Why I Love Glacier National Park

Grinnel Lake at Many Glacier inside Glacier National Park

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect when I included Glacier National Park on our trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. But wow, it is amazing and probably out of the three parks, Glacier was my favorite.

In the last post, I did an overview of our itinerary and what I would do differently. In this post, I am going to focus just on Glacier National Park. 

We got to Glacier by flying into Spokane, Washington, driving to Kalispell, Montana, spending the night, getting up early and driving the highway just outside the southern perimeter of the park to Many Glacier. We did not drive along the Going To The Sun road. 

Before you leave, you want to buy the National Park pass for $80. You can buy it at any national park on the spot or online at least two weeks before you need it. 

Considering entrance for each park is about $35, this pass will pay for itself very quickly. 

I chose Many Glacier due to the many glaciers in the area. There is a hike up to one of the glaciers, but it is a difficult long hike. 

We opted to take the boat across the Swiftcurrent and Josephine lakes from the Many Glacier hotel. You actually board the first boat, get off and hike about .2 mile, and then board a second boat to reach the destination. From there, you can hike about one mile to Grinnel Lake or take the strenuous hike to the glacier. You could see the glaciers above the waterfall for a brief moment when the clouds cleared. The lake was a beautiful blue color from the glacier rock flour. 

The Glacier Park Boat Company operates in three locations across the park. You do need advance reservations and some of the reservations include a guide for the hike. You do not need the guide so don't worry about that. The boat is key for families because it cuts the actual hike in half and so it's totally doable for kids. I saw kids as young as four years old. 

You need bear spray, insect repellant, food and water because there are no facilities. The boats go back and forth across the lake every 30 minutes or so, but if they fill up, you have to wait for the next one. Bring a jacket also because the weather changes constantly. 

You can stay at The Many Glacier hotel (you need to make a reservation one year in advance and it's only open June - September) or just check it out. It was built by the Great Northern Railway back in 1914. 

Or you can head out of the park and stay in East Glacier about 20 minutes away. This adorable town has a hostel called Brownies that features an amazing huckleberry pie and the East Glacier Trading Company which opened in 1910 that features Two Medicine Grill. Both winners! Look for my upcoming post about why I think hostels are amazing for families! 

In this part of the country, you can buy everything Huckleberry like coffee, jam, chocolate, lotion, and candy. The other thing that is a must-have is bear spray. You can buy it for $49 or rent it for $30. You CANNOT take it on the plane home with you and you cannot check it in your luggage. It is also illegal in California. There are bears. We saw grizzly bear and black bears in all three parks. So buy the spray, sing, shake bells and stay in groups of four. 

Look for my next post about Yellowstone National Park.