Hiking in Glacier National Park, Montana

Come join me for a week of (day) hiking in Glacier Park!

We'll have hikes from Monday, July 27th, 2026 through Friday, July 31st, and an easy optional warmup hike on Sunday, the 26th, while some people are still arriving. Hikes may change at the very last minute due to weather, bears on the trail, etc. Usually we keep in contact since we see each other as we hike and after the hike.

Linus likely not coming this year. I'm not too fast these days. I'll just start the trail with everyone, after explaining the highlights, and will turn back at some point and will often sweep on the way out. All the trails are in and out the same route except the Highline. I do have an Inreach.

This meetup is cross-posted between the Happy Hour Hiking and Early Bird groups and I possibly have a few non-meetup friends coming, so there will be more people than you see on the attendee list. I mostly limit it to 15 or so per group to make it more manageable and it partly depends on if I know the people joining already. I try to ensure a wonderful experience for all!

I've only missed going 2 years (2020 and 1983) in the last ~45 years and have even been here in the winter, brrrr. So this is really unlikely to be cancelled, do your planning/booking! Let me show you my hiking home!

Montana

This trip is in Montana, it is not local!

You need to decide if you're flying up to Montana (and renting a car), or driving. Getting there and figuring out where to stay can be the hardest part of the trip, unless you decide to drive all the way up and just camp in which case it is not that hard.

Getting there

Driving straight to Glacier, from L.A. takes ~20 hours (each way), often split across 2 or 3 days. I've done this many times in the past, I have also done side trips along the way, Zion, Yellowstone, etc. depending how long I want to take. Gas is less expensive outside of California by varying degrees. I usually go up the I-15 to Montana and then route 287 a bit after passing Helena, often stopping for ice cream in Choteau near the dinosaurs if the ice cream parlor is open :-).

I don't have space in my car, but you may be able to coordinate/carpool with other people attending, post and talk to others coming, I will help if I can, but it's really up to you. Be careful who you share a car with, it's a long drive and there have been a couple "misunderstandings" the last several years..

Flights, are often into Great Falls or Kalispell. Rental car rates can be the deciding factor. Evaluate both costs before reserving! Great Falls may be further from the park, but it's actually easier in some significant ways.

There are a number of tradeoffs between driving and flying, it is a personal decision. I've done both and have ended up on the driving side of the fence.

Camping / Lodging

I will be camping at Johnson's (http://johnsonsofstmary.squarespace.com/) this year, you are welcome to join me. Nightly cost will be $10 per person and $10 per car, showers (by the main office) included. Pay by cash at the end (or buy me dinner or gas if you don't have cash). There is parking for 2 cars at camp and >2 cars away from camp. Each campsite is good for 10 people, I have booked 2 at this point, so good for up to 20 people.

I may also be there several days before and after hanging out with other non-meetup friends if you want to share the camp site. Johnson's campground is conveniently located in St. Mary's on the east side of the park where we'll be most of the time.

Of course, you can book your own camping, there are several other additional campgrounds in the area, such as Chewing Blackbones, let me know if you want details. I have stayed at Chewing Blackbones in the past, but prefer Johnsons.

As unlikely as it is for a bear to go through camp, it is possible. You'll need to store food (and anything else smelly) in your car or a bear box, don't leave food on the camp table overnight.

One may also potentially book motel lodging (Red Eagle in St. Mary, or Thronsons in Babb) or in the park (see Xanterra.com). I have stayed in the park and at Red Eagle in the past and known others to stay at Thronsons.

Motels often fill very early (book by February or March at Red Eagle or July 1st the preceding year for in the park) though cancelations do occur. Staying at East Glacier is not recommended, the mountain road to/from there is slow, you'll need to get going extra early to meet us in time if you stay there.

Food

Often we will meet to eat a number of evenings after the hike. Some people often eat in camp, some (including me) go to nearby restaurants. We often eat in camp for breakfast since we're getting ready for the day's hike and don't have much time. There is a nearby small market though it is a bit pricy.

