Thx for the do's & don'ts, I wish more folks like you would do the same. I've done the zip here, zip here trips myself & it ruins the trip & adds to the stress level!!
I can confirm. Last time I was there it was mid August. Night temperature was in the 40s. In the afternoon it was 80s. Up on Logan Pass, it can snow anytime.
i lived near Glacier Park (Whitefish) for over 30 years. hiked, climbed, biked, and camped too many times to count. summited over 20 peaks, some more than 10 times. hiked nearly every trail in the park. fished Hidden lake dozens and dozens of times. loved it.....until about 2010. then the masses came. waaaaay too many people relocated to the nearby Flathead valley and literally overran the park. it became untenable. rude, pushy, in-your-face, gun-toting (yes, Glacier now allows guns) idiots with little or no knowledge of wildlife or trail etiquette. my last 2 years (i moved to Ecuador 2 months ago) i seldom visited the park, despite its beauty, and visited the surrounding area instead - just to get away from the idiots. when it gets so bad, that you avoid a place of such beauty, it says something about the riffraff that took over. sad. so very sad. i have my memories and thousands of pictures from mountain tops and trials. but i won't go back. i know what it was like, and it will never be the same-----because of the rude people. sorry. that's the raw truth.....
Good tips. We have the advantage of Home Schooling, thus, we don’t have to put up with the PC nonsense, AND we went off season. Early October was great. We did the Lake Avalanche and Saint Mary Falls hikes. They were amazing. We stayed in Columbia Falls nearby. BEST burgers there, Mud Man Burgers.
Matthew Knotts Lone Pine is a pretty nice place to visit right outside Kalispell. It gives you a nice view of the valley. If you want to take a drive down to lakeside you won’t be disappointed. It’s a nice little town on flathead lake with many fun things to do on the water. Also I would recommend eating dinner at the Tamarack brewing company in lakeside. The valley is a wonderful place to visit. I hope you have fun :)
Glacier is a beautiful place, I'm truly blessed to be right next to it on the Blackfeet reservation, my people's original land is truly beautiful and I'm glad all over people can enjoy it as well. I think that also something else good to keep in mind is that it is land Indigenous to the Blackfeet people and many names and locations were named from them, great informative video!
I remember being at a camp ground just north of banff in Alberta . Ran out of money so I camped outside the camp ground and some dreadlock Canadian forester found me and charge me 42 dollars. And some guy next to me was totally stoned started cooking bacon in the middle of night in the woods!!! In grizzly county. The RCMP will not help you Just stay on going to the sun road
im going there in 4 days...anything or advice to help me with being paranoid of grizzly bears? i don't really want to go anymore because of bears, but my spouse wanted to go so bad...i know millions flock there for vacation, etc but still im getting phobia about it.
You are in for a real treat! Actually, Laura is really afraid of bears, but if you make lots of noise, keep your food and garbage in containers except for while you’re eating, and carry bear spray you should be fine. PIf you want an added sense of security, you can buy a dummy can of bear spray and practice with it beforehand. Also, groups of 4 or more are almost never attacked, so you can also look for a couple to hike with to pad your numbers 😁. In the end, bear attacks, while serious, are very rare.
Living about 20 minutes away from glacier and hiking multiple times a year i decided i would go through the video and see if I agree 1. The weather does change a lot once i went on a sunny day and it randomly rained hard around noon. It was sunny again moments later 2.During tourist season, it gets so busy. The traffic in the near by small towns is insane. Glacier itself is flooded with people everyday for months. I always leave early so that we can find at least a spot. 3. I agree with 3. That's all I want to say 4. There is constantly stuff happening up there so I agree with keeping a look out 5. Hiking in glacier is amazing you will never know what you might find 6. Things up there are expensive. Always come prepared 7. People go missing in glacier year round. And respect the wild life. I always see some one picking on animals. 8. Reservations are tricky. Always do it ahead of time 9. I thought about doing the highline trail. That's it 10. Take your time. Thanks for reading and I hope you have fun enjoying what I love so much about my home
IMHO the best time to visit GNP is in late June. The Road To The Sun "should" be open, the crowds are smaller (the main tourist season starts on the Fourth of July week) the waterfalls are really flowing because of the snowmelt, the air is clear (fire season usually starts in late August or September), the days are very long and the souvenir shops are fully stocked. The store with the greatest variety of memorabilia is the Apgar Store. Do bring bear spray and don't bring noisemakers. A loud human voice is much more effective at warding off bears. AND bring a water purifier such as a lifestraw or a Sawyer product. Carry a little less water and map out your water spots. Bring sunscreen, bug spray, a map, and a compass. if you're not good at orienteering make sure somebody that is in your group is. There is no hospital around the corner so when in doubt, don't!
