The “Crown of the Continent” is in northwestern Montana, bordered by Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, and ranked as the 10th most visited national park in the United States. We have been to 8 out of the 10 most popular parks! We’re only missing Yosemite and Zion.
This probably would have been a fairly straightforward flight into Kalispell (the park has its own airport, Glacier International) except that a few years ago, a particular Travel + Leisure article made a deep impression on Greg, boldly claiming that the Amtrak line from Seattle to Glacier is indisputably the most scenic train ride in the entire country. So when we made plans to visit Seattle this summer, taking the overnight train into Glacier became a necessity. The route starts in Seattle and goes up along the Puget Sound through Edmonds, then directly east across Washington state, through Idaho, and into Montana where it passes Glacier National Park.
We dived into the world of Amtrak and learned all about roomettes, suites, and family rooms. After rearranging our schedule multiple times to figure out flights (whether to fly back into Seattle and home from there, or straight back from Kalispell), we finally booked two family rooms on the Empirebuilder. Each room holds 4 people, perfect for a family of 8. As we prepared for this trip, we were gifted a set of eight matching Glacier t-shirts from Uncle Rick “Cappy” Spurlock, made on his cricut. Even Claire has her own (slightly oversized) shirt!
July 3 found us waking up in Pacific Beach, WA, and meeting up with friends in Olympia on our way in to Seattle. It was such a treat to tour the Washington State capital with Beth Hennigan and her sweet family. I couldn’t believe how many gardens are on the capital campus. It’s beautifully landscaped. Inside, the star attraction is a bronze Tiffany chandelier, the largest in the world, weighing five tons. We were told a VW Beetle can fit inside of it. The walls are all covered in Italian marble and the masonry dome is cleverly supported only by gravity. We had a picnic lunch with Beth and then continued on to the King Street Station, with a quick stop at the Klondike Gold Rush national monument in downtown Seattle. Greg dropped us off at the station to get our suitcases on the baggage car while he returned our rental car. The first fun surprise of this train adventure – there were several – was that the route we chose (SEA –> WGL) “does not include baggage.” Apparently most people disembark at the big station in Whitefish, but Greg really wanted to include the last stretch of scenery and hop off at West Glacier, which is only a platform. The luggage stayed with us, a literal elephant in our rooms.
Greg returned our rental car and raced through the city on an electric scooter, narrowly missing a huge car accident. He made it back to the station just in time to board with us. It was so exciting to get on! Greg took Sophia, Henry, and Rachel to his room, and I took Zoe, Eva, and Claire to mine. Our second surprise of the train experience was the complicated system of dinner reservations. We were assigned the 7pm slot, which gave us PLENTY of time to soak in the stunning views outside our rooms. We arrived at the dining car right on time with a crowd of hungry children. One of the nice things about Amtrak is that meals are included when you’re traveling in a room, and they are meticulous about meals that are vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, kosher, etc. I had called ahead of time to make sure we could have kosher meals, and they assured me it would be taken care of. Spoiler: not true. A large sweaty man met us at the dining car to explain that our kosher meals didn’t make it to the train. The best he could offer us was 8 microwaved Hebrew National hot dogs and a few bags of chips. I feel we handled this situation gracefully, but it left us doubtful about Amtrak’s trustworthiness.
We brushed our teeth in the tiny airplane bathroom and tucked the berries into their bunks. Walking around a train doesn’t feel too much different than a car (both moving forward) but once you lay down, and the lights are off, it’s a unique sensation to be speeding over the tracks. It was much noisier than I expected. We rumbled through the night, stopping around 1am in Spokane where many of the passengers got off to stretch and socialize. Claire slept wonderfully, curled up next to me on the bottom bunk.
Before we knew it, we had breakfasted on corn flakes, explored the observation car, grabbed our bags, and it was time to jump off in West Glacier. Minutes later the train was speeding on and we were in the parking lot, saying goodbye to Greg and our suitcases as they headed off to the airport to pick up our rental car. Highly recommend the taxi service from 406 Rides – they were both punctual and affordable! Meanwhile, the girls and I picked up our backpacks and started the trek into Glacier Village, walking on the side of the highway. We bought postcards at the mercantile and found a sunny table to write a few notes. We made it work but if we had to do it again I would probably avoid the whole taxi situation and just get off at Whitefish.
