Glacier National and Banff

ULTRAGOLFER wrote:
We are planning on 3 to 4 nights each location and like to hike

INFO

Check with the nearest ranger/park info station about bear activity BEFORE you start your hike. Hiking trails will be open one moment and closed the instant bear activity is reported on the trail. August and September is when the berries are being gobbled by the bears as they prep for hibernation. Learn the difference between a griz and black bears (Black bears can be blond, cinnamon, brown and black in color.) There can be bears on ANY of the hiking trails no matter how close to buildings or parking areas.

Take going-to-the sun road to Logan Pass - To help reduce congestion, vehicle size restrictions are in effect. Vehicles, and vehicle combinations, longer than 21 feet (including bumpers) or wider than 8 feet (including mirrors), are prohibited between Avalanche Campground and the Rising Sun picnic area parking. Vehicle and vehicle combinations over 10 feet in height may have difficulty driving west from Logan Pass to the Loop, due to rock overhangs. Stock trucks and trailers are able to access Packers Roost on the west, and Siyeh Bend on the east.(finding a parking place might be a challenge so go as early as you can)

High Line Trail ( Garden Wall) - from Logan Pass hike out to Haystack butte,(2 hrs out and 2 hrs back) have lunch and come back the way you came.
High Line - Garden Wall Trail what you should know is that the trail is mostly flat but very narrow in one place... sheer drop to the road below... there's a chain covered in green garden hose for you to hang onto if you need it. I loved this hike. Gives you unbelieveable views. Haystack butte has sheep and mountain goats on it. Take your binoculars.

Just hiking behind the Logan Pass visitor center is very nice as well.

From Many glacier parking lot... Red Rock Falls trail is very nice and if you hike at least an hour out, it starts to gain a little elevation. You'll see moose in the lakes below. We saw a moose grazing right beside the trail. Again, check the bear activity before you start out. (Late afternoon there is a good chance you'll see bear on the ridges above Many Glacier parking area.)


If you want to see scenery without being too close to animals... take a boat ride..Two Medicine Lake has a nice boat ride.
Two Medicine

St. Mary's Lake, has boat rides, too.

And on the Canadian side: Waterton Lake to Goat Haunt (my favorite).Goat haunt - via Waterton Lake - Canada