These are all really great suggestions. I agree that late June is the ideal time. GNP has so many waterfalls, and it’s best to see them during “spring” runoff.
How many days do you really need to see the park ? Really can’t hike far , physical conditions limited and how far to one of the closest,campground to the park. Any info would be helpful, thank you.db
I would recommend taking a full weekend. There is so much to see on the Going to the Sun road. Plus, there are a lot of paved trails such as Avalanche/Trail of the Cedars that are right off the road. There are many campgrounds in Glacier National Park. The main one on the west side is Apgar Campground. On the east side there’s St. Mary’s campground. In the Many Glacier area, there’s the Many Glacier campground. If all you want to do is drive the Going to the Sun road and not get out of the car very much then one day would be enough.
I appreciate the video it helped a lot! I'm sure this park won't be nearly as crowded as the one I live close to. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park got 11 million visitors last year!
Thank you for the great tips! Bringing plenty of food and water into the park is an important one I was not sure about but you clarified. Lots of great tips in a short fun video!
Unfortunately, the National Park Service at RMNP now has timed entry slots that are quite restricted, only a few thousand people per 2 hour entry. You need to jump on these right away. For July entry, the slots go up June 3, you need to jump on them right away. We’re going later this week, unfortunately, the only slots available are a 4pm entry for the days we are in Estes Park. There seem to be very very few entry permits considering the size of the park, perhaps a residual effect of Covid fear? Though people jammed together into the shops in the town of Estes Park, instead of roaming spread-out in the mountains, (which is what they want to do) does seem like an unthoughtful anti-Covid strategy.
Right now in Glacier, the west entrance is the only open entrance and it’s very busy. I don’t think the east entrance will open at all this season. Also, there’s a mask mandate for that area and we’ve been starting to see stricter rules depending on the county.
How early in advance would you suggest booking a camp site in the august/ early September months? earlier is better of course, but do you know when they really start to fill up? I dont know which exact days I will be able to go yet =) thanks!
Hey Melissa, booking opens up on a rolling 6 month basis and it looks like the campsites are getting booked as soon as they become available. If you want a reservation you’ll want to book it as soon as that date opens up. You can always gamble and try the first come first serve camping (we have a video about it) but it was way more stressful to do it that way.
What time of year did you all go? Planning on heading out May 15th and after reading GOV website it seems like Going to the sun road will not be fully open and concerned about Highline Trail and Grinnell glacier trail not being melted off enough. Thanks in advance!
Unfortunately, they almost certainly will not be melted off. We went in early June and you could only hike about one mile into the Grinnell Glacier trail and it was pretty snow packed. I don’t think you’ll be able to do the Highline Trail at all. Also, in early June the Going to the Sun road was open on the west side to the Avalanche area and on the east side it was open to Goose Island.
Getting a reservation for the first day or two and then snagging a first-come/first-served campsite is easy, too. Once you are in the park and trying to move to another campground is a lot easier than trying to get into the park early enough. We did that on a recent trip without trouble.
Thank you so much for the great info. Out of all the videos I have watched, you have provided more useful information. I want to drive to Glacier from GA. and camp in a tent maybe around Lake McDonald, but I want to wait until after Labor Day. I am so concerned about the weather. Maybe I should find a campground to the south and just drive up, if the weather permits.Be flexible, right? Thank you again!!
Thanks! Well, it’s 5 miles up and 5 back, but the name of the hike is Grinnell Glacier. Well worth the hike, even if you can’t make the whole thing! Best of luck!
Good Job on the 10 points. I was there in 2015, high heat and low humidity (plus wild fires around Rising Sun). I was on the Highline Trail and was having a hard time. I was severely dehydrated. I thought I was going to pass out during the hike. I will not hike again without drinking a lot of water the day before and the day of the hike.
