Gorgeous Glacier National Park

In the summer of social distancing, the options for family getaways are few. A visit to a national park is the perfect recipe for fun and safe travel. We pulled out the atlas and mapped out a route to western Montana and the Crown of the Continent, gorgeous Glacier National Park.

Glacier National Park from our home in Minnesota is about a 17-18 hour drive. We broke up the drive on the way to Montana with a quick stop at the Painted Canyon Lookout at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We also stayed over in eastern Montana on the first day of travel.

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Lake Mary Ronan

Our first full day in Montana was splendid and made all the driving worth it. We planned our itinerary to include two lake days; one at a smaller lake called Lake Mary Ronan and the other on Flathead Lake. Fully rested, we planned to spend our third day hiking at the park followed by a day of whitewater rafting and then back to the park for the final day of our trip.

For our first lake day, we found the cutest little red cabin on Lake Mary Ronan. It was just 600 square feet but had direct water access. We spent our day there floating on the lake, attempting to catch trout and watching the sun dip behind the mountains by the campfire. I recommend a little afternoon jaunt to Mountain Meadows Resort for heavenly huckleberry lemonades.

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Flathead Lake

The streak of beautiful weather continued on our second day in Montana. We spent a full day on the large, clear and gorgeous Flathead Lake. We stepped aboard our rented boat around 9 o’clock for eight hours of adventure on the water. With a waterproof lake map in hand and a few instructions from the folks at Flathead Boat Company, we were off. We left from Polson, MT and went north to Wild Horse Island. Here we hiked a three-mile loop trail and unfortunately, did not see a single horse. However, we did see a herd of mountain goats come down to the water for a drink.

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After our hike, we ordered dockside lunch from The Shoe and then beached our boat near Bird Island. We spent the majority of the afternoon here floating, swimming and jumping off the back of the boat into the crystal clear water. Though quite chilly, the water felt good. After so many hours on the water and in the sun, we were anxious to get to Coram, MT where we would stay for the next three nights while we explored gorgeous Glacier National Park. While on the drive to our cabin, we stopped for a bag a Flathead cherries, a perfect way to ‘top’ off our day.

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Avalanche Lake and Trail of the Cedars

Our first day in Glacier National Park started with an early morning hike along the Trail of Cedars to Avalanche Lake. We weren’t the only family who’d decided a national park vacation was a good idea during a pandemic. We’d read about the long lines and full parking lots, so we left our cabin at 6 AM and found one of just 9 or 10 open parking spots that were left at the Trail of Cedars trailhead parking lot when we arrived about thirty minutes later.

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The Trail of Cedars starts as a boardwalk trail through towering cedar and hemlock trees and alongside a series of tumbling turquoise waterfalls. When the boardwalk ends, there are several stairs to climb to reach the Avalanche Lake Trail. To complete both the Trail of Cedars and Avalanche Lake Trail it’s about 4.5 miles round trip and it’s absolutely worth it. Avalanche Lake is spectacular. We sat in awe of the mountain and the waterfalls making their way to the lake. The sun was just rising over the peaks and with each passing minute, the shadows and reflections changed. My youngest son was silent for a few moments while scanning the hillside and said, “this is better than any painting I’ve ever seen.” I can’t think of better words to summarize what it’s like to be enveloped by the beauty of Avalanche Lake.

Going to the Sun Road

It was just mid-morning by the time we returned from Avalanche Lake. We decided to drive Going to the Sun Road. Using the Glacier National Park Summer Guide, we made our way up the mountain stopping to take pictures at West Tunnel, Weeping Wall, Bird Woman Falls and Big Bend before we reached the visitor’s center at Logan Pass. Traveling eastbound on Going to the Sun Road made me a bit anxious. You were on the edge of the mountain, nearly 9,000 feet up, with a steer drop-off just outside the window. Yikes.

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Logan Pass was busier than the Avalanche Lake area. We eventually found a parking spot and learned that the hike we wanted to do to Hidden Lake Trail was closed due to bear activity. Though we were disappointed, we decided to use the rest of the afternoon to eat the lunch we packed in at Lunch Creek and then do a short hike near Wild Goose Island. As we drove to the St. Mary Lake area, the highlight for me was stopping at Jackson Glacier Overlook. I very much wanted to get a glimpse of one of the 26 remaining glaciers for which the park is named.