We often had a nice celebratory dinner at the Cattle Baron Supper Club Friday after the last hike. It's a nice sit down steak restaurant, unexpectedly fancy given the locale. Some people skip and would race off right after the event. We can talk about this during our meetup week. [Sad to say, there was a bad fire at the Cattle Baron on 1/14/26, it's gone, so we'll do something else TBD for our last dinner, I have some ideas but not near what we had at the Cattle Baron, we'll talk.]

Weather

Will typically be in the 60s to 80s during the day as we hike in usually slightly higher elevations than where we camp where the lows will often be in the 40s or so. Often there is rain at some point during the trip and it can even snow on the peak tops!

I've visited the park enough that I don't mind hanging at a hotel during a rainy day but with people staying a limited time, some will hike even in the rain.

Bugs / Bear Spray

Bugs (flies & mosquitos) can be bad on trail sometimes, I won't deny that, depends on the weather or if it rained recently. I've been going so long I usually ignore them and have never used bug spray. Others sometimes do.

Tics have been found on occasion, but not too often. Check yourselves if going through lots of brush or rubbing against lots of bushes which will not normally be the case on our hikes, we'll be on well worn trails. I have never bothered with Permethrin.

Bugs at camp should be less, but hard for me to say as I said, I'm "used to them" to some degree.

I always have bear spray myself. I've never used it against a bear though I have seen bears up close on the trail and have known others to use it infrequently.

Best to hike in groups and ideally one person would have a spray. You can't bring it on the plane, you can buy it when you arrive at Walmart (there is no REI in Great Falls, but there is one in Kalispell), or even in the park but at a steeper price. People sometimes give me a bear spray before they fly back and I may have several extras from the past. They usually are good for several years. Occasionally I demo an old bear spray on a local hike under proper conditions.

Internet / Cell Phones

In the park on the trail, no reception, this is Glacier. Where we camp outside the park there is limited reception depending which provider you have. I have Verizon which is ok part of the time. I forget how others are.

At the campground office there is a wifi hotspot one can use, get the password from the manager. If you stay at a hotel in the park, they will have limited wifi for the guests staying there.

Roads

The road permit system has changed again this year, 2026. The focus is now just on Logan Pass (that always had the worst crowds/parking in the past) so there is now a 3 hour parking limit there and if you want to spend longer, there will be express shuttles to and from there, from several places including St. Mary.

This should make parking at Logan Pass easier for Wednesday's 2nd hike but does impact Thursday's original plans. Thursday's Highline hike may well be switched to Siyeh Pass at the last minute. This system is new this year and it may take seeing it in person to figure out how to best handle a Highline hike for a large group of people.

On the plus side, permits are no longer required if entering the park from the west side (near Apgar) which will simplify entering the park from Kalispell if you fly into there.

Permits will not be needed to enter the Many Glacier Valley either, but we'll still start our warmup hike at 4pm and Monday/Tuesday you won't need to get up quite as early as we were doing, hike start times remain unchanged at 8am.

Hikes

These are my repeat forever type of hikes I never tire of, I've been to Iceberg Lake probably 50 to 100 times over many years! If you look you can find them under AllTrails, youtube, etc. For those curious, several of our hikes will be on the Continental Divide Trail for a ways, like the PCT, it goes between Mexico and Canada!

Many of the hikes have natural intermediate stopping points if you're not interested in doing the whole thing and many have extensions to make them longer, please talk to me about the options, I've done most of the extensions/options over the years, especially when I was younger/faster than I am now. Now days I'm a bit slower and tend to the shorter version of the hikes unless I think I have time.

Meeting locations:
A=Swiftcurrent Motor Inn parking lot in front of restaurant (enter via Babb). There's a nice porch to hang out at.
B=Many Glacier Hotel Boat dock (obviously lakeside of Hotel) (via Babb)
C=Front of Logan Pass Visitor Center (via St. Mary)
D=Lake McDonald area, specifically Trail of the Cedars Trailhead. We usually park across the road near the Avalanche Creek Picnic area. It may be more crowded this year due to shuttle changes
E=Saint Mary's Falls Parking lot, about 9 mi past the St. Mary Entrance station along Going To The Sun road; 48.67524, -113.604547.

Sunday, July 26, some will still be arriving, but we'll met for lunch at The Park Cafe (in St. Mary) at noon. Optional warmup hike to Red Rock Falls. 3.6 mi. round trip, 236' gain. Meet at A at 4pm. We often see moose in the lake near the beginning of the hike!