Hi there! I'm enjoying your videos... in your opinion, what's the best place to stay OUTSIDE the park? I'm looking at the towns of West Glacier or East Glacier park village? Probably will be flying into Bozeman unless I can find a cheaper flight into the Glacier airport... or if Canada opens back up, we may fly into Calgary and drive down, but that seems unlikely. Likely will be coming in at the end of June into early July. Any advice or resources you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Bobby, thank you for the kind words! Outside the park, we would definitely recommend Kalispell, especially if you are on a budget. Kalispell is a solid drive from the park, but accommodations are exceedingly rare within 45 minutes or so of the park. Our best resources are the videos on our channel, but be sure to make yourself familiar with the National Parks Service GNP website. Best of luck and enjoy your stay!
11: Don't bother switching on your phone, it won't work most places.
In any case, in a day or so you'll forget you have one!😁
Just got back from Glacier, liked the east side the best!
Was in Glacier last week. Don’t forget BEAR SPRAY!!
Yes! Bear spray is a must. I hope you loved Glacier.
Heading to Glacier in September! Thanks for the tips!
Thx for the do's & don'ts, I wish more folks like you would do the same. I've done the zip here, zip here trips myself & it ruins the trip & adds to the stress level!!
You’re welcome!
I can confirm. Last time I was there it was mid August. Night temperature was in the 40s. In the afternoon it was 80s. Up on Logan Pass, it can snow anytime.
Good sleeping weather.
i lived near Glacier Park (Whitefish) for over 30 years. hiked, climbed, biked, and camped too many times to count. summited over 20 peaks, some more than 10 times. hiked nearly every trail in the park. fished Hidden lake dozens and dozens of times. loved it.....until about 2010. then the masses came. waaaaay too many people relocated to the nearby Flathead valley and literally overran the park. it became untenable. rude, pushy, in-your-face, gun-toting (yes, Glacier now allows guns) idiots with little or no knowledge of wildlife or trail etiquette. my last 2 years (i moved to Ecuador 2 months ago) i seldom visited the park, despite its beauty, and visited the surrounding area instead - just to get away from the idiots. when it gets so bad, that you avoid a place of such beauty, it says something about the riffraff that took over. sad. so very sad. i have my memories and thousands of pictures from mountain tops and trials. but i won't go back. i know what it was like, and it will never be the same-----because of the rude people. sorry. that's the raw truth.....
Early yes
St Marys seriously expensive, if you camp fill up( even gas) before you get there ( Browing)
Its my favorite so far
DO go for a Kayak paddle around Two Medicine Lake! It's incredible!
Thanks! We will have to make sure we do that this summer :)
Do you get reservations in advance to do that or is there a ticket booth where you rent kyaks and just get on?
Good tips. We have the advantage of Home Schooling, thus, we don’t have to put up with the PC nonsense, AND we went off season. Early October was great. We did the Lake Avalanche and Saint Mary Falls hikes. They were amazing. We stayed in Columbia Falls nearby. BEST burgers there, Mud Man Burgers.
It's about 3 hours north of "big city" Great Falls ;)
I'll be driving from the big city of Houston, tx to see it in 2 months, going thru great falls on the way back to Texas
I feel so lucky to live only 30 minutes away from glacier national park.
Definitely good to appreciate gifts like that!
Ugh wish I was!
5 hours for me from Bozeman =D 👍
I’m traveling there from Minot, ND. Any recommendations for must see spots to visit?
Matthew Knotts Lone Pine is a pretty nice place to visit right outside Kalispell. It gives you a nice view of the valley. If you want to take a drive down to lakeside you won’t be disappointed. It’s a nice little town on flathead lake with many fun things to do on the water. Also I would recommend eating dinner at the Tamarack brewing company in lakeside. The valley is a wonderful place to visit. I hope you have fun :)
Glacier is a beautiful place, I'm truly blessed to be right next to it on the Blackfeet reservation, my people's original land is truly beautiful and I'm glad all over people can enjoy it as well. I think that also something else good to keep in mind is that it is land Indigenous to the Blackfeet people and many names and locations were named from them, great informative video!
Great point!
I remember being at a camp ground just north of banff in Alberta . Ran out of money so I camped outside the camp ground and some dreadlock Canadian forester found me and charge me 42 dollars. And some guy next to me was totally stoned started cooking bacon in the middle of night in the woods!!! In grizzly county. The RCMP will not help you
Just stay on going to the sun road
im going there in 4 days...anything or advice to help me with being paranoid of grizzly bears? i don't really want to go anymore because of bears, but my spouse wanted to go so bad...i know millions flock there for vacation, etc but still im getting phobia about it.
You are in for a real treat! Actually, Laura is really afraid of bears, but if you make lots of noise, keep your food and garbage in containers except for while you’re eating, and carry bear spray you should be fine.
