Glacier national park - Montana Owners Club

Debbie Asher · 07-15-2013, 06:02 AM

Has anyone been to Glacier Naitonal Park and where did you stay? Could you drive around everywhere? I believe my dad was telling me at one time that some of the roads are real tight, but he had a motorhome.

padredw · 07-15-2013, 06:36 AM

We are at Glacier National Park right now. Yesterday we drove over "Going to the Sun Road" in our pickup. We are staying in Hungry Horse, outside the park in one of the nicest RV parks we have ever stayed in: Mountain Meadow. There are many parks nearby. There are also some campgrounds inside the National Park, but I am not familiar with them.

There is NO WAY you could tow a trailer or take a motor home over Going to the Sun. The length limit is 21' and width is 8'. There is some road construction going on, but the delay for us was less than 5 minutes.

I'll be glad to answer any specific questions if it would help.

I would highly recommend a visit Here are some scenes from our drive yesterday:

http://dw4u.net/Glacier/Glacier.html

Yamaha_Mama · 07-15-2013, 07:01 AM

Wow, those photos are gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing. Definately a place on our 'bucket list!!!'

**Carl n Susan** · 07-15-2013, 07:12 AM

Debbie: we were in Glacier in late June just after the Road to the Sun opened up. You can not take a RV over that road. The booklet says no vehicles over 21 feet in length and 8' in width are allowed. Our Crew Cab is 21' 9" and is likely the same size as yours. But we (actually two of us with CC Long Bed trucks) drove the road and nobody said boo. We even saw three duallies on the road. It wasn't crowded when we were there which may explain why we were able to get through. All the rest of the roads in the area are doable in a truck. We covered well over 600 miles just driving around the Glacier area.

We too stayed at Mountain Meadows (MM) in Hungry Horse. There are lots of parks in the area but they fill up quick. I drove through the KOA and it was nice, but has too many amenities ($$$) for what we need. Mountain Meadows is much more secluded then the KOA with trees. Satellite reception is a challenge if you have a roof mount. One thing to be aware of about MM. If you have to leave early, there are no refunds. It doesn't matter why you are leaving - no exceptions. One of our companions had to cancel at the last minute. They expected to pay for the first night and a cancellation fee. They were not pleased to learn they were charged for the entire stay. The policy is highlighted in red on the web site and in the confirmation email but sometimes you skip over that stuff. We would stay at MM again.

Recumbent · 07-15-2013, 08:31 AM

We stayed at prefer the KOA in West Glacier in June of 2012. A good CG and close to park. Going To The Sun opened last year on June 21st. We drove our dually over and back with no issues. We stayed at East Glacier KOA part of our visit there and it is a notch or two down from the West, but the east side is most convenient for day trips into Canada. We came to this part of Montana by way of the east side through the big grain farming areas and American Indian Reservation. I recommend both sides for staying and seeing.

subra1228 · 07-15-2013, 10:00 AM

Depending on how much time to plan, GNP has two NPS campgrounds that will fit big rig - Apgar on the west and St. Mary on the east. Both sides have wonderful things to do - though more hiking on the east, plus you can take a day trip to Waterton (NP in Canada, so bring your Passport). Enjoy your trip ~ Glacier is one of our favorite destinations.

Trailer Trash 2 · 07-15-2013, 10:21 AM

David thats the same campsite we had. very nice place MM CG we would go there again.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...5/IMG_2160.jpg

padredw · 07-15-2013, 10:55 AM

Wow! Trailer Trash, thanks for sharing. This is truly one of the best camp sites we have ever had. We are getting WIFI as good as we get at home, and we were able to watch Masterpiece Mystery last night.

Unfortunately, we have to move on. We are leaving in the morning. Plan to stay overnight tomorrow at the Riverside State Park in Spokane, then on to Oregon.

Debbie Asher · 07-15-2013, 11:16 AM

Thank you all for your response we are going to check out the RV parks suggested. We are going to Coeur D'Alene, ID and visit some relatives first so we are going to try to stay in Blackwell RV. Scotty has his boat moared at that lake.

Trailer Trash 2 · 07-15-2013, 02:09 PM

Debbie on the eastside of GNP KOA is the best for me. we did that half of going to the sun and the we went to the west side which offers mor RV parks than the east but my sister, niece, and our family loved Mountain Meadows.

Bigsky3625RE · 07-15-2013, 03:01 PM

Well now we are really looking forward to our trip to the west side in August.

We are staying at the KOA because we (wife) need our satellite to work. And the sites look really nice. A bit $$ but what the heck. We are worth it.

The previous week we will be at Tunnel Mt. Campground in Alberta.

Both these places in two weeks!!! Check them off the list.

Art-n-Marge · 07-15-2013, 03:34 PM

If you can find a little extra time please check this out on the way to Glacier National Park:

http://www.ridethehiawatha.com/

This place was a gem we found when going from Glacier NP to Coeur d'alene (about 5 miles east of Idaho/Montana border. If you do have your bikes, I recommend going north to south for the steady downhill direction (and arrange for a shuttle return) otherwise the northern direction is all UPHILL. If you don't have bikes, then much of it can be driven. I wouldn't recommend you do this with the rig - unhitch first. There are bunches and bunches of tunnels and tressles in an attempt to build this train route. The train route has been gone for some time and now it's been converted to biking and driving trails and roads. The scenery through here is AWESOME (we also saw moose and lots of deer from a distance, too).

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