Follow Along our Travels!

Where do I even start with this trip? We took advantage of the 4th of July holiday to maximize some time off and did all three of these parks + some towns throughout Montana in 12 days of traveling. Was it long enough? Absolutely not. But as we often say when we travel: this was us just getting a feel for the parks/area so we know where to come back to! This is going to be a long post because I’m going to break this up into 3 sections for the two National Parks + non-park stops. They deserve that. As for the itinerary itself, I really wouldn’t change any of it if your goal is to see each park, do a bit of it and then move on. Maybe one extra day in Tetons? But we’ll get there. To start …

Glacier National Park

This is actually our second time to this park so we had a bit of a head start in planning this one. Additionally, it is my absolute favorite national park that we’ve been to (and we’ve been to approximately 30 of them so far) because of its sheer size, beauty and options to get into nature. Also, it has some of my favorite NP lodges. Yes they are all rustic and basic, but they are well placed in the park and offer exactly what you need at the end of the day – a place to rest up for the next adventure.

For this trip, we stayed in 3 different areas of the park and our focus was hiking as much as possible. Most of the best hikes here are long, so make sure you plan for that both from a fitness perspective but also from a time perspective. On this trip, the weather was very warm (90+ degrees during the day) which means we were up early each day to start our hikes (6am!). We mostly rested in the lodge or on the lake during the hottest part of the day and then ventured out again at dusk to see the wildlife come out. Just writing this makes me want to go back.

Highlights from Glacier National Park:

• Part of the reason this park is my favorite is because of the hiking options. While the itinerary lists all the big ones in each area, we didn’t get to do them all (time + length of trail didn’t allow us to), but here are my favorites:
  • Grinnell Glacier: This hike is listed at 10+ miles but you can actually cut some of it off with a boat ride over the first lake! No matter what you do, this hike has beautiful views the whole way up and down. Ultimately you make it to the Grinnell glacier view which overlooks a beautiful glacial filled lake of unreal color. You access this hike from Many Glacier hotel.
  • Bullhead Lake: We left directly from Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge and cruised along several small lakes and rivers before the view opens up to this incredible amphitheater which had multiple waterfalls flowing. It was truly awe-inspiring.
  • No Name Lake: This is over in the Two Medicine area and you have to take the boats to get there. It is absolutely worth the hike to get there as it is very isolated and somewhere you just know that most people in the world don’t get to see which is a special feeling. I think I stopped every mile to just take in the backdrops.
  • Highline Trail: This is not listed in this itinerary as it is from our very first trip to Glacier back in 2014 but it is one of my favorite hikes of all time. It basically gives you the view of half of Going to the Sun Road but via nature. We did this open-jaw (starting in one place and ending in another) which provides some logistic challenges, but it is definitely worth the those and the 10+ mile length. Don’t be scared of the youtube videos of the bears on trail (I was but all we saw were deer on that trail). But it can happen…
• The wildlife! We saw a grizzly bear with her cubs (on trail with probably 25 other people which was honestly kind of terrifying but also there was a ranger there who immediately to get us off trail and they actually closed the trail after this for several days due to bear activity). The mama bear didn’t bother us and we didn’t bother her and in hindsight it was a pretty cool experience. But my favorite animal that we saw on this trip was a moose! They like to hang out in the water at dusk near Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge so we just sat and watched them in their natural habitat. They are majestic — and I’m glad I didn’t see one on trail because they are also very large and according to the ranger spook easily.
• The lodges: I highly recommend both Many Glacier and Swiftcurrent Lodge for their locations in the park and access to trails. Many Glacier also overlooks the best view and has nicer amenities. However, the other lodges (Lake McDonald and Rising Sun) are also great for their convenience and views.

Yellowstone National Park

On this trip we spent the most time in Yellowstone because we’ve never been before. It really blew my expectations out of the water. On paper this park looks to be less about hiking and more about the animals and geothermal activity which I wasn’t excited about (boy was I wrong) plus I was worried about the crowds since we were there in the dead of summer over a holiday week (this I was right about but it was manageable).

So why did it impress me so much? Well the geothermal activity is abundant, unique, beautiful (and smelly). I know everyone has seen pictures of the Grand Prismatic, but there are so many different pools and shades of color at each one. I never got bored over the many pools we saw. Plus geysers! They are so unpredictable (well besides Old Faithful) but so many times we caught ourselves just hanging out on a trail watching to see if one would blow. Also, I’m not sure why I didn’t think there were wouldn’t be hiking! I loved hiking along the Yellowstone River. The falls are so much larger than I thought they’d be and really impressive. Plus if you walk along the river, you get away from the crowds at the main stops. And the animals!! We saw buffalo (very close up which was amazing), wolves, bears and birds of all kind. Coming in the summer was a great experience (even with the crowds) but it really makes me want to go back in the winter some day.

