GLACIER

Last Updated on September 12, 2023 by

Four Ways to Have Perfect Days at Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park, accurately dubbed the Crown of the Continent, is undeniably one of the highlight parks within the national park system, and for good reason. With over 700 miles of hiking trails, boat and bus tours, horseback rides, raft trips, and of course the famous Going to the Sun Road, Glacier surely has something for everyone.

With all of those options, it is no surprise Glacier brings in over 3 million visitors during peak season, which brings us to absolutely critical aspects of any trip to Glacier during the summer months – planning and patience.

How long should I stay?
At a bare minimum, spend one day touring Going-to-the-Sun Road. However, if you want to truly experience the park, set aside at least 3 additional days to get in some half or full day hikes. We spent six full days in the park and still missed all of Many Glacier.

In addition to securing a reservation to the park, it is also important to remember parking is EXTREMELY limited at the visitor centers AND at trailheads. If you are dead set on a particular hike, I cannot stress enough that you plan to arrive at your trailhead either at or just prior to dawn. Another option is to plan on arriving at one of the visitor centers and taking a shuttle to your trailhead stop. Just remember that you may have to wait over an hour to get back on the shuttle at the end of your hike to return to your car, so time manage accordingly.

A final tip for enjoying the park is realistically identifying how much time you want to spend in the car on any given day and absolutely factoring it in to your hike, bike, or boat adventure. We quickly discovered during our preparation that Glacier is really two parks. The original Many Glacier area is on the east side of the park and contains many of the most popular hikes, but it is removed from what many would consider to be the ‘main’ park.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road connects the east and west side of the park, about an hour south of Many Glacier. The result is similar to what happened to many railroad towns after the interstate was put in, with Many Glacier suddenly becoming an afterthought.

Consequently, if you are staying on the west side of the park (i.e. Hungry Horse or West Glacier) the trip to the Many Glacier area is a two and a half to three hour trek, one way, at first light. Wait until 9AM and that time will likely be extended significantly. Similarly, getting to the Logan Pass Visitor Center will take a little over an hour, with parking almost certainly nonexistent shortly after 7AM.

Did you know?
Going-to-the-Sun Road was originally called “Transmountain Highway” in the early 1920s. It was one of the first National Park Service (NPS) roadways intentionally built for automobile tourism.
Sheer cliffs, short construction seasons, 60-foot snowdrifts and tons of solid rock made constructing the road a true engineering feat. Making the effort even more difficult was the prohibition against large blasts of explosives since it would cause too much destruction to the landscape.
Going-to-the-SunRoad crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass at an elevation of 6,646 feet (2,026 m), which is the highest point on the road. A surveying team of 32 men often climbed 3,000 feet each morning to get to survey sites, walking along narrow ledges and hanging over cliffs by ropes to take measurements.
It is one of the most difficult roads in North America to snowplow. Logan Pass can be buried up to 80 feet of snow in the spring. The road takes about ten weeks to plow, even with equipment that can move 4,000 tons of snow in an hour.
Going-to-the-Sun Road was completed on July 15, 1933, after more than two decades of planning and construction.

With all of that considered, do not let the crowds dissuade you from enjoying this absolutely incredible park. Below are our four recommendations for a perfect day at the park based on staying in West Glacier: