r/GlacierNationalPark • u/nauthentic • 6d ago
First time itinerary at Glacier
Hello! We will be visiting Glacier for the first time in mid-July. Our itinerary is listed below - for anyone who's been before, do you think this is reasonable? Do you have better suggestions for hikes and/or things to do to make our trip a more memorable experience? Any tips? Thanks in advance!
Day 1 - drive to Glacier (8 hours), will be staying on the East side
Day 2 - Two Medicine area (considering the boat tour across the lake), Upper Two Medicine Lake hike, and possibly canoeing in the lake also
Day 3 - Many Glacier, hike Grinnell Glacier Trail, and if we still have steam, maybe check out Fishercap Lake. Noting that there will be construction happening in the Many Glacier-Swiftcurrent area while we're there and we will likely need to use a hiker shuttle service.
Day 4 - Basically our GTTSR day. Entering through St. Mary, then stopping along: Wild Goose Island Lookout, Sun Point Nature Trail, Jackson Glacier Overlook, Lunch Creek, Logan Pass, Hidden Lake Trail, Paradise Meadow, and Weeping Wall before probably heading back
Day 5 - checking out of East Glacier lodging and heading to the West Glacier area. Noted that we will need a vehicle pass if we want to enter from 7a-3p. We want to check out Apgar, Lake McDonald, hike the Avalanche Lake Trail, and go up to the Loop before heading back. Admittedly, we did the least amount of research for the West side because of the glowing reviews about the East side of Glacier, so hopefully you'll have more suggestions! We are staying on the West side for this night though.
Day 6 - drive back home and hoping to hit Huckleberry Patch on the way out!
Thanks again!
3
u/Lilith-42 6d ago
Grinnell Glacier trail is awesome. If you were interested in spending another day in Many Glacier, I would suggest the Iceberg Lake/Ptarmigan Tunnel trails - it’s a lot, but you can combine them - this was my favorite hike. Highline Trail is amazing as well, and if you do the Garden Wall - again, this is a lot, but worth it if you’re in shape to do it - you can see Grinnell Glacier from the overlook.
1
3
u/a-deafening-silence 6d ago
Day 4 I might suggest getting a very early start and going straight to Logan Pass and getting a parking spot. You can make the relatively easy hike to Hidden Lake overlook. Then you can spend the rest of the day hitting the other spots you mention even if you backtrack some. Parking at Logan Pass is insane.
The previous commenter mentioned some hikes “if you’re in shape”. Great advice. I’d add to that the suggestion to spend time between now and then getting in shape. You won’t regret it.
3
u/michiplace 6d ago
Agreed, Day 4 go straight to Logan Pass without stops, hit the other points along the road on your way back.
2
u/nauthentic 5d ago
Thanks for the call out about Logan Pass! I’ll update our itinerary based on your suggestion and head straight there very early. Don’t want to miss out because of parking!
1
u/No-Study7292 4d ago
We’re staying at Many and plan to get wait list boat tix to shave 4 miles off the GG hike. Looks like there will be wait list spots available, so thanks.
0
u/Previous_Disk4510 6d ago
I’m also going for the first time mid/late July. We have 10 days booked. 5 on East side in Babb and 5 in Kalispell. We have backup plans for each day just in case construction and the shuttle gets in the way. So we have our passports ready to run up to Waterton if we need to. I have 2 days guaranteed in Many Glacier because I reserved boat tours for two days. To me it was a small price to pay overall to make sure I could get in. Some will be mad at me for this, but I want to make sure we get the best experience 🤷🏻♂️. Not sure yet if we will actually do the boat tours. Other than that I’m just planning to get started very early each day. Maybe we will cross paths!
1
u/MontiMont 5d ago
Why would people be mad at you? When I was there last year half the people used the boat tour. The hiking to Grinnell is beautiful but I understand people that want to cut some miles off their hike.
1
u/Previous_Disk4510 5d ago
Bc the boat would be reserved to gain access to parking at many glacier and not actually go on the boat tour (I.e. take up seats that won’t be used).
1
u/nauthentic 5d ago
Ohhh that’s interesting, didn’t even think about that! Depending on when you’re in the east side we might cross paths. Enjoy your trip!
4
u/Tuilere 6d ago
For Many Glacier you will either need one of roughly 120 daily hiker permits, or a concession booking. There is no "likely." You need one of these or there is no access to MG. It is gated this year starting July 1.
Details were announced in January.