Glacier National Park is one of the most beautiful places in the United States. I was pleasantly surprised at just how beautiful our last-minute vacation destination turned out to be.
In January of 2020 I had booked our second trip to Banff National park in Alberta, Canada. Then, we all know what happened, COVID-19 decided to interrupt the entire world. However, since we were not scheduled to leave for Banff until the last week of September, I was confident that things would be fine by then, and our vacation wouldn’t be interrupted. Little did I know how wrong I was.
As we grew closer to September, I was realizing that we were not going to Banff, and I re-booked our vacation. I scheduled us to visit the coast of Maine. Then, just nine days before we were set to leave for Maine, I had an epiphany and re-booked everything for Glacier National Park! I know, I must sound crazy, and I may even be a little bit!
One good thing that COVID has brought is the ability to change your flights without penalty! I got to work re-booking everything, and in less than two hours I had our flights, rental car, accommodations and even activities booked!
We flew into Glacier International Airport in Kalispell, MT. I can say it is the smallest international airport that we have ever seen, but we were off the plane, baggage in hand, and car rented in less than thirty minutes from landing. So, no complaints from me!
I am extremely glad that I pre-booked everything. I had previously heard stories about how busy GNP gets during the summer, but I never expected there to be so many people still visiting in this off season. Rental car companies and hotels were sold out.
We decided to break our stay up into two different locations. Our first accommodations were located in West Glacier, which is about forty-five minutes from the airport. We found the greatest historical hotel called the Belton Chalet. If you love old places, then this is for you! The 110-year-old hotel had all of the wonderfulness that comes with something this old, the smells, the creaking floors, and just the to think of all that those walls had seen in their 110 years made it all kind of magical. Everyone at the hotel was so accommodating, there was fresh coffee every morning, and the best part was there is no TV in the bedrooms! I’m not sure if this is somewhere that I would bring young children, but for couples traveling this place was amazing. My favorite part was the railroad that was located just across the street from our room. If you would be disturbed by a train passing at 3am, you may not want to stay here, we however love the sound of a passing train.
One thing everyone must do when visiting Glacier National Park is to make the drive up Going-To-The-Sun-Road. By far the most beautiful road I’ve ever driven. The road starts in West Glacier and takes you up the mountain, presenting you with an even more amazing view with each turn and bend in the road. At least every mile or so along the way, there are spaces to pull over and take in the spectacular views. Your drive will peak just over halfway, at the Logan Pass parking lot, and from there you will start to your decent to the last stretch of the road.
Going-To-The-Sun-Road is 50 miles long, but because the last six miles would normally take you through the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, those last six miles were closed due to COVID-19, and reservations nationwide being locked down. We couldn’t pass all the way through to East Glacier when we visited GNP, so be sure you check the status of the road (you can do so by visiting the GNP website) before making the drive. Knowing before you go will ensure that you have plenty of gas, food, and water, to get you through the day. We took a good part of the day to drive this as it was 88 miles round trip.
Because of COVID-19 and because of us visiting Glacier National Park just as they were beginning to shut down for the season, we had difficulty finding places to eat. Most of the restaurants in West Glacier were closed during our visit. We did however discover a hidden gem, a café located in a gas station in West Glacier, Glacier Highland Restaurant. This was the best gas station food we had ever had! We were also just grateful that something nearby was open.
After three nights at the Belton Chalet, we moved to the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Whitefish Kalispell. We truly enjoyed our stay in West Glacier, but we were happy to be back in a more modern environment! This again was a hit. The hotel was extremely clean, everyone very nice and accommodations could not have been better. We were able to wash our clothes, our room had a studio kitchen so we could keep a few groceries, reheat food, and cook if needed. Breakfast was served every morning with coffee, juice, and milk, and there was a heated pool and an amazing hot tub that we took advantage of every night of our stay here!
We fell in love with the small town of Whitefish! We were able to catch the last farmers market of the season on our first night in Whitefish. We grabbed dinner off one of the fantastic food trucks at the market Fork in the Road Eats, and we were not disappointed. We found a local coffee shop, Wild Coffee Company, that we enjoyed every day for the rest of our trip. They had great coffee, delicious breakfast and an amazing juice/smoothie bar. After all the hiking we had been doing the fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies were so refreshing.
The nine days that we spent in Montana were much needed after everything that had happened in our life over the past year. Parting was difficult, but knowing we will be returning soon made it all the better. The best part about the entire trip was being able to disconnect from our phones and internet, and to connect with nature.