A few months ago, I asked my eldest daughter if she would go on a solo National Park adventure with me. She’s 23, one year out of college and living on her own in a Big City, paying Big City rent with the money she makes from the job that she got with the degree that she worked her ass off to earn. I’m ridiculously proud of her and very excited to spend some one on one time with her. To my delight, she accepted and I let her pick the place. She chose Glacier, so a-Glacier we will go!

Things I knew about Glacier National Park before starting to plan this trip:

• It’s on the northern border of the US, somewhere west of Wisconsin but not as far west as Washington
• There may be glaciers?

Things I know now after many hours of research:

• It’s in Montana!
• The nearest airport is in Kalispell, which is about half an hour away from the park. It’s not a large airport, and flight schedules and prices are accordingly reflected (fewer flights and higher prices than a big airport).
• The main road through the park is Going-To-The-Sun Road and it is seasonally closed for much of the year due to snow. Or rather, parts of it are seasonally closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t access a lot of the park anyway.
• There are lakes! That iconic lake you see so many of pictures of, with the multicolored rocks and super still water – That’s Lake McDonald and it’s one of the main (most widely known) attractions in the park. Or the lakes with the crazy-blue looking water in all the stock photos? They’re right there in Glacier National Park. Here are a couple of stock examples:

• There are quite a few hotels within the park, but they book out many months or even a year in advance so we won’t be sleeping there because I did not plan this far enough in advance to secure a room.
• There are many camping options we will not be utilizing, because even though I love camping and have done a lot of it in my life I am at a place where I also appreciate a comfortable bed and wi-fi.
• Since we won’t be camping or staying within the park, the nearest places to stay are Whitefish and Kalispell, about 30 minutes’ drive from the west entrance.
• Glacier is BIG and there are several distinct areas, which are quite a distance from each other. Lake McDonald and Apgar (where the visitor center is located) are on the west side. Many Glacier, Swiftcurrent Lake, and St. Mary are on the east side. Two Medicine is more to the south and isn’t on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Going-to-the-Sun Road runs from Apgar to St. Mary, through Logan Pass (elevation 6647′). When open it takes 2-3 hours to drive or so I hear. Route 2 runs from Apgar around the south perimeter and up to St. Mary, and is open all year. It’s also the way to get to the Two Medicine area. From Apgar to St. Mary on that route takes about 2 hours, and continuing on to the Many Glacier area adds another half hour or so. This is all estimated based on things I’ve read, since I obviously haven’t been there yet.

I’m glad we are going to have 3.5 days for this adventure. I’d love to have more time, but I’m a person who still works for a living so it’s always a struggle to find a balance. Hopefully we’ll have enough time to see the main spots, take at least one boat tour and hike at least two really good hikes. I hear there are also options including renting kayaks or e-bikes at Apgar, so I’ll look into that as well.

And as always, I’m hoping to find at least one good sunset, sunrise, and night sky.