Glacier National Park Master Thread

[Traveler718]

Entry tickets are required 6am - 5 pm. When are you planning to go? I have 7-day passes starting July 24 and August 3. If either could help you, feel free to PM me. But they are in my name, and you'd have to google to see if they're being strict and checking ID to make sure it matches to the name of the ticket holder.

[Galitzyaner]

Anyone been to Going To The Sun Rd recently?
Wondering what time in the morning the entries begin being manned, so as to be able to arrive prior and avoid the timed-entry tickets in case I can't get a hold of one.

Having been to many NPs I'm familiar with the come before 6am loophole if you didn't get a reservation etc. But was never sure if it's doing something "wrong". So I was shocked to see this video published by the NPS themselves telling you its totally legit:

[luv2trvlwithfam]

Has anyone been to Glacier within the past 2 yrs?
would love any info you might have for glacier.
i'd like to take my son during summer bein hazmanim.
we love outdoors and as a family we've been to a bunch of other national parks (yellowstone/tetons/zion/bryce etc..) but not this.
would love information on where best place to stay is, as well as for shabbat.
and if we spent 5-6 days in this area, can we/should we drive into canada banff? or is there something else in the area?

thanks for all the help!

[Traveler718]

Has anyone been to Glacier within the past 2 yrs?
would love any info you might have for glacier.
i'd like to take my son during summer bein hazmanim.
we love outdoors and as a family we've been to a bunch of other national parks (yellowstone/tetons/zion/bryce etc..) but not this.
would love information on where best place to stay is, as well as for shabbat.
and if we spent 5-6 days in this area, can we/should we drive into canada banff? or is there something else in the area?

thanks for all the help!

Glacier is hands down my favorite of the about 40 national parks I've been to, so much so that I've been back 4 times! That said, it's really a hiker's park. How old is your son, and how much hiking experience and stamina do the two of you have? Other parks have short 2-4 mile trails, but with a couple noteworthy exceptions (Hidden Lake is a must, and Avalanche Lake is also very nice), most trails in Glacier are 8-10+ miles round-trip, with a decent amount of elevation gain. Are you up for that? If so, I'll be happy to give specific trail recommendations.

As for where to stay, the most important advice I can give you is to stay on the east side of the park, not the west. The west has chain hotels and much more tourist infrastructure, but all the best natural beauty is all on the east side. Many Glacier is the best option, but it's expensive and hard to find availability. Nearby Swiftcurrent is also excellent. I'm also a big fan of Rising Sun, which is extremely central to everything worth seeing. There are also some motels in St. Mary and AirBNB's in St. Mary and Babb.

The only Shabbos option in the area is Chabad of Kalispell (on the west side). Check out their website for details.

Unless you're really hard-core hikers, you only need 3-4 days for Glacier, so if you're going for 5-6, you can go into Canada. But the Canadian Rockies really also need another 3-4, and Banff is the least interesting part of it. The best parts are even farther away. Look into Prince of Wales Hotel and Waterton in the Canadian side of Glacier NP. Not quite as nice as the Canadian Rockies, but much closer and worthy of a day trip. Hope that's helpful!

[luv2trvlwithfam]

Wow, thank you so much for that info.
ill DM and be happy to learn more about it.

[kivabb]

This year, the before 6AM loophole on West side won't work as their doing construction. It's was also practically impossible to get entry tickets ahead of time. If you rent a kayak or go on a boat tour for GTSR, it includes entry to that section of the park. I had no choice put to rent double kayak for each day on GTSR. One day we're doing Many Glacier boat, so that includes entry to that section.

If by crazy chance, you wanted to go to Many Glacier on 8/15 at 9AM and don't have boat tickets, PM me as I have 4 extra. They're refundable to me, but currently sold out for that day if someone can use before I request refund..

[Traveler718]

This year, the before 6AM loophole on West side won't work as their doing construction. It's was also practically impossible to get entry tickets ahead of time. If you rent a kayak or go on a boat tour for GTSR, it includes entry to that section of the park. I had no choice put to rent double kayak for each day on GTSR. One day we're doing Many Glacier boat, so that includes entry to that section.

If by crazy chance, you wanted to go to Many Glacier on 8/15 at 9AM and don't have boat tickets, PM me as I have 4 extra. They're refundable to me, but currently sold out for that day if someone can use before I request refund..

If you don't want to actually go kayaking along GTSR every day, you should be able to print out your reservations and then cancel them for a full refund. Showing the printout should be enough to get you past the checkpoint. I'd be shocked if they have an updated printout of that day's actual reservations, and even if they do, if you act upset and confused that you're not on it, I assume they would let you through to go "discuss" it at the ticket booth.

[Galitzyaner]

This year, the before 6AM loophole on West side won't work as their doing construction.

Source?

(I looked at their website and updates, don't see anything indicating such.)

[AYHG]

We're considering starting a Canadian Rockies trip this summer with Glacier - If we can be assured entry.

Looking at the park website, it looks like the reservation required hours are 6AM-3PM rather than last year's 5PM. For anyone traveling with very young children as we are (or anyone uninterested in long hikes) who mainly want to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road, this should be plenty time. Note that sunset there is around an hour later than the NY/NJ area.

[jaywhy]

At worst, you pay for a kayak rental and get in.

[jaywhy]

Visited Glacier last week. Entry tickets only enforced from 9am-3pm. Construction and traffic entering from the west side was brutal, not unusual to spend 30 minutes at a standstill. 10 miles of GTSR were also torn up and very rough to drive on. Highly recommend staying inside the park or on the east side.