East Side Or West Side Of Glacier

[scott]

We're headed up to Glacier National Park. Can't decide if we should stay on the east side of the park in the St Mary area, or the west side of the park. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[pineranch]

Depends on what you want!!! East, very little civilization. West side, Kalispell is close.
Mike

[Recumbent]

We just returned from visiting Glacier. We spent 2 nights at the KOA in St. Marys and then moved to West Glacier and spent 3 nights at the KOA there. We much prefer the west side. As Mike indicated there is not much on the east side, but we wanted to see the countryside along St. Hwy 287 and 89 and therefore traveled from Great Falls up to Browning and on to the east side. Watch for livestock on the roads in the reservation. We drove the Going To The Sun Road about 2 hours after they opened it for the season then back across that night in the dark after going up to Waterton. When we left we traveled south down along the lakes to I90 to see the country to the west and south.

[Fire5er]

West side for us too. We stay in Hungry Horse at Mountian Meadow RV Park & Campgrouns.

[PapaBeav]

We stayed at both sides a few yeas ago and would recommend both. Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta from the east side is a day trip must. One of the most beautiful places around, just make sure to bring your passport. If you are not going into Alberta then the west side would be the best.

[scott]

Thanks for the input, this helps a lot. The no civilization on the east side sounds good right now, but I suspect will get old pretty fast. Maybe we'll do like you Recumbent and start on the east and then go to the west side. How did you like the KOA's there?

[HamRad]

We've stayed on both sides of Glacier. The West side is the busier side of things. The East side less of everything but certainly beautiful. On the East side we stayed at the KOA. It was expensive when we stayed there a few years ago and has gotten even more expensive since. But the spaces were huge even if they were full of gopher holes. We'd probably stay at Johnson's RV park next time. On the West side we stayed at the Mountain Meadow RV park. That is where we would stay again. It is a beautiful park.

We also visited Waterton National Park in Canada. We did not stay in the park but at a commercial place just outside the park. Even though the CG in the park does not have full hook ups it is gorgeous and we would stay there if we visit again. Be sure and take the boat ride that takes you across the border. The day we took the trip it was absolutely beautiful. The lake was like a mirror. Most of the time there is a substantial wind that can cause some major waves.

You pretty much can't go wrong no matter which side you visit. It's all great! Enjoy. Dennis and Mary Kay

[dpilot]

Going to the Sun only with TV... Do notry w/coach...wondetful area to explore... More rv park choices on the W side ...good luck... Enjoy!!!!!!!

[scott]

Thanks dpilot. Hadn't planned on pulling the coach over the Going to Sun, but I appreciate you mentioning it just in case. I have been known to do some pretty dumb things, just not this time. LOL.

[Janet47]

We are heading to GNP on saturday..staying in Kalispell at Glacier Pines RV..for a week....then will head east...maybe we will see you all...safe trip...

[WaltandLynne]

West Glacier KOA is a very nice camp. We spent almost a week there several years ago and really enjoyed. The folks are very gracious and helpful.

[dpilot]

Scott, I used to live near there and many rvers tried to take their rigs... it made for some very interesting moments!!!!! Enjoy your trip...!!!!!

[mlh]

I cant even imagine someone taking their RV on the Going to the Sun Road. I'll bet that was interesting to say the least. O well takes all kinds.
Lynwood

[cbhughan]

We stayed on both sides last year in the middle of July. We prefer the west side. The Going to the Sun road had just opened up and we took the free bus to the top. The buses on the west side were run more efficiently and we used them to get to the trail heads. On the east side we drove up to Logan pass ourselves.

[scott]

Thanks for all the inputs. We opted for the West side and just arrived - beautiful! Tomorrow we head for the Going to the Sun road, without the Monty. I love this forum, so many great people with terrific suggestions. See ya'll down the road.

[Janet47]

The going to the sun road has a wait up to one halfhour at times...beautiful vistas, enjoy but be patient. the shuttle transit is pretty good if you want a flavor of the area. We are heading to the east side on Saturday...lots of visitors....

[Recumbent]

We liked the West side KOA, the owners are very nice and the property is well kept, one of the best KOAs.

[rving2us]

We also like the West Glacier KOA and found it to be a very good park. They treated us flatlanders with real western hospitality.

[onekla]

I agree with Pineranch. We were at the east side KOA 5 years ago for about 3 nights and would stay there again. There was another RV Park on the hill across the main highway but cannot make any recommendations for it. We liked the fact that there wasn't a lot of activity on the east side. We drove around to the west side to San-Suz-Ed RV Park and spent about 3 nights there. It was smaller, very quiet, lots of shade, had everything we needed including a laundry facility. I would definitely stay there again. The price was much less than KOA. The owner lady at San-Suz-Ed made home-made pies and they were very good! She gave us each a piece of pie-NO CHARGE. I offered my credit card when we checked in but she said she didn't need that until we checked out. I asked her if she was serious and if she had people that took advantage of that and drove off without paying and she said that wasn't a problem and if it did happen, she'd put their name on a board over the door so that everyone would know what they had done. We highly recommend them from our experience. These were just "good people". Kalispel, which has just about anything you need, is just up the road on the west side. Both sides have a lot to offer depending on what you like. Enjoy!

[illapah]

We have spent the past 7 summers in Glacier NP area. I could not do without the amenities of west side civilization. Short stays would be fine on the east side. We are heading back this coming 2013 summer.