Glacier National Park

vermilye wrote:
If you visit the west side of the park, be sure to drive your toad or tow vehicle out to Polebridge Mercantile. Great Cinnamon Rolls & Sticky Buns.

X-2, we stopped on the way up to, & on the way back from Kintla.
The only problem I have with their bake goods, they don't last long. :B

If you visit the west side of the park, be sure to drive your toad or tow vehicle out to Polebridge Mercantile. Great Cinnamon Rolls & Sticky Buns.

A few comments -

1) the Duck Lake road is quite a bit quicker in the summer when the traffic is higher.

2) the east side has far less amenities than the west side (as others have mentioned).

3) the east side will be cooler, smokier (if there are fires) and have more wind.

Can you give us a few more details about what you want to do and some other info (do you have kids, like to golf, hike etc)? We spend about 5 weeks down there every summer (on the west side) and have a pretty good idea as to what there is to do in the area.

Thanks

Definitly gas up in Browning, do your grocery shopping and then take MT 464 to St. Mary's.

As a few have mentioned, taking Duck Lake Road (MT-464) out of Browning is definitely the easiest way but not the only way. The current shortest (by 12 miles) and fastest (just by 4 minutes) way is to take the Starr School Road from Browning to US 89 and then US 89 into St. Mary. This route has many 25-45 mph curves and a 5 mile downgrade as you enter St. Mary but is very doable if you take your time and have excellent braking. To get to Starr School Road, you make a left at the Cenex station as you are leaving Browning. This will connect with US 89 north of the MT-49 junction.

I am not sure I would want to take our coach into St. Mary this way, even with exhaust brakes, but we did leave St Mary going the opposite direction towards Browning and enjoyed the ride. I bring this up as that is the preferred way to reach Browning from St. Mary if you are not driving or pulling your RV but just going into Browning for groceries.

Unless they have completely repaired the road, US 89 out of Browning is currently under construction and nothing but a mud path for six miles as you leave Browning. That is the way many GPSs will route you!

Sure, I have done it a few times and people do it all the time; Hwy 2 to Browning and then 464 as mentioned. You cannot drive the Going The Sun Road with your rig.

Is it not recommended to go from West Glacier to East Glacier with my 30 foot Fiver?

Jason

KOA on west side is 4 miles from the entrance; many other RV places closer. Just depends on your definition of "right outside". :-)

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Warning we were going from West to East Glacier on Highway 2 when we saw a signs saying St. Mary to the left on Highway 49 WRONG can not remember what the length restriction was but the sign was after we were on the road and no place to turn around. Took my time and made it but was very glad we were not any longer than we were.

You may be talking about this, a reply to a post I did several months back on routes to St Mary and Two Medicine - posting showing pictures on height and length restrictions. Also note that I was originally asking about avoiding the 13' underpass by coming the opposite way.

JKwock wrote:
Thank you for all the input. Does anyone know how long it takes to go from the west side to the east side? I like the west, my wife likes the east. Keep the suggestions coming because I am absorbing all the info.

Jason

Taking the best route (see below) the travel distance from West Glacier to Saint Mary is 110 miles. We drove it this summer in just over 2 hours.

Best route: US 2, of course, out of West Glacier. When you get to US 89 in Browning, turn right, away from Saint Mary. In about half a mile, turn left onto Montana 464, which will run into US 89 north of Saint Mary. Turn left on US 89. This route is much better than taking US 89 from Browning to Saint Mary.

BTW, the length restriction of Montana 49 is 21 feet. But the restriction is really after the Two Medicine turnoff.

Tom