Monday, July 27th, Iceberg Lake, 10 mi. rt, 1450'. Meet at A at 8am.

Tuesday, Grinnell Glacier, 12 mi., 2181'. Meet at B at 8am.

Wednesday, two hikes: Virginia Falls, 2.9 mi., 452', meet at E at 7am (due to limited parking). Hidden Lake Overlook, 2.7mi, 551', start at C. We do one hike immediately after the other. This is an easy day on purpose before the long day :-)

Thursday, Highline Trail, ~11 mi, or 14, or ? miles depending on the route, 2578' with interesting optional extensions (Grinnell Glacier Overlook, lookout, etc.). I usually do a short 7 mile version lately. Shuttle situation, and where to meet, will be addressed, in person, on Monday.

Thursday alternate, Siyeh Pass Trail, ~8 mi, ~2300'. Optional extensions can include Piegan Pass and further. Will discuss in person Monday including car shuttling from Sunrift Gorge to Siyeh bend.

Friday, Avalanche Lake, 5.9 mi, 757', meet at D at 8am (to get there you need to drive through most of the park and can take ~2 hours, so leave St. Mary/camp ~6am). Normally we have a dinner at Cattle Barron (in Babb) at 5pm, but there was a bad fire there recently (1/14/26) and we'll likely do something else TBD.

Saturday, leisurely pack up & head home. Sometimes I stay an extra day or two, TBD.

Do try to make the Sunday or Monday hikes, I'll explain anything missing. I can also recommend some additional hikes if you're staying longer and want more :-)

Note that we will not gather as a large group on these hikes! We're just hiking as friends. No doubt we'll naturally form faster and slower groups. People have gotten into trouble for taking large groups of people on the Grand Canyon hike. We don't want to prevent others from enjoying the park, or attract the attention of rangers, etc.

The trailheads for the Sunday and Monday's hikes are less than a 5 minute walk from where we meet at A, and I will encourage people to start walking to the trailheads before our group becomes "large". I chose our first meeting location there as parking, restrooms, and a camp store are so convenient.

Non-hikes

There are a number of non-hiking things to do in the park as well, hang out at the Many Glacier hotel, enjoy Ranger talks / nature programs. I've been to a number of astronomy programs in the past, often Saturday nights, but check the park schedule. The park is a designated dark sky site.

Contacts/Safety

Emergency contact (name & #) required. I've done these hikes many times, safely, but things can happen. I even knew someone that ran into a cow driving into the park a long time ago, not everything happens on the trail. Give me your info before we start hiking, by meetup msg, note, etc. I have never yet used the contact info, hope to keep it that way.

Past

Check out the earlier events for pics, here's the link for our 2024 event: [https://meetu.ps/e/MMKzN/mvZG6/i](https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmeetu.ps%2Fe%2FMMKzN%2FmvZG6%2Fi&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cd38bf60476494f3fba9708de6101cfcd%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639054857560568204%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ATgy6mjWkHrfatjCTmojGOSIx9x1sfR6CMO%2Bd3aHw6A%3D&reserved=0)

Some additional pics from past trips of mine can be found at https://steve-aka-baloo.smugmug.com/Misc-Glacier-pics/n-DZHL66

2026 camping (as of 5/3/26)

I have two sites reserved now which is good for up to 20 people. I requested them to be close together. I'll be there slightly longer but the 2nd site is reserved for Sunday evening to Saturday morning around the meetup dates.

I won't know the actual site # until I show up in person in July, that's how it was the last two times. If you have other accommodations or want to book yourself, let me know if you can so I won't expect you at my site :-)

Happy Hour:
camping with Steve: big Steve + 1, shala, Rachel, Reiko + 1, lisa + 1, Mindie Te + 1
other: Rosemarie + 1, Polly, Marilyn
?: Dan T, Philippe + 1

Early Bird:
camping with Steve: Corrisa + 1
other: LC, DGun, GSquared (Greg)

Other:
Jimbo, Joe P., Gilbert, Elizabeth, James, Monica, ?

I mostly only have time to update this on weekends (phone app doesn't work so well so I prefer an actual computer), experimenting with how to best keep track of this.