Highlights from Yellowstone National Park:

• Lamar Valley – This is the area famous for buffalo sighting and it delivered! So. Many. Buffalo. What I think I liked the best though was the various vantage points we got to see them on the drive: from above where hundreds are just hanging in the valley, up close and personal when we were closer to the river and they were crossing the street. Plus we saw bears and wolves on this drive too!
• Bike to Biscuit Basin – We rented bikes at Old Faithful Snow Lodge and took a trail the biked past many beautiful thermal pools into the forest a bit and then to Biscuit Basin area (note: there is some part on gravel by the main driving road which is a little sketchy if you aren’t bike proficient). As I’ve mentioned on other posts, I love biking in NPs because it saves on traffic, parking and gets you into nature more frequently than just driving. This bike path is mostly paved so it is accessible to a decent bike rider although there is some dirt riding. You can also take it about half of this distance and still enjoy the trip to Morning Glory pool.
• Yellowstone River – As Chuck calls it in the itinerary: “The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone” and what an apt descriptions this is. This is why it was such a highlight. I wasn’t aware that such a large canyon existed here. The canyon definitely brings the drama with its huge drop to the river floor and the gigantic waterfalls. We hiked along the river for several miles (both sides) and I never got tired of the views — although don’t get too close to the edge — there are no guardrails on the hike. Absolutely worth the stop!

Best of the Rest: Whitefish, Missoula, Hot Springs and a night in Grand Teton

Outside of the two national parks we spent a lot of time in, we meandered through the sprawling state of Montana. A funny little story about me and my connection to Montana … I had this insane idea to move there after college. Insane only because I had never been to Montana, never truly experience winter or living so far from home, but I just knew I would feel at home in the state. I did a ton of research and even looked up rent/places to live. I never ended up moving there but I think the rugged beauty has always called to me and some part of me thinks eventually I will live there. This part of the trip was a fun exploration of some of the smaller towns, some extremely large bodies of water (hello Flathead Lake!), and the capital city of this glorious state.

We did do a night in Grand Teton National Park and it is the first time that I’ve been there that we stayed in the park itself. I’m not going to get too much into this park on this blog post since we’ve been before and I’ll make a whole post about it, but the lodge we stayed at (Colter Bay) was in a great location and had good food options. As for the park itself, it is worth its own 4 day trip and I highly recommend going but on this trip, it was really just a stopping point to fly out of Jackson.

Highlights:

• Whitefish, MT is an awesome summer spot! I know most people know it for skiing and winter, but it was a great 4th of July hang out. Fireworks + Lake and boats = Happy Julie! Also, the AirBnB we stayed in was so cute and downstairs is a well-known and delicious breakfast spot. Absolutely worth a stop!
• Of the bigger cities we went to, I really loved Missoula. It is a town right on the river and it had a real college town vibe. We enjoyed walking through the campus and seeing a few crazy 20 year olds jump off the bridges into the river. We liked it so much that we came back 4 years later (more on that trip in another blog).
• Cathedral of St. Helena: This is one of the prettiest churches I’ve been to in the US. Just stunning and worth the stop if you are in the area.
• Chico Hot Springs and the covered wagon! 10 out of 10 recommend! One, the hot springs themselves are great and the food was incredible (get the Beef Wellington to split – you will not regret it). Two, the drive to Pray (where the hot springs are) is in this perfect little valley that is quintessential country Montana. Mountains on all sides and prairies/farms dotting the roads along the way. But the real highlight is that we stayed in a covered wagon! This is like the Oregon trail (for all my elder Millennials) but with the comfort of beds and heaters. Added bonus: our wagon did not have a bathroom inside (it is a short walk away) but when I got up in the morning to use the bathroom I saw one of the prettiest sunrises I’ve ever seen. This day/evening was a memory that I will never forget.
• Jackson Lake Boating: So we’ve been the Grand Tetons a few times but this is the first time I’ve been able to get on the lake. I absolutely love boats and take every opportunity I can to get on a lake, but we had always been to Jackson area in fall/winter so this was a treat! It is worth it to see the Grand Tetons from a different vantage point!

Tips:

• Trail closures: We are in grizzly territory here, which means the rangers will close trails for hours/days at a time due to bear activity. While this is a bummer if you have your heart set on a single trail, it is for your safety and the bears safety. The tip here is to make sure you have some back up plans for multiple trails in case one is closed.
• A cooler of food! When we landed in Kalispell, we stopped and bought a cooler and then proceeded to go to the grocery store to fill it with staples to make sandwiches and snacks. In Glacier/Yellowstone, there are not a lot of food options in the park and having a cooler to make lunches was necessary to avoid hangry moments on trail. Now, if you don’t want to buy a cooler, you can always check one as a piece of luggage. This is what we did on the way home and what we do now on longer road trips like this.
• Keep your head on a swivel! Both Glacier and Yellowstone (but more Yellowstone) are known for cars slowing/stopping in the middle of a road to view wildlife. While in some cases, this is great because it gives you a heads up on where the wildlife is, in other cases it is dangerous because cars literally slow/stop quickly and you must be paying attention in order to avoid collision.
• Booking excursions: So you can see on this itinerary that we didn’t do any external excursions however we’ve done some before in Glacier (I highly recommend the famous Red Bus Tour in Glacier NP for a great overview of the park and a way to get on Going to the Sun road without a permit). I would also consider booking a wildlife (i.e. wolf) tour in Yellowstone next time because they have telescope lens so you can see them easier than with the naked eye (or a very zoomed in phone camera!)
• Permits! Glacier NP is so popular that they have a permitting system now for the Going to the Sun road. Make sure you read through this process and get your permits in advance. As noted before, by staying at the lodges in the park, you are guaranteed a permit.
• Weather/Time of Year: This trip we did over 4th of July weekend and we had very hot weather and completely clear roads/trails. However, if we had booked it the year before the Going to the Sun road wasn’t cleared until after 4th of July so you couldn’t access the trails along the road or pass through the parks that way. This is to say that it is probably safer to book Glacier later in the summer due to a good portion of it being snow dependent.