Hi! ... Our plans are set for our upcoming trip to Glacier. We are flying into Spokane on June 8 and will be staying in Whitefish for the first 6 nights. We will then be moving to the west side (inside the park) and staying at the Many Glacier Hotel for 2 nights. It%26#39;s my wife and 2 kids (ages 3 and 7). I am currently trying to get a little better feel with laying out or itinerary. I guess my biggest concern is GTTS road. I know there is a slim to none chance that it will be completely open. I think we are ok with that. We are hoping that the trade off is less crowds, more snow, and maybe a little better chance for viewing wildlife. Since we have 2 young children, we opted for staying in Whitefish (Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge) so they can have their evening dose of Spongebob (wink). We are not campers, so we opted a little more for local amenities. I am hoping our 2 days at Many Glacier will be the icing on the cake at the end of our trip. We would love to do some whitewater rafting. From what I see, there are a couple ';calm'; options that are available for kids of all ages. We also want to do lots of hiking/walking, but we would be after the shorter hikes and definitely not the 5 or 10 mile variety. Based on these comments, I would love any recommendations for ';must do%26#39;s'; for a trip this time frame in June. I hate to ask, but do you think our hearts are going to be broken with the number of roads not open or will there still be plenty to do and see? Is there a scientific 1% chance that the GTTS road would be completely open if weather was accommodating the next few weeks? Any and all comments are greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Rob
Early / Mid June Trip
The road across the park has opened a few times by early June, but it is hard to say. You can watch the progress being made at www.nps.gov and then go to Glacier and you will see the link. The progress being made was good till last week or so when they had significant snowfall. It was my understanding that the winter had really not been too bad. If the road is closed you should be able to access the Avalanche area on the west side. You can do the Trail of Cedars or past that to Avalanche Lake if the trail is clear and the kids feel like it. There is rafting on the west side, but I%26#39;m not familiar with any of the companies. In Many Glacier walk the trail to Red Rock Falls (near Swiftcurrent) to at least Fishercap Lake. It is less than one mile roundtrip and an easy trail. This would be a good chance for the kids to see wildlife as most mornings or afternoons you can find a moose or two there. Also take the boat (I think they will be operating starting June 6) and spend an afternoon at Grinnell Lake. You should be able to see some of the Two Medicine area also. Running Eagle Falls is a very short walk. With six days in Whitefish you may want to find other activities if you can%26#39;t make it all the way across the park. Probably a couple of days if you aren%26#39;t hiking a lot will be enough. We don%26#39;t mind going to the park and repeating some activities if we can%26#39;t access what we planned due to bear activity or weather, but the kids may not like that.
Early / Mid June Trip
Also look at the slide show on the Glacier page. Since you have not been to Glacier, this will give you an idea of how much is involved to open the road. It is truly amazing the work the crews do.
Many thanks Hikes!
Based on the update from yesterday, is this average or below average in terms of progress for this time of year?
www.nps.gov/glac/parknews/news09-15.htm
It seems they may be a little ahead of schedule. It is hard for me to remember, all I really remember is last year when there was a ton of snow and late season snow. I think it was July 1 when the road opened.
This was an average snow year for Glacier, late spring is always iffy and more snow can arrive anytime. Seems like normal opening (mid-june) for this year, until it changes............Snow likely this week.
Early in the year the rafting can be very cold and fast, may be a bit much for the ages. There is a park on the north side of hwy 2 as you drive between Columbia Falls and Glacier that has a number of attractions for kids, also a ';drive thru wildlife park'; that may provide options for you.
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