Western Expedition Stop 5: Glacier National Park

After two days of visiting first Yellowstone National Park then Grand Teton National Park, we got on the road again toward stop 5 on our epic western road trip. This time we headed north to Glacier National Park for a two-night stay.

First, Breakfast

Our first stop out of town was to eat a hearty breakfast at the Running Bear Pancake House in West Yellowstone. The Running Bear is a very homey restaurant serving breakfast and lunch, and even box lunches to-go for those heading into the park. It’s not flashy in any way, but it doesn’t need to be. The food is great without any gimmicks.

Backroads All The Way

The drive through Montana from West Yellowstone to our lodge in Whitefish is a pretty desolate one. With the exception of one small section on I-90, it was all non-major backroads. Dad kept thinking the Google Maps lady was “taking us for a ride.” He seemed to hold a mortal distrust of her for the majority of the trip.

And the scenery isn’t particularly stunning either–mainly we drove through farmland. There are a few small towns that are fun to drive through. The one I remember most is Ennis. Here, the mountains serve as a backdrop for a small main street of Wild West-style storefronts and a small park–it is terribly cute. When I picture driving across country with a box full of books in my trunk, I think of places like Ennis.

But otherwise, there aren’t a ton of places to stop and rest along this route. We ended up eating our lunch on the steps of a tiny church by the side of the road in Avon just to get out of the car a little.

Whitefish, MT and the Grouse Mountain Lodge

In Whitefish, we found a deal through Expedia for the Grouse Mountain Lodge, a golf course resort with a restaurant and bar. It turned out to be a fantastic option after our somewhat crummy Yellowstone cabin experience. In comparison, this was super luxurious!

If you ever want to stay in a place that uses “antlers in all of [their] deeecoraaaaaaaating“ then look no farther than the Grouse Mountain Lodge! Animal skins and heads adorn most walls and antler chandeliers are de rigueur. At the same time, it’s not super posh, I’m sure you can find more luxurious offerings nearby. But for us and our budget, this was definitely the nicest place we stayed during the whole trip.

We took advantage of the Lodge’s restaurant for dinner that first night and a quick breakfast the next morning. It was definitely nice (if not exactly economical) to have such an excellent option for food right at hand.

Glacier National Park

I will cover Glacier National Park in more detail in the next post. Suffice it to say, we only toured the main attraction, Going-To-The-Sun Road, on our one-day visit, but we did so in a very exciting way! And it turned out to be a perfect way to tour for the rainy, cloudy day we had while visiting.

Red Bus Tour

Instead of exploring Glacier National Park on our own, I decided we needed to let someone else do the driving for once on this trip. So I booked us on a historic Red Bus Tour!

The Buses

These special Red Buses date back to the 30’s when they were introduced to a few national parks. But it seems Glacier National Park is the park best known for them and still has 33 iconic “Reds” still in service. They’ve been updated and rebuilt over the years for sure, but the original design is still the same.

Each bus has four rows of seats that can seat up to four each plus one in the front passenger seat for a total of 17 spots. The back seat is a bit tighter due to the wheel wells, so try to be skinny if you sit back there. Doors open only to the right, on the passenger side.

One of the defining features of the bus is its roll-back (or completely removable) black canvas top for unimpeded views of the mountain peaks. Another is its distinct red-orange paint job, matched to the exact color of the Mountain Ash berries found in the park.

The Tours

There are several tours you can take on the Red Buses, from 2.5 hours rides into little-visited areas of the park, to full circle tours lasting 8-9 hours. Tours can cost as little as $38 per adult, but most are in the $65-100 range per person. Tours depart from various points east and west in the park, and tour cost depends on where you get picked up. You can save a little by boarding the bus further into the park, but you get to pick your seat first if you board earlier

We chose the Crown of the Continent tour from the west side, a 9-hour excursion that spans the length of Going-To-The-Sun Road and up to Many Glacier Hotel in the north. If I ever get to do this again, I would love to take the Big Sky Circle tour from the east side. It covers Going-To-The-Sun Road as well as circling the entire lower half of the park. The Crown of the Continent tour cost $95 each when we went in 2015 but costs $100 in 2019. The Big Sky tour also costs $100.

The Experience

Like I said, we had a foggy, drizzly day when we visited. But we didn’t mind too much because there had been some pretty bad fires in the park earlier in the summer, and the land needed the rain badly. The rain also filled in some of the waterfalls and streams we saw along the way. But as a consequence, we couldn’t see the tops of the mountains and we were never able to pull back the canvas top of the bus. In fact, it was pretty breezy and cold inside the bus and I wore all of my four layers and a warm hat the entire time. The tour company also provided warm lap blankets for each row of passengers.

Even so, I’m even more glad that we took the tour on a rainy day than otherwise. Had we driven around and explored on our own, we probably would have been disappointed at how little we could see. But with our driver (or “Jammer“) Peggy telling us stories and pointing out the sights, we had a very enjoyable day. She was so enthralled with the park that we couldn’t help but be so as well. Apparently, many of the days prior had been very hazy from the fire smoke, but with the rain, it was much clearer than it had been. Even though we couldn’t see the tops of the mountains, the valleys were stunning.

Crown of the Continent Tour

We boarded the Crown of the Continent tour at the Apgar Visitor Center, as most of the passengers did. One more got on at Lake McDonald Lodge, where we had our first stop to look around. After that, we drove the length of Going-To-The-Sun Road with Peggy explaining how it was built. She stopped frequently to point out interesting sights, like one of the few remaining glaciers left in the park.

We had a longer stop at Logan Pass Visitor Center for a restroom break and to see the exhibits. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see anything scenery-wise because it was so foggy. Then out the east entrance of the park, through the Native American reservation and back into the park to the Many Glacier Hotel for lunch. In the hotel, you have three options for food: a snack counter, the causal Swiss Lounge, or fine dining in the cavernous Ptarmigan Dining Room.

After about an hour and a half to eat and look around, we boarded the bus and did the whole trip again in reverse. On the way back, we heard more personal stories from Peggy and made a few stops that were different than on the way there.

Dinner in Whitefish

The Red Bus pulled back into the Apgar Visitor Center at around 5:30 pm and we headed back to the Grouse Mountain Lodge. After fixing ourselves up a bit after a damp, windy, and hat-wearing day, we ended up at a charming basement restaurant called Loula’s Cafe for dinner.

And wouldn’t you know it, we accidentally found a restaurant in Montana that served southern food! We had a pimento cheese appetizer, and I swear there were shrimp and grits on the menu. Soup, chicken pot pie, seafood pasta and pie was our meal for the evening. We liked it so much that we ate here again for breakfast the next day!

Loula’s Cafe seemed to be at one end of a very charming downtown area. I’d love to revisit Whitefish and see what more this winner of “coolest small town in America” has to offer.

Come back on Saturday for a fuller description of the park and many more pictures!