Entering the park is intimidating. There were at least three checkpoints to verify that our 4th grader park pass (thank you Aaron Henry!) and our timed entry permit were in order. We were finally allowed to proceed along Going-To-The-Sun-Road and snake our way up to Logan’s Pass, which is the highest point in the park. The parking there is notoriously awful, but we managed to wedge our minivan into a crevice on the side of the road and climb out of it, with some difficulty. It was incredible to walk around Logan’s Pass and marvel at the snow-capped peaks on every side. It is 6,646 feet, the highest point in the park accessible by car. The berries picked up junior ranger books and chatted with park rangers inside the visitor center as we geared up for our first hike.
We took the High Line Trail, which turned out to be our favorite hike of the entire park. It’s terribly unsafe, which my children greatly enjoy. We tiptoed along treacherously thin ledges, clutching a handrail cable so no one disappeared into the giant ravines below. Amazing! I remember it with a rush of gratitude for the perfect weather, for the lack of crowds (we had the trail to ourselves), for safety, and for the majesty of God’s creation. After a fantastic hike we wound our way down the mountain and picnicked along a secluded stretch of McDonald Creek. The berries were far more interested in the water than in their lunch, and they waded up and down the creek looking for brightly colored rocks. Claire plunged exuberantly into the chilly water and spent a happy hour splashing around in her diaper. At one point a pair of deer came out of the woods within a few feet of us!
We had a stroll through downtown Whitefish, pizza at McKenzie River Pizza Company (where Henry lost a tooth), and a stop for groceries right before lighting Shabbat candles at our cute cabin in Martin City. The cabin was everything we’d hoped for and more – a quick 10 minutes outside the park entrance, clean and comfortable, with enough room for all eight of us.
Shabbat in Glacier was quiet and misty. We spent a cozy morning at our cabin and then took a leisurely drive along the entire length of GTTSR, from Apgar to Saint Mary’s. We had a windy picnic and a run around the fields along Saint Mary Lake. Although we passed the Many Glacier area, it is currently closed for construction and only a small shuttle goes in and out.
Our next day started with birthday cards for me! We packed up our cabin and picked up bike rentals in Glacier Village. Glacier Outfitters was the nicest company to work with – they even have a system where you can text back and forth with questions about their rentals. We rode a couple miles through the park, stopping for a quick hike on Rocky Point Trail and a stroll along the shores of Lake McDonald. Our route was scenic but quite the uphill challenge. My legs were burning after the first mile!
When we returned our bikes, a stout woman passing out helmets bellowed at us “I FOUND SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU.” What?? “PEOPLE FROM CHARLOTTE CAME IN AND THEY KNOW YOU, THE SIMPSONS!” “We’re not the Simpsons,” Greg said kindly. “Our last name is Bartos.” “OH I THOUGHT IT WAS YOU BECAUSE OF ALL THE KIDS,” she shouted. I guess we’re not the only family with a bunch of kids.
We got a round of huckleberry soda for the kids (huckleberry is huge in Glacier) and ran down to Lake McDonald Lodge for a boat tour around the lake on a historic ship from the 1930’s. Lake McDonald is a classic feature of Glacier NP, and it’s absolutely huge. As Glacier Park Boats puts it:
“As you glide across the pristine emerald-hued waters of Lake McDonald, you’ll be surrounded by tranquil forest, stunning mountain vistas, and the awe-inspiring beauty of the park’s west side. This narrated tour provides fascinating insights into the history and geology of the area, including how glaciers shaped this remarkable landscape. It’s a great opportunity to learn while you relax and soak in the scenery!”
Indeed. We learned, while soaking in scenery but not relaxing, due to the 6 children around. The waters of Lake McDonald are so clear and sparkling that Greg couldn’t resist a quick swim after our tour.
We rented a pontoon boat at Flathead Lake, just south of Glacier, for the afternoon and went out to Wild Horse Island. The name is a bit deceiving because apparently there used to be horses on it but they haven’t been seen in a long time. The bears may have gotten to them. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon but a few minutes into our trip Greg’s phone died and I realized mine was in the car, so we had an “unplugged” afternoon and it ended up being more of an adventure than we bargained for to navigate back with no map!
My 39th birthday ended in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – a different state and time zone than where we woke up. It was a really wonderful birthday. I couldn’t ask for more than making great memories with my family!
It is hard to feel like we “accomplished” Glacier National Park, since it is such a giant park and we have such limited time. But our goal is simply to visit each park, and we certainly did that. I’d give us a “kindergarten” grade at Glacier – we did the small easy stuff, nothing off the beaten path or deeper into the park. There’s a lot more we could do with older kids and a few more days at some point.
=)
