Dropping Camper at KOA campground?
On our road trip one of our destinations is glacier National Park. Because we were so late in planning this trip, we are staying outside of the park at a nearby KOA. Not our first choice but for our n...
Forum Discussion
We did Going To The Sun road last September. We stayed at Glacier Peaks Campground in Columbia Falls (highly recommended). Although there are many curves, and the 21 foot length is a concern, the overhanging rocks make the 10' height limit a must! We rented a car for the day near the airport for the drive through the park.
We entered the park just as it was beginning to get light. Didn't have to pay as the gates weren't staffed yet. It was great for a bit, very little traffic. But within a half hour, it was bumper to bumper. Forget stopping to take pictures, any pull off was full of cars. The pictures we have were taken by my wife holding her camera out the window as we drove past. We stopped at Logan Pass, about 7:30 am as I remember. There were a few parking spots left. We hiked the Hidden Lake Trail, which was beautiful, passing hundreds of our best friends on the way back out. The buses had arrived. When we got back to our car, the parking lot was full, and many, many cars were circling the lot waiting for someone to leave. This was 9 or 9:30am.
I don't remember much of the rest of the drive as my focus was on all the traffic and idiots pulling in and out and blocking traffic waiting for a parking spot.
As you can gather, it wasn't a very good experience. Was it beautiful? Absolutely. Did I get to enjoy the drive? No way. Glad we checked the box, won't happen again.
The popular US National Parks need to do something different. Lottery system?
I'd hate it, but I don't know if there's any other solution. We had a similar experience at Yellowstone and Grand Teton on the same trip. Getting to be way to many of us Boomers on the road anymore.
We entered the park just as it was beginning to get light. Didn't have to pay as the gates weren't staffed yet. It was great for a bit, very little traffic. But within a half hour, it was bumper to bumper. Forget stopping to take pictures, any pull off was full of cars. The pictures we have were taken by my wife holding her camera out the window as we drove past. We stopped at Logan Pass, about 7:30 am as I remember. There were a few parking spots left. We hiked the Hidden Lake Trail, which was beautiful, passing hundreds of our best friends on the way back out. The buses had arrived. When we got back to our car, the parking lot was full, and many, many cars were circling the lot waiting for someone to leave. This was 9 or 9:30am.
I don't remember much of the rest of the drive as my focus was on all the traffic and idiots pulling in and out and blocking traffic waiting for a parking spot.
As you can gather, it wasn't a very good experience. Was it beautiful? Absolutely. Did I get to enjoy the drive? No way. Glad we checked the box, won't happen again.
The popular US National Parks need to do something different. Lottery system?
I'd hate it, but I don't know if there's any other solution. We had a similar experience at Yellowstone and Grand Teton on the same trip. Getting to be way to many of us Boomers on the road anymore.
