Plan Your Trip to Glacier National Park

Time of year visited: October

Days spent in park: 2

Family friendly: Yes (depends on hike choice)

Read on to hear about our time in Glacier National Park, tips from the experience, where to stay, where to eat, and cool hikes!

We visited Glacier as part of a 3 national park trip, to see our detailed plan on how we did this go to the page above labeled – Glacier/Yellowstone/Grand Teton.

When should you visit Glacier National Park?

We arrived there on September 29th and left on October 2nd of 2022. We chose this time of year due to our research of there being less crowds and traffic in the park which turned out to be true, however, we didn’t perfectly time the road closures due to the parks “off-season”. At the beginning of October the West entrance to Glacier closed for road construction, and can you guess which side of the park we stayed on?! You guessed it, the west. So our second day there started with us driving around the park to the other side, about a 2 hour detour, but with beautiful landscapes along the way we couldn’t really complain.

If you want to visit Glacier with the primary focus on sight seeing and hiking with less crowds, I recommend visiting Glacier the last week of September. You’ll get the less crowded experience but also beat the closures that happen starting in October. The weather was nice for long hikes at this time of year, it was cold but not too bad for us easily cold Texans.

If you want to enjoy the other features Glacier has to offer like rafting and fly fishing then I recommend the summer months, just know that’s when most people go.

Where to stay at Glacier?

We stayed at the Great Northern Resort in West Glacier which is a small village at the west side entrance of the park. At Great Northern Resort it was a nice cabin style lodge with a shared foyer with the other rooms. Due to being there out of the summer activity season we missed out on fun amenities this place has like rafting, fishing, river school, and a railway café! You can find this place here – https://greatnorthernresort.com/

West Glacier Village has everything you need for the whole family on your visit. There’s a grocery store, gift shop, a cafe, Freda’s Bar to try some local craft beer for the adults, and Golfing to the Sun Mini golf for the kids! (Golfing to the Sun was closed for the season when we were there in October)

Fun things to see and do at Glacier.

There’s many options at Glacier National Park, it really just depends on what time of the year you are there. Rafting and fly fishing would have been awesome to do in this scenery but we’ll just speak to what we actually did on our trip.

Drive Going-to-the-Sun Road

We dedicated one full day of driving the Going to the Sun Road through the length of the park from the West entrance to the East and back. This allowed us to be able to stop at scenic views along the way, get in a moderate length hike, and explore Logan Pass and the famous Lake McDonald.

Going-to-the-Sun road views from a lunch pitstop!

Hiking

Avalanche Lake Trail

We chose this hike since it was along the way on our drive of the Going-to-the-Sun road and wasn’t too long so that we could complete it and still pack in a full day of scenic views after.

This hike is about 3.6 miles round trip. I would consider this a mild hike with not too much elevation gain. We saw quite a few families at the lake. This hike would be considered a destination hike, meaning there wasn’t many ew ah moments until you got to the destination. Speaking of destination, know that your view at the end will be dependent of the weather that day you complete the hike. It was a beautiful lake and scenery but due to the fog we couldn’t see the full extent of the waterfalls running down the distant mountain. One fun thing to do if you are here in the summer is taking a dip in the lake to cool off before heading back! We saw a few brave(crazy) folks take a dip when we were there in October.

Keep an eye out for the trailhead sign! To go on the Avalanche Lake trail you start out on the Trail of the Cedars and then exit that trail about half way, and the sign is easy to miss.

Kid friendly? Yes! This hike had a clear path through the forest with river views and beautiful lake at the end. One bonus is there was a restroom at the lake!

Grinnell Glacier Trail

We chose this hike by asking one of the park rangers, “If we only had the opportunity to do one long hike here, what would you pick?” We were definitely not disappointed with this choice! Amazing views of the bluest lakes you’ve ever seen and of course getting up close to the parks namesake, a glacier! Not to mention we saw a bear on our hike as well, from an assumed safe distance.

This hike was about 10.6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2,596ft. Most of the elevation gain was after the trail split towards Grinnell Lake so if you wanted a good hike to a beautiful lake and the climb seems daunting to the glacier, then I’d recommend turning off to the lake at that point. If you stay on the Grinnell Glacier trail it is worth the climb! There’s amazing views of the lakes and valley along the way, opportunity to see wildlife, and get up and close to one of the remaining glaciers.

If you are planning to stay in West Glacier like we did and do this hike, you need to account for a 2 hour drive to get to the trailhead to start this hike. This trailhead is on the other side of the park near Babb.

Kid friendly? Probably not. Due to the distance of the trail, elevation gain, and a few areas the trail had a steep drop-off on the edge, having sure footing was important. There was a restroom once you reached the glacier.

Where to eat at Glacier?

Here’s a list of the places we enjoyed eating while at Glacier! Tip: always ask the locals their favorite places!

Backslope Brewing – Columbia Falls
Paul Bunyan Bar & Grill – Martin City
West Glacier Café / Freda’s Bar – West Glacier

Final Tips!

Visit the parks Visitor Centers! Ask the park ranger their hike recommendations and be sure to buy some souvenirs while there to support the park.
Talk to the locals! Ask about their favorite restaurant and activities.
Leave no trace. Let’s respect God’s creation by not littering these beautiful parks.
Buy bear spray. It’s expensive and you can’t take it on a plane but as the old saying goes, “you’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it”.
On hikes short or long be sure to pack plenty of water and food.
Enjoy the beauty of God’s creation!

fun-things-to-do-in-glacier-national-park

Glacier National Park