The Traveling Cupcake's Guide to Glacier National Park

So you're heading to Glacier National Park! It's an absolutely gorgeous park and honestly Montana makes me want to build my own cabin on some little remote hill and have a bonfire every night!! As a family we have been checking off the National Parks from our bucket list and with each one we become more legit hikers and less just an Eddie Bauer ad.

This was our first trip to Glacier so we weren't quite sure what we were in for. After a wonderful trip, I thought I'd share some of my suggestions and tips to help you plan your best trip yet. So here's a few suggestions if you're heading out to Glacier National Park... I hope help you plan your perfect Montana adventure!

Glacier National Tips: Where to Stay 

Flathead Lake, Montana 
- We stayed in Flathead Lake area which was gorgeous! We got to enjoy the lake several days and sit outside on our deck and watch the sunrise and sunset. It was about 20-30 minutes from Kalispell and about an hour to the entrance of West Glacier, so it was quite the drive into the park each day. 
- We rented this gorgeous house in Somers, Montana (on Flathead Lake) https://www.vrbo.com/338541 and I'd highly recommend it! It had beautiful views and the house was beautiful.

White Fish, Montana
-If you're looking to be a little closer to the entrance of West Glacier, I would suggest staying in White Fish. It was a bit closer and also had more options for restaurants and shopping. We spent a day in White Fish and loved it, if we come back we will definitely stay in the White Fish area.

Glacier National Park
- If you're looking to stay within the National Park then you have a few options. If you're in West Glacier then I'd recommend Apgar Village or Lake McDonald Lodge. If you're going to be on the East side of Glacier than Many Glacier Lodge is the place to be.

Glacier National Park Tips: Hiking 

- Bring your own food, snacks, water etc. because there are few places in the park you can purchase these essentials.

- Layer layer layer. We saw every single form of weather except for snow while we were there in August. It can go from 80 to 60 pretty quick.

-Bring a rain jacket. Almost every hike we encountered rain at some point. Bring the rain jacket and save yourself later.
-Bring bear spray and bear bells. Although we never saw any bears on the trail, we did see several bears while we were driving around the park. We heard from several people that they had seen bears on the trails earlier. Be aware of your surroundings and try to make as much noise as possible.
- For suggestions on what hikes to do, see below.

Glacier National Park Tips: What else to know

-Be prepared for long drives once you're in the park. West Glacier from Apgar Visitor Center to Logan Pass it's a solid hour drive. It's a total of 2-hours to Many Glacier.
- DO NOT take the free shuttle after 8:00 a.m if you can help it (it will take you about 2-hours to get to Logan Pass otherwise). They have a free shuttle service from Apgar Visitor Center that brings you to Logan Pass but unless you arrive before the last Express Shuttle leaves at 9:00 sharp- you'll be on the slow boat. You're better off trying to find parking up by the Weeping Wall and hoofing it or parking at Avalanche Trailhead and catching the short sprinter van to Logan Pass.

-Logan Pass only has 1-hr parking and it's usually a stalking game to find parking. If you want to drive and just look around, go later in the day as it seems to be better availability of spots.
-One of the unique things we did on this trip was hiring a photographer (Elsa Eileen Photography) to take incredible family photos in the park. A few years ago in the Grand Tetons we saw a family doing a photoshoot and we've been dying to do it since. SO thankful we got these great memories and photos. Highly recommend her photography and the entire experience.   

Trail and Trip Suggestions

Day 1: Trail of the Cedars + Avalanche Lake Trail
Nice and easy, family friendly hikes. Avalanche Lake was stunning! We packed a lunch and ate once we got there.

Day 2: Lake McDonald leisure + Logan's Pass Drive
We spent the morning on Lake McDonald and then drove up to Logan's pass to check out the beautiful views (and stopped along the way for lots of photo opportunities)


Day 3: Hidden Lake + Highline Trail

The Highline Trail is quite a long trail, so we only did a portion of it before heading back to Logan's Pass area. This trail is definitely a fun one but if you have a fear of heights and drop-offs, mentally prepare yourself!

Day 4: Kalispell and Flathead Lake
We spent the morning kayaking an canoeing on Flathead Lake. In the afternoon we headed into Kalispell to bum around town, shop, and grab some ice cream.

Day 5: Whitefish 
We spent a fun day in Whitefish walking around town, stopping by Whitefish Resort to ride the chair lift, and grabbing dinner in town.

 Day 6: East Side Waterfalls
We got up super early and drove to the East Side of the park. We stopped along the way at several of the waterfall trailheads. 

Day 7: East Side Grinnell Glacier and Grinnell Lake 
The highlight of our trip was Grinnell Glacier. It was a difficult and long hike for us (about 3.5 hours each way) but the views were absolutely worth it. You will traverse forests, fields, rocks, cliffs and waterfalls so be prepared for it all!

What I Packed for Glacier National Park

For how much traveling I do, packing is definitely not one of my strongest gifts. When it comes to a work trip it's pretty simple on what to pack as I'll be in business meetings most of the day. However, when it comes to an actual fun trip + vacation I tend to either horrible underpack or outrageously overpack.  One of the techniques I've adapted to help this battle of the suitcase is to pre-plan my outfits. Yes yes, this may sound ridiculously type-A but it actually helps determine what you really need.

First, take I take out everything I want to bring: I either lay it out on my bed or in the spare bedroom. Then I bring out all the shoes I want to bring. My philosophy is to BUILD FROM THE GROUND UP!! Ladies especially, we can bring 10 pairs of shoes for a 5 day trip; so start building your outfits up from shoes to the head. 

Pick the first pair of shoes you know you need to bring and start building some outfits from there. My rule is if I can only wear 1 or 2 outfits with that pair of shoes, it's out (unless of course you know you're going to a wedding or a special event where you need heels- that of course is an exception). From there I just start building outfits and trying to reuse as many items as possible to reduce space and unnecessary items in my suitcase. 

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Anyways- back to the matter at hand: packing for Glacier National Park. We went to Montana to Glacier National Park for an 8-day adventure. Here is what I ended up bringing to help give you an idea for your own packing list:

Shoes: 1 pair of hiking shoes, 1 pair of tennis shoes, 1 pair of sandals, 1 pair of slip on Sperry's 

2 hats + 2 headbands

4 pairs of 3/4 length workout pants + 1 pair of workout shorts

5 sports bras + 1 (not pictured) normal bra

5 athletic tank tops + 1 athletic t-shirt

2 long-sleeved athletic zip-ups

1 insulated North Face + 1 cotton Nike hoodie + 1 rain jacket (not pictured)

2 scarves

1 set of PJs (brought both shorts and long pants) - forgot to take a picture

2 bathing suits + 1 pair of water shorts

3 pants: 1 pair of jeans + 1 pair of shorts + 1 pair of lounge pants

6 casual tops + 1 cardigan 

Socks + underwear (not pictured)

We went to Glacier in mid-August and the weather was still all over the place. The day time in town it was in the 80s and at night it would get down to the 50s and 60s. Yet hiking, it would be 70 one minute, raining  and cold the next, and then cloudy and freezing at the top of the summit. 

Check out my next post for some tips for your visit to Glacier National Park!