How To Visit Glacier National Park Like A Local

2025 is bringing unprecedented challenges to National Parks nationwide. Here’s how to plan an epic trip to Glacier amid reduced staffing, record visitation, road construction, and extreme weather.

Glacier is the 10th most popular national park for a good reason: It offers postcard-perfect mountains chocked full of the kinds of animals—grizzly bears, moose, wolves—that children dream about. Yes, there’s still glaciers, and even a lake full of icebergs, all right here in the lower 48. It’s not the most popular because it can be difficult to visit, something I think I’m uniquely positioned to help with.

Amid the Trump administration’s assaults on the park service, record-breaking crowds, major road construction, and risks posed by increasingly extreme weather, Glacier is also going to be harder than ever to visit this summer.

I’ve been visiting the park regularly for the last seven years, and spend a good portion of my time just outside its eastern border, where my wife’s family owns a cabin. I think I have some good fishing holes, hiking destinations, camping spots, restaurant recommendations and activity ideas to share with you guys, so as with my other travel guides, I’ll be putting those behind a subscriber wall in order to keep them as personal as possible. You can read more about the value proposition I think I’m providing to my newsletter subscribers at this link.

What Challenges Is Glacier Facing?

Staffing: According to live tracking on firings, Glacier has only lost two full-time employees. I’m also hearing from friends who work in the park that seasonal hires are tracking well, despite all the chaos Trump’s executive orders caused with those in February. But, we still have reduction in force orders coming down for federal agencies at some point, which are reportedly targeting a 30 percent total decrease in NPS payroll. And that will almost certainly impact services in Glacier, so stay tuned and I’ll report that out as it occurs.

Crowds: 2024 saw the highest visitation to national parks, ever. 3.2 million people visited Glacier alone. That causes traffic jams and lines, makes booking hotels, campsites, and restaurants challenging, and means you’re going to find other people even in remote backcountry areas. It also means you need to plan ahead for entry permits to popular areas.

Construction: Not only is the park’s iconic Going To The Sun Road closed due to snow into about the beginning of July each year, but this year there’s maintenance planned for the entry road into Many Glacier. That will close Many Glacier to most vehicle traffic from July 1 through September 21, and visitors will need to reserve shuttle rides through Recreation.gov.

Weather: Snowpack for the Glacier area currently stands at about 70 percent of normal levels. Depending on temperatures and precipitation levels from now through the summer, that could lead to limited streamflow, and add risk of wildfire. The Glacier area also sees smoke settle from wildfires occurring anywhere along the west coast, into British Columbia and Alberta. Lower levels of smoke can simply limit views, while extremely heavy smoke can make outdoor recreation a health concern.

What Can You Do To Help?

Visiting a national park (or any other pubic land) always carries with it a need to recreate responsibly, and minimize your impact. This summer, that’s more important than ever. Even if there are no additional firings, the park service is already operating with 20 percent fewer staff than it was in 2010, and that’s with record visitation.

Leave No Trace: LNT is a movement, non-profit, and an organized set of principles designed to protect the natural places we love visiting. Those principles are:

• Plan ahead and prepare

• Travel and camp on durable surfaces

• Dispose of waste properly

• Leave what you find

• Minimize campfire impacts

• Respect wildlife

• Be considerate of others

You can read more about the ins and outs inherent in those principles through this link.

Drive Safely: Driving will be the most dangerous part of your visit. Roads around the park can transition quickly from highways, to curvy mountain roads, to congested city streets. Roads within the park have low speed limits, and lots of traffic. Wild animals, cyclists, pedestrians, and other drivers can come out of nowhere, and will be behaving erratically. There will be traffic jams. The park service’s $22 billion maintenance backlog means there will be potholes. Lots and lots of potentially tire-popping potholes.

If you take on the responsibility inherent in driving in or near the park, you need to take that responsibility seriously. Pay attention to the road, not the views. Allow extra travel time. Drive below the speed limit. Carry the tools necessary to handle flat tires and other common mechanical failures on your own.

Recreate Responsibly: Don’t drain limited park and first responder resources by turning into a statistic. While national parks may sometimes appear to be akin to amusement parks, they are natural environments full of risks associated with terrain, weather, or wild animals.

Wear and bring adequate clothing: Elevations in Glacier span from the 3,153-foot Lake MacDonald to mountain peaks reaching over 10,000 feet. Even in good weather, those peaks will be 23 degrees colder. But here in the mountains, conditions can change quickly, and weather forecasts are not reliable. During summer months, wear clothing designed to dry quickly, and carry extra insulation and weather protection in a day pack. Choose footwear that’s already broken-in and comfortable, and which is designed to provide good traction even on wet rocks. A warm hat and gloves are also a good idea.

Don’t get lost: Plan hikes and other backcountry activities ahead of time, where you have access to the Internet. Don’t rely on cell phone reception within the park, it is not available in most areas. Download maps at home, switch your phone to airplane mode, and confirm they work of-line before traveling to the park. Do this for both road maps and hiking trails. Carry a paper backup with a compass, and know how to use it. Consider carrying a satellite messaging device like a Garmin inReach Mini, and practice with it from home.

