Glacier Nat'l Park or other NPS recs

[straymo]

DH & I are really in need of a big vacation. I want to start the planning early and hope that we can take our trip in April or May next year.

He's wanting to go to Glacier and I'm pretty open. We want to hike, photograph, relax some and just get away.

My favor Nat'l Park so far is Zion, but Glacier has been on our list. Neither of us has been to Yellowstone either.

And go...

[countthestars]

I really, really love Yosemite. But Glacier is on the top of my not-yet-done list, so I think either would be great.

[shorty20]

We just went to Yellowstone last October for the first time and loved it. We're from the East Coast and were just astounded at the beautiful views and wide open space. We also went down to the Grand Tetons while we were there.

[straymo]

Any planning resources besides the NP sites themselves?

[sarahsas]

LOVE Glacier. Not sure I'd go in April though, maybe late May. I went in early June and the pass that connects each side of the park was still closed due to snow. The weather was beautiful when I was there, though. We stayed in a cabin close to Lake McDonald that were fabulous.. there was a little breakfast place nearby that was cheap and yummy. We did some hikes too. If I had more time, I would've gone to the Canada side. On the same trip, I went to Yellowstone. Also awesome. More of a natural wonder place, and Glacier was a place of beauty.

[mrsjrd23]

here's my trip report from when we went to Glacier over 4th of July 2009:
My husband and I spent July 4-11 in Glacier to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. It was amazing.

We stayed the first 4 nights in Fish Creek Cammpground. It was nice to be able to have a spot reserved for us (though we reserved about 6 months ago). The only problem we really had was that some of the sites (including ours) was right on top of other sites. It seemed like it was more suitable for a group camp setting than single sites.

While on the West side of the Park, we explored the Lake McDonald area and lodge and had a great anniversary dinner at Russell's Fireside Restaurant. I highly recommend the huckleberry daiquiris.

Hikes we did on the west side:

Avalanche Lake: beautiful, 4 miles roundtrip. Not much elevation gain. I suggest going early or later in the afternoon to avoid the heaviest crowds. We started about 4:30 in the afternoon and when we got to the lake it was pretty empty. We hiked past the main entrance to the lake to find our own secluded little spot. Beautiful teal green-blue water. Saw a few deer on the hike.

Highline Trail to Granite Park Chalet and down to the Loop. 11.6 miles, the last 4 miles are a steep decline back to the loop. This was my favorite hike. It parallels the Going to the Sun road for a while so you get to see all the sights without having to pay attention to the driving. We saw mountain goat right on the trail...very cool! I highly recommend layers and RAINGEAR. A weather front rolled in quickly on us at about mile 5 and we had forgotten our rain gear in the car. (I thought husband had it, he thought I did) The temperature dropped quickly, high winds, sleet, thunder/lightening the last 2.5 miles to the chalet. NOT FUN. But the views are incredible. The trip down was pretty uneventful but I think the park needs better signage. For a while, we seriously thought we had hiked an hour in the wrong direction.

We also did a 1/2 day whitewater rafting trip on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River out of West Glacier with the Glacier Raft Company. We had a blast, with some incredible rapids. Our guide was Siri and her family actually owns the rafting outfit as well as a ski resort in Utah (Alta) for you ski enthusiasts.

I also recommend driving up the Camas Road in the evening to scout for wildlife. Not too many people on the road and we saw our first black bear right next to the road here.

We then headed over to Many Glacier CG for 3 nights. Get there early. The day we got there (a wednesday) they were completely filled by 1 PM. We got a great spot about 1030 when a couple was leaving.

Hikes on the East side:

Red Rock Lake/Falls: about 4 miles round trip with little elevation gain. Red Rock Falls was fun to climb around on as it was easily accessible.

Grinnell Lake: we actually did this on a 1/2 day horseback trip and I highly recommend it. It was a great break to all the hiking. It's $105/pp for the 1/2 day trip. A few weeks ago, the horse line was challenged by a charging grizzly who eventually backed off....scary I'm sure, We didn't see any wildlife on our trip. But rest assured, you are safe on horseback. No one has ever been injured by a bear while on horseback in the park.

Iceberg Lake: My favorite hike on the east side. 10 miles roundtrip from MG campground with gain of 1200 ft. Lots of great views/vistas. Ptarmigan Falls is the 1/2 way point and a good resting spot. Iceberg Lake was just gorgeous. Lots of icebergs still there, peaceful. Amazingly blue waters.

We also saw 2 grizzly bears along the road near the Many Glacier Hotel. One only about 75 feet from the road. very cool.

On our way out, we stopped at Two Medicine for some pics and did the short east handicap accessible trail to Red Eagle (AKA Trick Falls). Worth the short hike for a pretty nice waterfall in an often overlooked portion of the park.

We had a blast and were sad to leave but hope to return again soon to do all the hikes we didn't have time to do.

straymo- I will say that Glacier is probably not the place to go in April/May as most of the hikes will be closed by snow. As will the Going to the Sun road which is arguably the most scenic drive in the lower 48 states. It usually doesn't open fully until mid June at the earliest.

[redheadk]

Glacier is on our list, too, but I can recommend Yosemite. We went last year and loved it. So beautiful and lots to do. We had a wonderful time

[shorty20]

Jul 5, 2012 14:56:22 GMT -5 straymo said:

Any planning resources besides the NP sites themselves?

We got a really good tour book called Treasures of Yellowstone or something like that. It was extremely helpful.

[straymo]

Thanks for all the info. If we do go, maybe we'll try July instead. Being from FL, I kind of forget that snow isn't just during what I consider winter months.

I'm leaning toward Yellowstone, but we'll see.

[marshian85]

I second (third?) Yellowstone and Grand Teton. If you have long enough, you could also do Glacier. We wanted to do all three in one trip, but had only 10 days and wanted to take it slowly.

We went to YS and GT in mid-June two years ago and it was cold and snowed. Not much, but there was some on the ground. I had to completely repack when we checked the weather the night before we left and saw it was lows in the 30s!

[Deleted]

Be careful about going to Yellowstone/Grand Teton in April or May. It sometimes snow in that area all the way up into June and it can really limit what you are able to do. I've found August and early September to be the best times to visit that area. June and July are nice, but they are also packed with tourists.

I enjoy the hiking in Grand Teton NP. Colter Bay, specifically, has some nice trails and I really love their rustic cabins. There were much less people there than in Yellowstone, so we didn't have to constantly walk around people on the trails.

Grand Teton and Yellowstone are so close together that you could easily see them both in a one week trip, unless you plan to do heavy duty backpacking for hours on end or something.

[sarahsas]

I did Glacier and Yellowstone within the same week. The drive isn't too bad.

[Captain Serious]

Glacier is nice, but if you go, you should cross over into the Canadian side. Waterton Lakes may be smaller, but has some of the most scenic parts.