PIf you want an added sense of security, you can buy a dummy can of bear spray and practice with it beforehand. Also, groups of 4 or more are almost never attacked, so you can also look for a couple to hike with to pad your numbers 😁.
In the end, bear attacks, while serious, are very rare.
@@AdventuresofShaneandLaura Got cha. Wishing for a great experience. And will keep those in mind. Thank you for the advice.
Zarkon happy we could help!
Living about 20 minutes away from glacier and hiking multiple times a year i decided i would go through the video and see if I agree
1. The weather does change a lot once i went on a sunny day and it randomly rained hard around noon. It was sunny again moments later
2.During tourist season, it gets so busy. The traffic in the near by small towns is insane. Glacier itself is flooded with people everyday for months. I always leave early so that we can find at least a spot.
3. I agree with 3. That's all I want to say
4. There is constantly stuff happening up there so I agree with keeping a look out
5. Hiking in glacier is amazing you will never know what you might find
6. Things up there are expensive. Always come prepared
7. People go missing in glacier year round. And respect the wild life. I always see some one picking on animals.
8. Reservations are tricky. Always do it ahead of time
9. I thought about doing the highline trail. That's it
10. Take your time.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have fun enjoying what I love so much about my home
Thanks! It’s always good to get a fellow Montanan’s opinion and support!
Bear spray, bear spray, bear spray!
IMHO the best time to visit GNP is in late June. The Road To The Sun "should" be open, the crowds are smaller (the main tourist season starts on the Fourth of July week) the waterfalls are really flowing because of the snowmelt, the air is clear (fire season usually starts in late August or September), the days are very long and the souvenir shops are fully stocked. The store with the greatest variety of memorabilia is the Apgar Store. Do bring bear spray and don't bring noisemakers. A loud human voice is much more effective at warding off bears. AND bring a water purifier such as a lifestraw or a Sawyer product. Carry a little less water and map out your water spots. Bring sunscreen, bug spray, a map, and a compass. if you're not good at orienteering make sure somebody that is in your group is. There is no hospital around the corner so when in doubt, don't!
These are all really great suggestions. I agree that late June is the ideal time. GNP has so many waterfalls, and it’s best to see them during “spring” runoff.
Great suggestions
How many days do you really need to see the park ? Really can’t hike far , physical conditions limited and how far to one of the closest,campground to the park. Any info would be helpful, thank you.db
I would recommend taking a full weekend. There is so much to see on the Going to the Sun road. Plus, there are a lot of paved trails such as Avalanche/Trail of the Cedars that are right off the road. There are many campgrounds in Glacier National Park. The main one on the west side is Apgar Campground. On the east side there’s St. Mary’s campground. In the Many Glacier area, there’s the Many Glacier campground. If all you want to do is drive the Going to the Sun road and not get out of the car very much then one day would be enough.
Very helpful - thanks for the tips
I appreciate the video it helped a lot! I'm sure this park won't be nearly as crowded as the one I live close to. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park got 11 million visitors last year!
Oh wow! Glacier doesn’t get quite that many visitors, but it still feels packed.
Thank you for the great tips! Bringing plenty of food and water into the park is an important one I was not sure about but you clarified. Lots of great tips in a short fun video!
Thanks Gregory!
Just came back. Couldn’t get ticket for Going to the sun. But you don’t need ticket after 5 pm and before 6 am.
Unfortunately, the National Park Service at RMNP now has timed entry slots that are quite restricted, only a few thousand people per 2 hour entry. You need to jump on these right away. For July entry, the slots go up June 3, you need to jump on them right away. We’re going later this week, unfortunately, the only slots available are a 4pm entry for the days we are in Estes Park. There seem to be very very few entry permits considering the size of the park, perhaps a residual effect of Covid fear? Though people jammed together into the shops in the town of Estes Park, instead of roaming spread-out in the mountains, (which is what they want to do) does seem like an unthoughtful anti-Covid strategy.
I’m planning a trip to glacier for this upcoming July, thanks for the tips I will keep them in mind😁
Awesome! Have a great time!
Two medicine campground is cool but there are Grizzlies there. East glacier lodge whitefish, kalispel
We just got back from glaicer national Park. It was amazing
Awesome! What was your favorite part of the trip?
Calm down city boy
Great tips - we'd love to visit Glacier National Park one day!
Thanks Kings Journey!
