Glacier NP tours

kknowlton wrote:
I guess a lot of people felt as you do, katleman, as there is no longer a red bus tour offered to Waterton. We had originally planned to go to Glacier last year and I had booked both tours (that one and Going-to-the-Sun) but this year noticed the Waterton one wasn't mentioned. When I called about the reservation, I was told they don't offer them any longer.

I think that the Waterton NP option being discontinued had more to do with US/Canada border crossing issues than people not wanting to go there. Having been there myself, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to see it. I can imagine that most folks would want to spend more there rather than just a short drive through.

We are taking the Red Bus Tour on our first day in Glacier to get overview of the park,then we will have four days to do our own thing.

Lauren wrote:
The red bus tours are nice but they do have a limitation - you are on THEIR schedule, not yours. You might keep that in mind. We prefer to drive so we can be on our time and, yes, also take our dog.

Yep, that is why it's called a tour :-)

In our visits, we did not have a toad, so the choices were the free shuttles or a Red Bus. The Red Buses are from the 1930s and are more like a stretch car than a bus, if you take a look at their photos, you will see what I mean.

Even if I had toad, I would still consider a Red Bus tour, as its informational, its a convertible, and just plain fun to ride in a vintage vehicle. You can take your toad and stop anywhere you please afterwards.

There are few pull outs on the narrow portion of GTTSR, so there are sights and views you will miss that you can see in a convertible, like a Red Bus.

But Lauren is right, you won't have time to hike at the pass or take a pet with you. But we did have a number of 15 minute stops. One was a bit longer as the driver took us on a short hike.

The red bus tours are nice but they do have a limitation - you are on THEIR schedule, not yours. You might keep that in mind. We prefer to drive so we can be on our time and, yes, also take our dog.

I guess a lot of people felt as you do, katleman, as there is no longer a red bus tour offered to Waterton. We had originally planned to go to Glacier last year and I had booked both tours (that one and Going-to-the-Sun) but this year noticed the Waterton one wasn't mentioned. When I called about the reservation, I was told they don't offer them any longer.

cindik wrote:
Hey, Floridacamper, nice to hear from you! We are doing well, hope you and family are too. Yeah, your pics look just like mine, haha!

Is your son still in the service, do yall still camp? We bought a cabin in the Smokies on the NC side near the Nanahala Gorge looked around Townsend, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg but got caught in a massive traffic jam on Memorial day between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and decided that the NC side would be better. We now live in PC but plan on selling and moving fulltime to NC and see if we can handle the winters and if we cant our son lives in Tampa so we will do our winters there, maybe buy a small condo or more likely a small house or something just for the winters.

I've done a Red Bus tour twice, once from Apgar and again from Many Glacier.

Would highly recommend it, espcially on a day where they can roll back the top.

I was lucky enough to ride shotgun on both tours, which is quite a bonus.

Not sure whether its worth it to take the version that goes to Waterton. While I encourage such a side trip, there isn't any advantage to taking a Red Bus up there.

Hey, Floridacamper, nice to hear from you! We are doing well, hope you and family are too. Yeah, your pics look just like mine, haha!

Hey Cindik, how are you?
I see you are still on the boards here. I also see your pics went away like mine lol

My Son works at Glacier on the west side. I was lucky enough to go visit with him last August. Highly recommend the red bus tours. We took the Crown of the Continent leaving from the Apgar transit on the west side and returning there. The tour I think was 8 hours and worth every penny. Glacier is a beautiful park, and if you like to hike or not, you will love it! My Son hiked around 400 miles in Glacier last summer, and still has not completed his list of things to see.