saw long hair mountain goats, big horn sheep, a grizzly bear, eagles, a moose and numerous deer. The best time to see them are early in the morning or at dusk. However, we saw our grizzly bear just walking down the road in the middle of the day by the Many Glacier park entrance! Spotting wildlife is our daughter’s favorite National Park activity.

Things to do Outside the Park

We took a short trip to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, which is just off the St. Mary park entrance on the East side of Glacier. This is where we saw a juvenile moose just running through people’s yards! We found a museum there, the Museum of the Plains Indian, which was a really captivating collection of the history and culture of the Blackfeet Tribe.  They had artists-in-residence at work who were tribe members; we spent some time talking to them and bought a painting. There were some hands-on activities for kids at the museum as well. https://www.doi.gov/iacb/museum-plains-indian

Junior Ranger Program

I’ve covered this program in detail in my post on Making the Most of our National Parks, so suffice it to say that the JR program in Glacier does not disappoint.

Apgar Nature Center

This little nature center has lots of hands-on activities for little hands. Additionally, they do some ranger-led programs that fulfill some of the Junior Ranger requirements. https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/kidsyouth/apgar-nature-center.htm

Where to Stay in Glacier NP

Camping Inside the Park

Something important to note is that you cannot take a big rig through Glacier National Park because of the restrictions on the Going-to-the-Sun road. (see link in the beginning of the post.) There isn’t another road that completely crosses the park, you have to drive all the way around, which is a long drive. Therefore, my suggestion is if you’re coming from the west, stay on the west side of the park (Fish Creek or Apgar) and if you’re coming from the east, stay on the east side of the park (St. Mary or Many Glacier).  Some of the park campgrounds take reservations, but those reservations book months in advance, so if you want to stay in the park you need to reserve like 6 months out. The other campgrounds are first come first served. There are no RV hookups, but there are dump stations and access to water. https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/camping.htm

Camping Outside the Park

We camped in a sort of hard to reach (9-mile gravel road) but fantastic park called Big Creek. We camped right along a river, had lots of privacy and we were very close to one of the lesser known park entrances (Camas Creek). Consequently, we never had to wait or had any traffic getting into the park and it’s a beautiful drive along the river. https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234485

Non-Camping

There are some lodges in Glacier National Park and some hotels/motels on the road that surrounds it. The lodges book up quickly, so I suggest reserving far in advance.

I could probably write a thousand more words on this park, but I won’t because this post is long enough already! All I can say is: it’s a must-see! What will your Glacier NP adventure be?? Leave a comment if you have questions or to share your tips on visiting this great park.