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At Wild Goose Island we hiked down to the waterfront and the boys enjoyed tossing rocks into the water. By mid-afternoon, we decided to make our way back to the cabin and then went out for pizza at Glacier Grill. Since the entire east side of Glacier National Park is closed because of COVID-19, when planning our trip we decided to break up the days of hiking with a day of extreme activities.

Whitewater Rafting and High Ropes Course

To begin our fourth day in Montana we drove the bumpy gravel road on the northwestern side of Glacier National Park to Polbridge, MT. The Polbridge Mercantile is known for their huckleberry bear claws. We gobbled down our pastries and then went to explore the Apgar Village Area. After browsing the gift shop and skipping rocks in Lake McDonald we drove back to Coram to test our skill on the high ropes course at Glacier Highline. We spent about two hours on the ropes and ziplines before a quick lunch at the Wandering Gringo so we could make our reservation for whitewater rafting with Wild River Adventures.

Our two hour, 9 mile, rafting trip was a first for our boys. The beginning portion of the trip was mild and more of a scenic float. Our raft guide was very informative and fun. The last few miles of the trip were thrilling with several class II and class III rapids. Our favorite was named Bone Crusher. Since the boys are under age twelve, they took turns riding in the Super Hero Seat (the front middle) where they got super soaked but enjoyed every minute of it. After our fun-filled afternoon, we had dinner at Josephine’s Bar and Kitchen. The food and spiked slushies were almost as amazing as our rafting trip.

For dessert, we drove back to the Lake McDonald area and bought ice cream bars at the village store. We spent our last night in Glacier National Park at the Lake McDonald Cabins. We chose to sleep in the park because we knew we needed to arrive early at Logan Pass to hike Highline Trail.

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Highline Trail

It was just after 6 AM when we arrived at Logan Pass to start the Highline Trail hike on our final day in Glacier National Park. The Highline Trail is one of the most spectacular hikes in the park. The 6-8 foot wide trail hugs the rocky mountainside and can be nerve-racking for those with a fear of heights. I’m not a huge fan of heights but was determined to not let fear deter me. The view and the scenery were absolutely amazing as we made our way along the Continental Divide.

Though considered a loop trail, since hikers can catch a shuttle at the Loop and get back to Logan Pass, we made the trail an out and back hike by turning around at the saddle at Haystack Pass. The trek to Haystack is about 4 miles, so in total, we ventured 8 miles. If you choose to make the hike a loop, you’ll hike about 11 miles. In 2020, there is no shuttle service due to the pandemic.

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At Haystack Pass we encountered snow, a very exciting find in late July. When we reached this point, we plopped down on a few rocks and had some trail snacks before journeying back to the trailhead. Highline Trail was my favorite, despite the three-quarter-mile section of hand cables. Our boys were fearless on the hike and rolled their eyes each time I reminded them to watch where they were stepping, hold the hand cable or stay away from the edge. With this hike complete, our time in Glacier National Park came to an end. We stopped for a quick lunch as we began the long, long drive back to Minnesota.

Where we stayed, where we ate and what we spent

• Accommodations
  • Lake Mary Ronan hosted by Jolene Hedges
    • 2 nights/$500
  • The Ridge at Glacier-Coram, MT
    • newly built and just 7 minutes for Glacier National Park
    • tip: bring your own coffee
    • 3 nights/$1200
  • Lake McDonald-duplex room non-water view
    • 1 night/$180
• Food
  • Groceries for two dinners, one lunch, two breakfasts and snacks at Lake Mary Ronan-$100
  • Mountain Meadows Resort-delicious huckleberry lemonade and appetizers-$40
  • The Shoe-$60 for 4 burgers and fries on the boat
  • Glacier Grill-yummy pizza and local beer-$70
  • Wandering Taco Cafe-food truck with great tacos and burritos-$30
  • Josephine’s Bar and Kitchen-if you don’t go for the food definitely go for the handcrafted cocktails
• Flathead Lake Boat Rental
  • 8 hours of rental for a 26-foot deck boat -$800 including gas
• National Park Pass
  • FREE through the Every Kid Outdoors program that offers free national park entrance to all 4th graders and their families. Finally, a perk of being a parent 🙂
• Glacier Highline Ropes course-$130 for 1 adult and 2 kids
• Whitewater Rafting
  • Wild River Adventures-small, family-owned and very friendly
    • $260 for a half-day trip with class II and class III rapids-2 adults and 2 children

If you enjoyed reading about our trip to Glacier National Park, you can read more national park adventures in a blog post about an RV trip we took to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks a a few years ago.

Happy Adventuring, Rochelle