Summer trip to Glacier National Park

djsamuel wrote:

Am planning on going eventually (also from Florida). Is there a lot more on the west side in terms of hiking and scenery? Genuinely interested in what the differences are. May tie it in to a visit to the Grand Tetons and/or Yellowstone, so the west side would probably work best anyway.

The poster who said that the west side has more to offer may have been thinking about facilities rather than scenery or hiking opportunities. The west side is more developed (and usually, much more crowded). Park headquarters is there, as well as the largest Park campground. The area between Kalispell and West Glacier has more tourist facilities than the east side. Also, if you're coming from Yellowstone, the east side is closer and more easily accessible.

However, the east side has better scenery and far more hiking and camping opportunities. One reason is that there are more easily accessible areas on the east side. The western border of the park can't be very easily explored, as the roads up to Polebridge and beyond are pretty bad. If you CAN get up there, Bowman and Kintla Lakes are fantastically beautiful, peaceful spots (now featuring grizzly bears!).

In contrast, there are three easily accessible areas on the east side: Many Glacier, St. Mary, and Two Medicine. The last one, hardly anyone who isn't local knows about but it has some fantastic short hikes, great scenery, and it's QUIET. You can also get up to Waterton from the east side, whereas from the west side, you can't get into Canada at all.

I am presuming that you're comfortable with dry camping in the Park itself or at Forest Service campgrounds; otherwise, it's true that there are more megaslab full hookup parks on the west side. But I do believe that Chewing Blackbones (operated by the Blackfeet tribe) and East Glacier have full hookup parks. Possibly St. Mary (outside the park) as well.

There's another difference in the local topography. The Rockies slope upward from the west and then crest, like a wave, at the Continental Divide, which is much closer to the eastern than the western boundary of the park. As a result, the vistas from the east are more open and dramatic than those from the west. Many such views are absolutely breathtaking.

Finally, if there is weather coming in, it might be cloudy or rainy on the west side but it will probably be clear on the east side.