Glacier (west side) help....

[cardtarget]

Hey all, we'll be arriving in the afternoon to Glacier's west side in early July. We have two nights at St. Mary's on the east side booked, but want to explore the west side first.

I'm not seeing any reservable campgrounds over there. Would love some thoughts from the group on:

A) where to stay... (boondocking ok if you have a great spot)

B) how to get around Glacier from the west side (are there shuttles?) Should we go some of the way on the Going To The Sun road from the west side and do the rest from the East later?

C) great hikes to do with kids in Glacier (13, 11, 8). Probably around a 3 mile limit.

[HuckleberryHunt]

Agree about showing up early at Apgar early and seeing what opens up. There is constant turnover and it's first come first serve.

My wife made reservations for us out at Emery Bay campground on Hungry Horse reservoir. We stayed there the first night and then I got up early the next morning to drive the TV into Apgar. I got a great spot, paid my fee, and set up a tent and a couple chairs to show occupation, then I drove back out to Emery Bay and we had a nice breakfast and played in the water before hooking up and driving back to West Glacier. We ate a couple nights of National Forest campground fees, but it was not very much. We really enjoyed staying at Apgar and swimming/kayaking in the lake.

I will say that while I was setting up the placeholder tent I had a few people drive by and ask if I was leaving. By the time I was done it seemed like most of those who had been right behind me also looking for a spot had found one or arranged with someone who was leaving later to take theirs. FWIW

As for hikes and transportation, we took the shuttle one day to hike the Avalanche Lake hike, that was a nice hike with an 8 and 11 yo. We caught an early shuttle as it fills up fast.

For Logan Pass, we made a day trip (driving) and made a quick stop on our way to to St. Mary's. Parking is difficult most of the day, but found a spot and made a quick visit to the visitor's center and explored the grounds before having lunch and continuing on to St. Mary's. On the way back that evening it was still light, but the parking lot was nearly empty. We stopped and saw people hiking the Hidden Lake viewpoint trail, so grabbed our packs and made a fast hike up to the viewpoint and back. That was an awesome decision as we saw both sheep and goats on that hike that were right off the trail, but had to hoof it back to the car as it was starting to get dark (we were not the only ones out there though).

We did a couple other hikes, but those were the more memorable ones.

[HuckleberryHunt]

duplicate post

[4runnerguy]

Remember that "early July" probably means the week of the 4th of July, the busiest week of the busiest month of the year. So line up really early if you hope to get a spot.

There aren't many very short hikes at Glacier. As noted, the hike to the Hidden Lake Overlook is 3 miles RT. From the St. Mary's Falls TH, the hike to Virginia Falls is just over a mile RT. From Logan Pass, you could hike along the Highline Trail for a mile or two for some amazing views then return to the pass. Since it will be busy, take a good look at the free hikers shuttle to get around and realize you may wait for a couple of buses to go by before there's room. But parking at the trailheads and especially the top just gets completely packed out during the day. Some days, the lot at the top is full by 8:00 a.m.

[sam22]

Mountain meadows Rv park in Hungry Horse was recommended to me when I was looking for a spot on the west side so I booked in for a week in July.

[Addy15]

As many others have suggested, the West Glacier KOA is very nice. We had a great time there and would definitely go back.

As for hiking, there is a nice trail along Lake MacDonald in the Fish Creek area at the southwest end of the lake. We had a beautiful day there, just walking on the beach along the lake and not even on the trail. Not a lot of people there. Kind of a hidden treasure I guess you could say! 🙂 Avalanche Lake is probably a good hike for the kids. Highly recommend the hike to Hidden Lake from the Visitor Center at Logan Pass. BUT, get there very early in the morning or the parking will fill up. We arrived at 8:30 a.m. and the parking lot was already full. Either that, or wait until later in the afternoon when the crowds have thinned out. The Sun Point Nature Trail along St. Mary Lake to Baring Falls is also very nice.

[RAS43]

We stayed at North American RV Park which is just outside the west entrance. I made reservations, and even extended for a couple of days. This was in Sept. of 2016. It is a Passport America Park.

[patperry2766]

Glacier Campground

The KOA is nice, but pricey. Sure the kids would like it because there is a lot of things to do there..but do you really go to a place like Glacier to hang out at campground, unless it's in the park itself.

We couldn't stay at St Mary's because of a soft sided camper restriction, so the lady at Apgar told me about Two Medicines Campground....AWESOME campground.

The no reservations worked well for us, the park ranger told be to be there 6:30ish and just to start driving the park looking for signs that people are packing up. Had a lakeside campsite with about 15 minutes. We would go back to this campground again.

[NEOK]

We stayed at Glacier Peaks RV Campground about two years ago. It's an older Park but clean and we'll maintained with very nice on site management. The drive from Columbia Falls to the West entrance of Glacier isn't bad.

[stew47]

I have reservations at Rocky Mountain hi campground on west side

[rexlion]

I have stayed, about 6 years ago, at Glacier RV Resort CG about a half mile west of the entrance and it was fine. I had to go near the office for wifi. They might have improved it since then.

[LibertyMan]

There are several private campgrounds just outside of the west gate off of Hwy 2 that you can reserve. The KOA as mentioned above is one. You can pull up google maps and it will show several others. Only two ways to access the east side from the west. Going around the south side of the park to the east entrance (if your pulling your camper that is the best/only way). If your not pulling anything, going to the sun road is the best and prettiest way by far. As far as hiking goes, the east side has the better hikes, many of the good ones start from the Many Glacier Hotel and gift shop nearby. An easy one you can access from the west side, my favorite, is the high line trail. Your kids can walk a mile or two out and then back and see some spectacular views.

[dedmiston]

Two Hands wrote:
The KOA just outside the west entrance to the park is one of the best KOAs we have ever seen. We used our toad to drive the Going to the Sun road. We moved to the east side of the park by driving around the south side of the park and up to the east entrance and stayed at St. Mary Campground.

That KOA is amazing. We had fun sitting in the hot tub and comparing stories with other campers. We got some great tips that way.

[Ski_Pro_3]

Line up at the campground of your choice around 7am. At 9am they hand out the available ones open. We stayed there a week and every morning I'd see everyone in line get a camp spot. This was in August.

[Two_Hands]

The KOA just outside the west entrance to the park is one of the best KOAs we have ever seen. We used our toad to drive the Going to the Sun road. We moved to the east side of the park by driving around the south side of the park and up to the east entrance and stayed at St. Mary Campground.