Trip planning advice needed for Voyageurs NP to Glacier NP

[Bruce Olive]

Planning a big trip from Voyageurs to Glacier NP in late summer/fall. Can you share your favorite scenic routes and ideas of where to stay along the way from August to October.

[Nancy]

Hi. Bruce,

I hope someone chimes in with something positive to say. For us the trip from northern MN to Glacier is something to be endured. This is one of our least favorite drives. We enjoyed overnighting at Fort Peck. There is a dam there to see if you like dams. They have a campground on the downstream side of the dam. This is probably a bit nicer but I prefer to camp above dams and we stay at one just above the dam.

I also hope someone can give you info on Glacier. Seems your trip is a bit late in the season and I hope Going To The Sun road will be open when you are there.

If you want any information about northeast MN (the most scenic part of the state) let me know. We never stayed at Voyageurs, just drove through a rustic campground to look it over.

Bring warm clothes. September can be quite cool in the north. We have never made that trip in September. Not sure when campgrounds close for the season. In Minnesota most of our State Parks keep a couple of sites open year round, but water gets shut off.

Nancy

[Bruce Olive]

Thanks Nancy for the good advice. We might skip Voyageurs after all and do a trip to Northern Minnesota next year and go directly to the Glacier. Cant beat first hand experience.

[BARNEYCONE]

I do not know anything about the route you may take, however, having been to glacier twice i would know the weather you mite have. If you cannot drive thru the park then you have wasted the trip. Glacier is so great!!!!! On the east side is st.mary's[very small town] with camping, on the west side is everything known to man.

[ChrisDunbar]

I was putting in my two cents when I realized you did NOT mean Voyageur Provincial Park (in Ontario) to Glacier National Park (In British Columbia). Having two Glaciers is very confusing. Even more confusing is the Canadian side of Glacier NP is named Wateron NP.

[Nancy]

Bruce and Kathryn,

I have sent you a private message.

Chris, if you can give input on likely weather in Waterton in August and September it would be of help regarding Glacier weather. We have only been there in July. We stayed at the St. Mary side one year and did a day trip to Waterton.

another year I sort of remember a really, outrageously expensive commercial campground on the other side. We were just passing through on that trip and needed the convenience of commercial overnight.

Nancy

[ChrisDunbar]

Originally Posted by Nancy

Chris, if you can give input on likely weather in Waterton in August and September it would be of help regarding Glacier weather. We have only been there in July. We stayed at the St. Mary side one year and did a day trip to Waterton.

Not to sound cliche but count on anything. Likely windy but who knows what temperature the wind will be. Weather will really be a crap shoot. I'd count on it being cool but not quite winter. The larch treed will be turning colour around then. It's a beautiful time to be there.

[Raz]

We visited Glacier last August. Even though it was late in the month, the campgrounds were full by noon. Only some of the campgrounds take reservations, most are first come first serve. You can view the campground situation here.

http://home.nps.gov/applications/gla...s/cgstatus.cfm

We found Two Medicine was the last to fill. Leaving Havre, Montana at about 4:00 in the morning we were able to find a site about 9:00 am. We would have gotten there sooner but we had to back track to the town of East Glacier. No trailers allowed on route 49 coming from the north. Most sites were pull through along the side of the road. Clean bathrooms but no showers. Typical no frills NPS. But the scenery will take your breath away. As we were headed for the west coast, we only stayed 2 nights, just long enough to drive the Going to the Sun Road. Because we always bring the dog, our visits to most National Parks are limited.

We stayed at Fort Peck on the way. The place was almost full. Lots of folks with big boats. The hosts we very friendly and the price was right. In Harve we stayed at a private campground called The Evergreen .

[Sands]

We visited Glacier NP last year...beautiful! Stayed in primitive (free) camp site on East side of Hungry Horse Reservoir (SW of Glacier). There are at least half a dozen developed campgrounds around Hungry Horse and many primitive sites. Our site was about 1/2 hour from West Glacier entrance. Half the distance was paved, half well maintained gravel.

[Nancy]

My travel log reminded me of another stop between MN and Glacier. We have several times stopped at a small town park in Culbertson, MT. It is really only a small parking lot attached to the park. Room for about 4 rigs. No service. Just a place to overnight. This park is only about a block away from a rest stop. Going west one hits Culbertson just after Williston, ND and one sighs with relief that Williston is behind you. coming from the west one can get through Williston area while one is fresh.

We stayed mid August at a campground very near St. Mary. They assigned us C-134 which was nice. We spent 6 nights there (we were young enough to hike then). We had to get tokens to take to another place where we could get showers. We did the "Jammer" ride. Fred enjoyed this as he could look at scenery instead of the road. Another year we did drive the Going to the Sun road. That was nice too as we could stop where we wanted. I liked doing it both ways.

Nancy

[Nancy]

Oh, Havre. Isn't that where the Buffalo Jump site is? That was very interesting. Worth taking an hour or so to tour.

[Mark J]

The best way to see Voyageurs NP is really by boat. For many years boating- in and camping at sites through out the park was free. I think it is $10 per night now. They do have boat tours from the visitors center. In many respects it is just like going to the BWCA wilderness area in natural beauty minus the boat traffic. June is not a good month to visit there! There is a very nice popular state run campground called Woodenfrog on the south side of Voyageurs.