Montana Tacomas

I know we need a pass for the west entrance but not if we come from the St Mary entrance. Guessing you can’t pass through all the way without a reservation?

 

I’ll end up messaging you at some point about particulars Lisa. You seem to be the official about all the parka

 

The in laws are getting us an annual national park pass. We’re planning Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton. Spending a couple nights at the KOA at St Mary, couple nights around Whitefish/Missoula, down to see family/friends in Cooke City and Bozeman for a few days, then staying in Star Valley a couple nights before heading home. Only thing we don’t have is vehicle reservations for Glacier and a place to stay on the west side.

 

West Glacier RV park. Great spot. Have stayed there the last two summers. They also have cabins.

https://www.glacierparkcollection.c...er-village/ways-to-stay/west-glacier-rv-park/

 

Sold out. We’ll be there the last weekend of June. Probably end up in an AirBnB.

 

I thought it might be. We make our reservations in the first week of January. That is kind of a national park deadline if you want to get a spot. Try Columbia Falls and Kalispel areas too. Short drive but super easy. And of course amazing scenery.

 

Yeah I’ve seen some stuff around both of those areas. Likely we’ll stay around there. Just to be close to the park and such.

 

We're in Kalispell. It's roughly 40 minutes to the gates at West Glacier.
I believe this year they are requiring reservations for ALL entrances but check the park website first. When they only did Going To The Sun it's increased pressure on the otherw areas that didn't have the infrastructure to handle the loads. Late June will be very iffy on GTSR being open. This has been a low snow year so its possible after June 20th might be open. You can drive up from St. Mary's to I think Jackson Glacier overlook. The west side will be closed at Avalanche Creek. If you bring bikes you can ride to the top or wherever they are plowing before they open it to motor vehicles. After motorized opening you have your bicycles off between 10 and 4 I think.
Avalanche creek campground/trailhead area will have a lot of people but most aren't willing to walk up to Avalanche lake. It's a fairly easy walk for 3 miles RT. And highly recommend it.
Have fun!
Garth

 

Avalanche Lake is amazing! Worth the hike. Picture does NOT due it justice

 

That's where we are headed this year. August. Will take years to explore it all but we are up for the task.

Upper St Mary Lake is good too!

 

In choosing between the 2 I'd ask what you want to do while you're there? I grew up in western MT and Whitefish was where all the rich assholes lived. I think it has only gotten worse. Very pretty there, though. Missoula will have more of a nightlife. They get some good concerts in the summer and lots of good hikes in that area. You could also stay somewhere on Flathead Lake. Several campgrounds around the lake. Or get a sweet airbnb on the water? Lots of hikes in the Mission Mountains. Make sure you get some bear spray!

You can't go wrong in any part of Glacier National Park. The east side is typically less busy. I stayed at the St Marys KOA once and had a fox cruise by on my porch. And if we're posting Glacier pictures....

 

We’re stating 2 nights at the St Mary KOA. Probably find an AirBnB around Whitefish/Flathead Lake. There are quite a few. Wanna catch up with a friend around Missoula before we head down to Cooke City and Bozeman to see friends and family. Probably spend a few days in Cooke City/Silver Gate area.

 

Despite throwing some shade on whitefish, you’ll probably enjoy anywhere you stay in the area from there to Flathead. The scenery is great and plenty of outdoor activities. Bigfork and Polson are good options on Flathead if you want a little bit of a town to stay near. If you do any hiking or fishing on the reservation, you’ll need a tribal permit. They’re not expensive though.

 

Here is a source for snow information that might help project an opening day for GTSR. Many snotel sites are showing trending up towards normal lately with these little bouts of precip coming through. https://nwcc-apps.sc.egov.usda.gov/...ativeDate=-1&lat=42.300&lon=-114.300&zoom=4.5

 

For example:

 

If we don’t get to drive GTSR it’s not life changing. Plenty of things to see while we’re out there. And likely won’t be our only trip. Thanks for the heads up about the tribal permit. We have a little time to figure out what hikes we would like to do. It won’t be anything huge.

 

You can get a day pas for GTSR. You just have to buy it a day before. They changed the ticketing this year so there are more one day tickets avail