Make responsible decisions: If the weather looks like it’s going to turn, plan to seek shelter or return to the trailhead before it hits. Don’t drive during intense storms, wait them out in a parking lot or other area free from traffic. Don’t jump over streams or climb through fields of loose rock. Plan to be in camp or back at a trailhead well before dark, but carry headlamps just in case. Carry and know how to use a good first aid kit. Bring ample water and a method for purifying backcountry sources.

Don’t approach wildlife: Bring a good pair of binoculars so you can enjoy wildlife viewing at safe distances. If you see a wild animal, give it ample room. If it moves towards you, back away, out of its path of travel. Even innocuous looking animals like mountain goats can be dangerous. The dangerous looking stuff is even worse. Carry bear spray, but understand its limitations and risks. Travel in groups while recreating in bear country, and remain close to each other. Make plenty of noise while hiking. Keep a clean camp in order to avoid attracting animal to it.

Prepare A Plan B: In the event of a wildfire, or if it’s super smoky, you’re going to want to go elsewhere. I’ll show you how to forecast smoke levels and suggest some alternative destinations below.

Explaining Glacier’s Location And Access

The park spans an area of the Rocky Mountains bordered by the north fork of the Flathead River to the west, Canada to the north, the Bob Marshall Wilderness to the South, and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation to the east.

Most visitors enter through West Glacier, to the park’s main visitor center in Apgar Village, on the shores of Lake McDonald. Driving from there, you can travel northwest, up to Polebridge, or northeast, past Lake McDonald Lodge, towards Going to the Sun Road.

Sun Road, which passes over the 6,600-foot Logan Pass, accumulates significant snow during the winter, and opening it requires a ton of work with heavy equipment. It usually opens around early July. Highway 2 spans the park, running form West to East Glacier and providing year-round (if often hazardous) passage across the mountains.

Sun Road’s snow situation indicates conditions elsewhere in the park. Expect trails above 6,000 feet in elevation to remain snowed in until sometime in July.

That iconic drive is, in the absence of traffic jams, the quickest way (about two hours) from West Glacier, to St. Mary, and the park’s other attractions on the east side. It also provides access to some of the park’s most famous hiking trails.

Northern areas of the park on both sides —the west’s North Fork, and the east’s Many Glacier—are then accessible through their own entrances and short access roads.

The west side of the park is much more developed, and much easier for normal people to visit and have a good time as a result. The east side is something else entirely. That’s where I spend most of my time, and where I suggest readers concentrate their efforts.

With an international border to the north, the Blackfeet Nation to the east, a Wilderness area to the south, expensive real estate to the west, and only one major road running through it, you can see why accessing Glacier can prove challenging. Those factors also limit possibilities for camping and other recreation nearby.

What Do You Need To Enter The Park, And When?

At any of the park’s entrances you’ll need to pay an entrance fee or display your annual park pass. Fees are $35 for most normal passenger vehicles, $30 for motorcycles, and $20 if you’re walking or riding a bike. Those are good for seven days. An annual pass just for Glacier is $70, and an annual pass to all parks is $80. Seniors can get an annual pass to all parks for $20/year or $80/life.

This year, if you’re entering through Apgar or North Fork, you’re also going to need a timed entry vehicle reservation, which can be purchased on Recreation.gov. Remember that getting into Many Glacier after June is going to involve a shuttle bus that must also be reserved on Recreation.gov. If you have accommodation booked in the park, or a trip with some tour operators, that will come with a timed reservation pass (and specific instructions for entry you should definitely read). Reservations open up in two blocks: 120 days ahead of time, and the day before. If you can’t score one, entering before 7am or after 3pm, you don’t need the reservation, but you do need a pass.

Confusingly, you can drive onto Sun Road with your entry pass only from the east, but you can’t return between 7am and 3pm without a reservation.

I’m going to save Wilderness permit areas of the park for another article.

When’s The Best Time To Visit Glacier National Park?

There’s two main blocks of time: June, and July through September.

June is its own thing because Sun Road is still closed, and this year, because you’ll still be able to drive into Many Glacier. But, many of the higher elevation trails will still be inaccessible due to snow. I can’t give you precise timing on accessing those because factors like sun exposure, snowpack levels, rain, and elevation are all variables.

That creates a weird duality. If you want to go visit the park’s prettiest place—Many Glacier—you’ll want to do that in June this year. But, if you want to hike its best trails, you’ll need to wait, and deal with the hassle of taking shuttles. Fortunately, there is another activity that’s only available before July: biking Sun Road without vehicle traffic. June should also be free of most wildfire risk and smoke, but there will be (lots of) mosquitoes.

From July through September, the park is fully open. There will be kids wiping their boogers on things, tourists misbehaving, drunk drivers, and people trying to pet grizzly bears. This is the best time to leave that all behind, and hike. Anything you want to do during this time will need to be planned and reserved way ahead.

If you don’t have kids, September is also a great time to visit. Children are back in school, the heaviest tourism pressure disappears, temperatures will be cooler, and the animals will be more active. But, September is also peak wildfire and smoke season, so you’ll want to maintain some flexibility.

Phew. That’s all the caveats and technical information. Let’s dive into the good stuff: things to do. This is also where the subscription wall is going to come in. Below it, you’ll find my personal recommendations for places to stay, eat, things to do, places to camp, hikes, fishing, etc, and not just in the park, but also on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.