Idaho and Montana Experts Advice

KO wrote:
Long story short. I made reservations for Glacier National Park 27 Jul - 2 Aug. I was planning on going to Banff next but never heard back on my reservation request in Calgary - so I thought I was out of luck.

Well, Calgary reservations came thru and now I have reservations 7-11 Aug.

Question - What to do see/do between 2 Aug and 7 Aug? I have never been to this area so a complete novice.

LUCKY MAN - just be sure the generator works and you will be fine - you will be in the middle of Eye Candy - just talk with the Campground Host to find other spots that you may need, generally they are a good source for local Info.

With only 5 days to get between you will likely come back and see what you missed on the was Out/South. So much to see and never enough time.

Best of Luck,

Depending on the size of your RV, go to Priest Lake. It'll take you less than a day to travel from one to the other. It's a beautiful drive and once you get there, very peaceful. Our rig did not fit at the Indian Creek Unit, so we had to spend the night in the overflow parking lot. Years ago when we had a 22' TT, we had no problem finding a spot.

It will all be new and exciting to visit. You do not need a lot of guidance. YOur days will be filled with new adventures. Bring warm clothes and make sure your furnace works. Expect rain in Alberta.

Wild idea -- head north from Glacier on the east side of the park and check out this place:

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park blog post

PLPP is well worth several days of camping.

Then cut north on the Kananaskis Highway and catch the road to Calgary.

profdant139 wrote:
Wild idea -- head north from Glacier on the east side of the park and check out this place:

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park blog post

PLPP is well worth several days of camping.

Then cut north on the Kananaskis Highway and catch the road to Calgary.

Great pictures and a beautiful area. What I always look for in blog posts like this are pictures of the camping/boondocking area so that I get a better feel for it. I know I can probably google it, but it's nice to see it all in one place.

Have you got Waterton portion of Glacier on your route? Should add!
There is a Buffalo jump exhibit, I believe near Fort Macleod. Hands-bashed in Buffalo jump.

KO wrote:
Long story short. I made reservations for Glacier National Park 27 Jul - 2 Aug. I was planning on going to Banff next but never heard back on my reservation request in Calgary - so I thought I was out of luck.

Well, Calgary reservations came thru and now I have reservations 7-11 Aug.

Question - What to do see/do between 2 Aug and 7 Aug? I have never been to this area so a complete novice.

I see many things missing here! Calgary is a pretty good ride from Banff and all it has to offer including Lake Louise and some great trails such as Johnston Canyon. Getting a reservation inside Banff at Tunnel Mountain is ideal but even Canmore is much closer and has some decent RV Parks. A trip to Banff is incomplete without a trip up the Icefield Parkway to Jasper and a couple of nights in that area. If you are coming from the East side of Glacier, a few nights in Waterton National Park is also in order.

You may want to peruse our blog starting in Columbia Falls, MT to see what we did three years ago.

A previous question about routes from Glacier to Banff

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29579880

Where are you staying in Glacier? East or west side?

Starting on the east side (around St Marys) you could go north, see Waterton and work your way along the front range to Hwy 1 - east to Calgary, west to Banff.

But if starting on the west side, you could go north on US93/BC93, and the cross the Rockies to Alberta at a couple of places. There are some good BC Provincial Parks in this area.

You could also hang around US2 in MT/ID before heading north into BC

OP here. Awesome ideas and interesting reads. I ended up planning on going up to Jasper and got reservations in Hinton. We will be doing the Glacier thing up there.

Thanks for all the advice.