Great info, thank you for sharing 👍👍👍😊👋
Thanks!
Very informative! Thank you!
If you park at the loop and want to take the shuttle to Logan Pass to hike back down, do you need a reservation for the shuttle?
Nope you don’t need a reservation. The earlier you get to the shuttle the better because it gets busy quickly.
If I dress in wool, a bear might eat me.
Thank you. Trying tp plan a trip in September 2020??? Including Banff??? Covid permitting. If you have any current info, please respond.
Right now in Glacier, the west entrance is the only open entrance and it’s very busy. I don’t think the east entrance will open at all this season. Also, there’s a mask mandate for that area and we’ve been starting to see stricter rules depending on the county.
How early in advance would you suggest booking a camp site in the august/ early September months? earlier is better of course, but do you know when they really start to fill up? I dont know which exact days I will be able to go yet =) thanks!
Hey Melissa, booking opens up on a rolling 6 month basis and it looks like the campsites are getting booked as soon as they become available. If you want a reservation you’ll want to book it as soon as that date opens up. You can always gamble and try the first come first serve camping (we have a video about it) but it was way more stressful to do it that way.
What time of year did you all go? Planning on heading out May 15th and after reading GOV website it seems like Going to the sun road will not be fully open and concerned about Highline Trail and Grinnell glacier trail not being melted off enough. Thanks in advance!
Unfortunately, they almost certainly will not be melted off. We went in early June and you could only hike about one mile into the Grinnell Glacier trail and it was pretty snow packed. I don’t think you’ll be able to do the Highline Trail at all. Also, in early June the Going to the Sun road was open on the west side to the Avalanche area and on the east side it was open to Goose Island.
She said or just do it so I did it
Getting a reservation for the first day or two and then snagging a first-come/first-served campsite is easy, too. Once you are in the park and trying to move to another campground is a lot easier than trying to get into the park early enough. We did that on a recent trip without trouble.
That’s a really great tip! Thanks 😁
Thanks for the video I’m hoping to visit the park in July with my girlfriend! The easy coast is super boring!
Awesome! Have a great trip!
If you are going to hike alone buy a resqlink personal locator so you can always get help
That’s a really great tip! Thank you.
i'm going in a week!!!
Thank you so much for the great info. Out of all the videos I have watched, you have provided more useful information. I want to drive to Glacier from GA. and camp in a tent maybe around Lake McDonald, but I want to wait until after Labor Day. I am so concerned about the weather. Maybe I should find a campground to the south and just drive up, if the weather permits.Be flexible, right? Thank you again!!
Thanks so much Janis, we’re glad you found the info useful! That’s the idea, with the flexibility!
There are bears there though.😳
Great suggestion to make reservations for campgrounds, we are on it.
Awesome! Glad we could help 😁
What if you dont really enjoy pulling out?
Thank you so much
These were great tips, thank you so much! Headed there next week:) Also, what was that 5 mile hike that you mentioned?
Thanks! Well, it’s 5 miles up and 5 back, but the name of the hike is Grinnell Glacier. Well worth the hike, even if you can’t make the whole thing! Best of luck!
@@AdventuresofShaneandLaura Thank you so much, going to try to find this one:D
No problem :)
Good Job on the 10 points. I was there in 2015, high heat and low humidity (plus wild fires around Rising Sun). I was on the Highline Trail and was having a hard time. I was severely dehydrated. I thought I was going to pass out during the hike. I will not hike again without drinking a lot of water the day before and the day of the hike.
Thank you! That’s a good idea to drink lots of water before and during a hike and to bring more water than you think you need!
Hi there! I'm enjoying your videos... in your opinion, what's the best place to stay OUTSIDE the park? I'm looking at the towns of West Glacier or East Glacier park village? Probably will be flying into Bozeman unless I can find a cheaper flight into the Glacier airport... or if Canada opens back up, we may fly into Calgary and drive down, but that seems unlikely. Likely will be coming in at the end of June into early July. Any advice or resources you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Bobby, thank you for the kind words! Outside the park, we would definitely recommend Kalispell, especially if you are on a budget. Kalispell is a solid drive from the park, but accommodations are exceedingly rare within 45 minutes or so of the park.
Our best resources are the videos on our channel, but be sure to make yourself familiar with the National Parks Service GNP website. Best of luck and enjoy your stay!
I pull out most times
this is the dorkiest video i have ever seen.
well ted, it seems you have 0 subscribers. maybe dorky but more successful than you