Anybody been to Glacier National Park?

[Bwana]

Looking into where to go for a family vacation this summer and the choices seem to have boiled down to the Jackson Hole, Wyoming area with a bit of Yellowstone thrown in or Glacier National Park.

The wife and I have been the Jackson Hole route during our honeymoon and I shot my elk in Grand Teton National Park on another trip but the kids have never been there. As for Glacier, none of us have ever gone.

Any thoughts or preferences?

[Gunther]

Been to both. Like Glacier way better. Go to Many Glacier, the park on top of The Going to the Sun Road, hike Grinnell, Iceberg Lake etc. Then at night go towards this little pond not far from the lodge with a beverage and a snack and watch the meeses feed. Watch out for tourists though, when I was there a couple idjits kept getting between mama moose and her kid. I told 'em if they was gonna do that, do it away from me so I didn't get stomped as an unintended consequence. I was informed moose are not dangerous. Learned something new I guess....

[Sunshine]

Been through Glacier National Park, by motorcycle.

We went across the top part, on the way home, and stayed at the KOA Camp on the West side.

http://m.koa.com/campgrounds/west-glacier/photos/


http://www.nationalparkcentralreservations.com/hotel/west-glacier-koa

They are family friendly and have a laundry-room for washing clothes.

There's cabins, tent areas and Rv areas.

They always had a big family meal and ice cream social.

If you get up in that area, there was a small place that sold the best homemade pies.
It's on the East side.

Ask around and the locals can tell you where it's at, if they are still open.
Had the best huckleberry pie!

Another local favorite is the Park Cafe in St. Mary's on Highway 89. (3147 hwy 89, Saint Mary, MT 59417. 1-(406)-732-4482.)

Expect to wait an hour or longer on weekends as weary hikers and local residents alike crowd the small restaurant for their famous pies (those in the know go early for the fresh strawberry pie, which usually sells out before dinnertime). The other menu items are many and of good quality. Mid price range. No reservations. Park Cafe closes for the off-season (mid-September). [10]


http://www.parkcafe.us/aboutus.php



Here's some great information about Glacier National Park.


http://wiki.travel.com/en/Glacier_National_Park

[jb]

Been there with the wife, beautiful place, you can't see it in a couple of days, maybe a week.

[Bwana]

I have an email in to the KOA, any other suggestions on where to stay? Not looking for anything fancy as we will only be there to sleep but do appreciate clean. If a kitchen or grill is available great but if we can bring our own grill that is more then fine so a cabin would be more then fine.

Tried making some reservations at any of the places in Glacier and they were all booked. The only one that showed up on the reservation hotline was something like 20 miles from the park entrance.

[yellowk9]

The wife and I have been the Jackson Hole route during our honeymoon and I shot my elk in Grand Teton National Park on another trip but the kids have never been there.

You can elk hunt in Grand Teton NP? I've been there, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, etc. I know they have some kind of elk refuge around that area. I had no clue one could hunt in National Parks (at least not the highly visible ones like those). I think there are places in the Buffalo National River where one can hunt via an agreement with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

[Gunther]

Stayed in the cabins by a lodge right in the park had to go a few yards to shit/shower. Can't remember if there were grills available, there were no kitchens. By the time wife and I were done hiking all I wanted to do was have someone else cook for me and then take a walk.

[Bwana]

YK9 - yes you can hunt elk in that park and up until good ol' North Dakota pushed the issue it was the only NP where you could. Don't quote me but I THINK the park land was donated or sold cheap by the Rockafeller family but one of the stipulations being that they allowed elk hunting or at least that is the story I heard. Here in ND they had an overpopulation issue with elk in Theodore Roosevelt NP where the herd had grown to in excess of 900 animals while the target population was something like 150-200. The Park Service proposed paying sharpshooters and/or using a helicopter to aid in eliminating some critters at a fairly high cost but thanks to some real pushing from folks around here, they initiated a lottery system and in 2 years public folks were able to bring the population in check.

As for a place to stay it looks like the Missus found a quaint little sleeping cabin about 7 or 8 miles from the park's west entrance as everything else appears to be booked solid that is either in or closer to the park.