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Glacier National Park sits way up in northwest Montana on the
Canadian border. Glacier is not a place that is necessarily on
the way to any big cities. It's a place you have to want to go
to. This often means that the people who are visiting Glacier
are exactly where they want to be. Glacier has four major entrances.
They are West Glacier on the west side, St. Mary on the central
east side, East Glacier on the southern east side and Many Glacier
on the upper east side. There is one other entrance that is fairly
remote at Polebridge on the northwest side.
Glacier is serviced by several year round airports, some much
further away than others. The closest is Glacier Park International
Airport in Kalispell. It's very close to West Glacier and very
convenient at 22.89 miles. Great Falls International Airport is
located in Great Falls, Montana and is 130 miles southeast of
the East Glacier park entrance. Missoula International Airport
is 130.86 miles south of the West Glacier entrance. All of the
drives offer very nice scenery on the way to the park.
Many of us out there prefer to drive to the parks, stopping at
interesting sites along the way. For those driving, click on the
mileage for route maps. New york City is 2,305
miles to East Glacier. Miami is a very long
2,848
miles to East Glacier. Los Angeles is 1,339
miles to West Glacier. Seattle is
550.6 miles
from West Glacier. Denver is a good 965
miles from West Glacier.
Glacier is also serviced by train. The park is well known for
having two Amtrak stations, one in West Glacier (Hwy 2 and Going-to-the-Sun
Rd., West Glacier, MT 59936 ) and one in East Glacier (400 Highway
49 North, East Glacier Park, MT 59434). The three main city starting
points are Chicago, Portland and Seattle. The train provides much
more room than a plane and you can comfortably watch the scenery
roll by.
Glacier National Park is a very popular destination for those
visiting Yellowstone. Based on our experience, we recommend two
routes from Yellowstone to Glacier. The first is the fastest route
to East Glacier. From Gardiner, take US 90 to I-90 west. Follow
this to U.S. 287 and turn right. Follow this to I-15 north through
Helena and towards the direction of Great Falls. Keep your eyes
peeled after the pass while looking for exit 228 and head right
on U.S. 287 which will take you north along the Rocky Mountain
Front. Follow the signs through two small towns, the second being
Choteau. Take 89 north here until you reach U.S. 2. Head west
on U.S. 2 through the town of Browning. In a short bit you will
pull into East Glacier. You can't miss the train station and the
entrance tunnel just across the street form the trading post.
This is a very scenic drive that will fly by. Appy the same directions
heading from West Yellowstone, but instead take 191 north to I-90.
For those who wish to see the more forested lakeland west side
of the divide, follow the previous instructions to I-90, but instead
keep heading towards Butte. Keep rolling down the speedy I-90
until you reach Bonner just before Missoula(keep your eyes peeled
for moose and bald eagles along the Clark Fork River). At Bonner,
you will see highway 200. Head east along 200 until you reach
route 83, then head north. This is the heavily forested Seeley-Swan
Valley, a very pretty drive amongst lush woodlands and lakes -
a great area to pull over for a picnic. Continue on 83 until you
reach 35 and head north. Take 35 to U.S. 2 in Columbia Falls and
head East to West Glacier.
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Parkcamper: Northern Rocky
Mountains Edition features
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Yellowstone, Grand Teton,
Badlands and Theodore
Roosevelt National Parks.
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Experience what the
campgrounds are truly like.
Click the DVD to order!
Camping
Photo Gear
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