Trip to Glacier Park and beyond

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Crouch215

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May 19, 2013
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We are taking a family trip to Glacier Park in Montana for a week.(that part of our trip is planned)  Then We have two weeks left to explore/camp/fish in northwest Montana, PanHandle of Idaho, with a stop at Mt St. Helen's on the way home. We have a 30 ft motorhome which we don't mind taking on a dirt road here and there. We prefer camping where there is no power boating. Lakeside, riverside, kayaking. Any camping/campground/cute small towns/good fishing lakes- suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
LARC
 
There is a Forest Service Campground at Lake Alva.  It is a no wake lake.  It is first come-first served.  Senior Pass honored for 1/2 price camping.  All dry camping. 

It is located about an hour or so south of Glacier on Highway 83.  They open Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  Just south of Lake Alva is the town of Seeley Lake.  Let me know if you are interested and want more information about the area.

 
Check out River Delta Resort in Clark Fork, Idaho on Highway 200. 25 miles east of  Sandpoint.  3 hours from Glacier. On Clark Fork River. Very Quiet, not  a bunch of activity.  Check out their web site.  They open June 1.  You need your own boat/kayak.
http://www.riverdeltaresort.com/about.html  Some fish off the dock. 

Stop at Kootenai Falls along the way on Highway 2  for an impressive less than 2 mile  hike over a suspension Bridge and to view the falls.  It is near Libby MT and has a huge parking lot suitable for your RV right along the  highway.  Then take Highway 56 down to  Highway 200.
 
If you're going to be in Northern Idaho, you might want to take a look at Devil's Elbow Campground. It's a paved USFS campground about two hours N/E of Coeur D' Alene. It's right on the Coeur D' Alene River, very isolated but beautiful. We've boondocked there in our 43 footer with no problems.

Kev
 
Just be aware...the Going to the Sun road through the park is still closed beyond Lake McDonald Lodge...and likely won't reopen until at least mid-June.

https://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm (that service has been up/down all morning)
 
Crouch215 said:
Thank you for the link. We are going end of July, should be open by then.
Click to expand...

My understanding is Going to the Sun road has RV restrictions. From the west side KOA we took the Red (or was it yellow?) bus tour. Much better than driving....
 
If it were me with two weeks to give, I would take a few days and route myself out to the Eastern side of Glacier, drive north across into Alberta, Canada - WATCH OUT for roaming horses and cows around every corner!! The must see visit is to Waterton Lakes National Park. It is simply outstanding. Canoe/kayak on a glacier clear lake, see loads of bears and high tea time at the Prince of Wales Hotel. Quite the experience! Had my mother and two teens in tow and loved it! Beautiful scenery on up north through Pincher Creek (Hwy 6). Route yourself west on Hwy 3. You'll find some great coal mine tours and one of the Alberta's deadliest landslides (still visible in the town of Frank). Then you'll pass through Crowsnest on up to Sparwood - gorgeous scenery! From Sparwood, Hwy 3 turns south. Connect on to north Hwy 93 in Elko and then you'll head back over the border at Roosville and find yourself back on the west side of Glacier National Park.

To be honest, we did the route starting in Roosville going in reverse and the scenery was spectacular. Either way, you would love it!

Samantha

 
waterton national park( canada) should be a must for anybody visiting glacier. only about 35 miles from glacier it is outstanding , we have seen a lot more wildlife than in glacier each  trip.
 
Where did you stay along this route? The wife and I are headed up in July, first time out in our 30' 5ver. A little nervous about the trip and want to make sure we know in advance where we would be staying. I assume there are campgrounds in the park? Any advice would be appreciated. Sounds like a great trip.
 
Hello 2 explorers,
We have not made the trip yet, it will be this summer. The Parks in Glacier booked up long ago but there are some first come first serve campgrounds.
They usually fill in the morning. Because we are driving so far we have booked at some RV parks to ensure a place to stay. If we extend our stay or can move to one of the Glacier campgrounds when we get there we may. (Just check cancellation policies at the places you reserve) I am not sure where you are coming from  but we are coming from California. We are heading up through Nevada,Twin falls Idaho, we are staying one night at Salmon lake off Hwy 83, they are through reserve america. Then we are splitting our time on the East and West side of Glacier. Few nights at Saint Marys KOA on the East side. The are pricey, but you are guaranteed a place! There is Medicine campground on that side of Glacier and they have first come camping.On the West side we are staying at Glacier Campground, also pricey. From there we are going to check out some of the places some of the folks have talked about in this blog. Hoping to go into Waitron in Canada...have yet to plan that part yet. Good luck with your trip!
Crouch215
 
There is a great small Forest Service campground just outside of Glacier, right on the North Fork River, fish from the bank relax by the river...it is called Big Creek Campground - the easiest way to access without a long rough dirt road is to go through Glacier and exit on the Camas road and where it runs into the North Fork road turn left about 1.5 miles - campground on your left.


Primitive campground with no hookups but very nice and beautiful area and easy access back into the park for day trips and make sure you take the jeep to Polebridge out the North Fork Road and have a bear claw..


A jeep trip to Bowman Lake off of the Northfork road is also amazing....


Have fun...


Jim

 
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