Several years ago, when I was fat with PTO and salary, I joined the Sierra Club for a five-day Glacier National Park hiking trip. Others on the trip decided to take Amtrak, but I drove from Chicago to Glacier and spent an extra week exploring the Colorado National Parks. Our trip leaders had done this trip many times before and knew the best day hikes in Glacier National Park, as well as the best restaurants in East Glacier. This Glacier National Park itinerary is the perfect mix of hiking, sightseeing, and enjoying delicious food in nearby towns. If you have extra time, head over the border to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.

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Planning your Glacier National Park Itinerary

As you start to plan your hiking trip to Glacier National Park, it’s best to have a Glacier National Park map in front of you so you can maximize your time spent outdoors and minimize the time you spend in your car. With a good guidebook to Glacier National Park, you can easily pack your days with beautiful hikes packed with scenery and wildlife!

Did you know Montana has some of the best hot springs in the USA?

Glacier National Park is broken down into several areas that are clustered around visitor centers and lodging. The park brochure map is helpful for orienting yourself to different locations within the park.

• At the West Glacier entrance is the Apgar Visitor Center at the southwest end of Lake McDonald.
• At the other end of the lake is the Lake McDonald area
• The Logan Pass Visitor Center sits at the summit of Going to the Sun Road
• The Rising Sun area sits along the northern shore of Saint Mary Lake
• The Saint Mary Visitor Center is at the northern end of Saint Mary Lake
• Coming from the east side, there is the Many Glacier area
• At the southeast end of the park near East Glacier is the Two Medicine area

Best Hikes in Glacier National Park

Glacier Park has over 700 miles of trails, with an amazing assortment of day hikes and backpacking trails. In our five-day itinerary, we hit some of the best day hikes in Glacier National Park, and still barely scratched the surface of the options. It can be overwhelming planning which Glacier hikes to do, and you also have to be flexible because some trails get closed for various reasons, including bear activity. Gulp! Normally, I don’t mind solo hiking, but not in grizzly bear country! I was thankful to have a group to hike with on this trip!

Don’t forget these hiking essentials!

Lake McDonald Area Hikes

From the Avalanche Creek picnic area and campground, I highly recommend each of these hikes:

• Trail of the Cedars is a 0.7-mile boardwalk trail through what feels like a rainforest – lots of moss and cool cedar trees. Not at all what I expected to see in Montana!
• I thought the trail to Avalanche Lake was one of the best hikes in Glacier National Park. You just continue on from Trail of the Cedars and follow Avalanche Creek to the lake. The total hike is just under six miles round-trip, and the lake is a beautiful place to have a picnic lunch.

Logan Pass Hikes

• Hidden Lake Overlook is less than 3 miles round-trip from Logan Pass to the scenic overlook of Hidden Lake. This is one of the best places to see mountain goats in Glacier National Park!
• If you want to hike Hidden Lake, it’s an additional 1.2 miles each way from the Overlook.
• Hike the Loop Trail (4 miles) or the Highline Trail (7.6 miles) to the Granite Park Chalet, a backcountry lodge for hikers. You’ll need advance reservations if you want to stay overnight.

Saint Mary Lake Hikes

Continuing along the Going to the Sun road, you’ll reach the southwest end of Saint Mary Lake. Don’t forget to stop at the Jackson Glacier Overlook on the way! It’s one of the few glaciers remaining in the park that you can see from the road.

The trail to St. Mary Falls and Virginia Falls is just under three miles round-trip and well worth the hike! There are lots of spots around Saint Mary Lake to enjoy a picnic lunch and enjoy the views of Wild Goose Island in the lake.

Medicine Lake Hiking Trails

The Two Medicine area has some of the best hikes in Glacier National Park, and you can also take a boat tour across the lake. The Two Medicine Lake boat tour is $27.80 for adults, and reservations are recommended. We saw lots of wildlife from the boat, including a black bear! At the other end of the lake, there are some fantastic hiking trails.

