Missoula Travel Forum

This summer I plan to fly into Missoula and drive to Glacier Park. I have about 5 or 6 days and would like some advice on the best drive and where to stay along the way and at the Park. I haven't had a vacation in a loooong time so I want it to be relaxing and interesting. May be traveling by myself or maybe one other adult--no children or pets. OK with spending some money on lodging --traveling light no camping gear. Like to lite-hiking, watch clouds and stars, and enjoy the scents of the earth. Any suggestions?

howdy.
go north through arlee towards flathead lake and take the smaller road that goes round the eastern side of the lake. depending on traffic ya can make it to glacier in @4hrs. i would say with the short time ya have spend all or most of it in glacier with at least a day in missoula. check out the missoula independent, a indy newspaper with lots of info on the city and such.
if ya wanna get away from the more traveled sections (i.e. motorhomes, etc.) of the park and save a little money so ya can rent a flash subaru or some other 4X4,stay up in polebridge on the western border of the park. don't tell the rental car company you're going to polebridge they may get fussy cause the road is gravel. no worries its in good condition.
polebridge has a funky hostel, the north fork hostel and square peg ranch. so ya can rent a small private cabin/trailer or stay in the hostel . theres no electricity, all generators, but there's a great restaurant and bakery/general store in the two building village of polebridge.
from there you can cross into the park and access a coupla beautiful lakes within the park. ya can also easily drive down into the main sections of the park for day hikes on the more popular trails. iceberg lake and the hanging gardens are coupla super beautiful hikes.
be sure to read up on grizzly bears if you're not familiar with hiking in bear country. you DO NOT wanna hike alone anywhere in glacier!!!
if ya have time spend a day in missoula, its an awesome town!
good luck and let me know if ya have any questions.

patrick

I would suggest the Avalanche Lake trail for hiking. It is 2 miles one-way with not a lot of elevation gain. The lake and surrounding mountains are beautiful.

I would slightly disagree with the previous poster on Iceberg Lake. The first mile or so of that hike is all steps and can be strenuous. After that it's not bad.

In regard to hiking alone, I would hike well-traveled hikes alone, but would not hike more desolate areas alone. I would suggest getting some bear spray for hiking, just in case. You won't miss it until you need it.

As far as drives, you should go through the Going-to-the-Sun Road as least once each way. Also, drive up to the Many Glacier area and maybe the Two Medicine area as well.

The drive on the east side of the Rockies is flat and isn't as nice as the routes through the mountains on the west side. Also, US Highway 2 is somewhat slow in terms of scenery. It follows the river and railroad tracks and is heavily forested, so there's no really great places for picturesque views.

I'm staying in Missoula on business in May for a few days and was hoping to check out the Glacier National Park too by going on a day trip (is this reasonable given the drive?).

I enjoy hiking and photography, so I'm wondering which areas would be safe and, at the same time, picturesque to hike around May 20th. I've noticed that a lot of tours/lodging places don't open until June, so I'm assuming this has to do with the weather.

Thanks,

-A