• Your boat ticket includes an optional guided hike to Twin Falls, which is just one mile each way
• After Twin Falls, the trail splits, and you can hike to two different lakes:
  • Upper Two Medicine Lake is 4.8 miles round-trip from the boat dock
  • No Name Lake is about 5.4 miles round-trip from the boat dock
• Aster Falls is another beautiful hike in the area; it is 3.5 miles round-trip, and we were lucky to spot a moose basking in a marshy area off the trail.
• The trail to Running Eagle Falls is just over 1/2-mile each way to a cool waterfall that flows through a hole in a rock wall.  I guess at higher water levels it also runs over the top. This is a nice, easy hike in Glacier National Park.

Many Glacier Hiking Trails

Set on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake, Many Glacier area has some excellent hiking trails as well. We had planned to hike to Iceberg Lake, which is 9.3-miles round-trip, but the trail was closed due to bear activity. Instead, we hiked part of the trail that leads to Ptarmigan Falls, and Ptarmigan Tunnel, which is 10.7 miles round-trip. We actually saw a ptarmigan along the trail, and a mama grizzly with her cubs on the road nearby!

Glacier National Park Lodges & Camping

There are six lodges or motels within the park: Many Glacier Hotel, Cedar Creek Lodge, Swiftcurrent Motor Inn & Cabins, Rising Sun Motor Inn & Cabins, Lake McDonald Lodge, and the Village Inn at Apgar. These spots open up for reservations 13 months in advance, so you will need to plan far in advance to snag a room! Glacier National Park campgrounds are also an option, although you won’t catch me camping in grizzly country. Most campgrounds have a mixture of reservable sites and first-come, first-served sites. If you are coming during peak season, you’ll definitely want to reserve ahead. This Big Wild World has great tips for Glacier National Park camping!

Browse Glacier Hotels at Booking.com

Where to Stay Near Glacier National Park

Staying near Glacier National Park is an option, too. You’ll want to determine which Glacier National Park trails you’ll be hiking and from there, decide which side of the park fits best with your itinerary. We stayed at the Mountain Pine Motel for the week; a really cute, basic little place within walking distance of everything in East Glacier.

Check hotel prices in East Glacier Park, Montana

Where to Eat in East Glacier

This is a short list of the places we enjoyed while visiting Glacier National Park. Our trip leaders have narrowed down the list to these favorites, after many visits to the area. I think Huckleberry pie was the determining factor at each spot, as it was a big topic of conversation all week!

•  Serrano’s – Mexican restaurant in East Glacier. It opens at 5:00 and people start lining up at 4:00.
• The Ptarmigan Dining Room at Many Glacier Hotel. If you’re not staying at this cool lodge, then at least plan a meal in their dining room.
• Whistle Stop Cafe was our final dinner in East Glacier. It’s always nice to walk home after dinner, and our group voted their huckleberry pie the best of the trip!

Best Time to Visit Glacier National Park

We visited in the first week of September, which I think is usually the best month to travel anywhere. However, there was snow on the day we arrived (Labor Day) which quickly melted and didn’t impact our trip. I think the cooler weather helps keeps the crowds at bay, so I’m OK with chilly weather and it’s better for hiking anyways. With high mountain passes, Glacier is only open and accessible a few months of the year, so you will likely see crowds no matter when you visit. You might also consider combining a Western National Parks road trip to include Rocky Mountain National Park or Yellowstone National Park.

Getting to Glacier National Park

Glacier is one of the more remote parks in the Lower 48, and it’s often combined with Yellowstone and Grand Teton for a more robust National Park trip. Although there is a park shuttle for hikers, you will definitely want to have a car for getting around Glacier National Park. There are three ways to get to this part of Montana:

• Fly directly into Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell. This is about 30 minutes from the West Glacier entrance to the park.
• Amtrak’s Empire Builder runs from Seattle to Chicago and stops in East Glacier, just outside of the Glacier Park Lodge. It also stops in West Glacier and Essex. This route is seasonal and runs from April through October.
• You may choose to drive to Glacier, either from your hometown or from an airport hub in the region.
  • Calgary, Canada is about four hours from Glacier
  • Seattle Tacoma Airport is about 8 1/2 hours from Glacier
  • Salt Lake City Airport is 9 1/2 hours from Glacier
  • If you are planning a Montana road trip, don’t miss these things to do in Billings, Montana!