The Perfect 2-Day Glacier National Park Itinerary

Ice-capped mountains. Sweeping valleys. Aquamarine lakes spilling into gushing waterfalls. Welcome to Glacier National Park, one of the USA’s first – and best – stunning National Parks, and a playground for both outdoor enthusiasts … and bears. And moose.

Glacier National Park features some of the most beautiful natural landscapes that you’ll find anywhere in the country. If it’s not on your bucket list already, haul it out right now and add it!

We designed the perfect 2-day Glacier National Park itinerary for folks with limited time to explore the park. Sure, a longer trip will let you see, do, and hike a lot more – but let’s be real, we don’t all have unlimited vacation time, and a short getaway to Glacier National Park is one of the best ways to spend your weekend!

If you do have more time to spare, this park itinerary was originally created as part of our 10-day Montana Road Trip, which includes many other fabulous destinations in Western Montana! Be sure to check it out while you’re planning your trip to Montana.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Moon Travel Guides and includes tracking links. For more information about tracking links and how to opt-out, please visit All About Do Not Track prior to clicking any links found in this post. Additionally, my trip was hosted by Glacier Country, Montana. As always, all opinions, suggestions, recommendations, and bad jokes are 100% my own and absolutely not their fault.

Psst: Planning a trip to Montana? When it comes to navigating unfamiliar territory – especially unfamiliar wilderness territory, full of legally protected critters and forests and such – it really helps to have a guide. Luckily, Moon Travel Guides has a full lineup of guides covering the National Parks! 

If you’re considering road-tripping from Glacier to Yellowstone – which we didn’t do on this trip, but now I really want to – the Moon Yellowstone to Glacier National Park Road Trip guide is full of detailed information, maps, and landmarks, and a detailed 2-week road trip itinerary (plus a few shorter options). It even includes tips like when and where to get gas and how to avoid traffic. Be sure to pick one up before you go!

We’ve also got another post that might be helpful for planning your trip. Check it out:

• The Ultimate Montana Road Trip: Detailed 10-day Itinerary

Things to Know Before you Go to Glacier National Park

Ahh, Glacier National Park. Crown jewel of Montana. This stunning park is the highlight of any Montana road trip, but before we jump into all of the amazing things you’ll be doing and seeing, we need to cover a few important basics.

Firstly: be aware during your trip that Glacier National Park – and, in fact, most USA National Parks – was originally inhabited and maintained by Indigenous peoples. The land that is currently Glacier National Park was actually given to the Blackfeet tribe as part of their original reservation.

But before too long, the Blackfeet were forced out of their re-assigned home in order to make way for luxury hotels and trains and wealthy tourists.

Today, they have free admission to visit the park but are not allowed to live on their land despite the original agreement made between the Tribe and the United States Government. It’s a shameful fact that all outdoor enthusiasts and National Park visitors should be aware of, as well as the efforts that are being made by the National Park Service.

It’s also important to keep in mind that American Indian culture is not something that exists in the past – it is still thriving and present, despite centuries of oppression and brutal policies that have pushed out Indigenous peoples and disenfranchised them.

To quote the Essential Understandings, “American Indian individuals and tribes are still here with distinct and intact governments, languages, and cultures that contribute to modern Montana.” The plight of American Indians is quite complex, and relations between US citizens (and the federal government) and Tribal citizens are, in a word, tense.

My trip to Montana, which was hosted by a State tourism bureau, was eye-opening; I realized how little I know about our American Indian neighbors and the ways in which my country (and by extension, myself) are still, today, complicit in oppressing Indigenous culture and communities.

Since my trip, I’ve been reflecting and researching ways that I can better educate myself as well as supporting existing Indigenous activism. I don’t have all the answers, but as someone involved in driving tourism and educating visitors, the least I can do is share what I’ve learned. (Note: if you have any suggestions for resources not included here, or ways I can better present this information, please drop us a comment and let us know!)

If you’re interested in experiencing Indian Country during your visit to Montana, I recommend reading through this booklet or browsing this site! Here are a few more excellent resources for self-education:

• Essential Understandings, produced by Tribal educators along with the Montana Advisory Council for Indian Education. This is basically a primer intended for students in Montana, and it breaks down everything you need to know about Montana’s Tribal communities into easy-to-digest essentials. If you read only one thing on this list, this should be it.
• Montana Indians: Their History and Location, produced by the Division of Indian Education & the Montana Office of Public Instruction in partnership with Tribal authorities and representatives from Tribal Nations. This is an excellent resource for understanding the stories, histories, and complex dynamics of the Tribal Nations of Montana.
• Indian Country Guidebook, produced by the Montana Department of Tourism. This is an excellent resource for determining ways that you can visit & support Indian communities during your trip.
• Montana Tribes Digital Archives, produced in collaboration between The University of Montana and Indian Education at the Office of Public Instruction. The archives include video interviews with Tribal members regarding the Essential Understandings (see resource #1).

Don’t Geotag in Glacier National Park!

Geotagging, which refers to “tagging” an exact location on social media, like a trail or set of coordinates, seems natural to many of us – we want to share the cool things we see when we are traveling, and to help others find the same amazing places that we did!

But the problem, as our tourism board hosts shared with us, is that places like Glacier are extremely delicate. They can only handle a few visitors at a time before the landscape and the animals start to feel the impact. And when thousands of people converge on a small number of specific wilderness locations, those locations are negatively impacted – and at risk of being harmed, destroyed, and blocked off to visitors entirely.

So if you want to post some cool pics of the nature you see – go for it! But please don’t post the exact location, particularly on Instagram or other publicly accessible social media platforms.

Within this guide, we’ve kept our suggestions for specific spots within Glacier National Park to a minimum to honor this principle.

Give ALL animals space.

Make sure you give plenty of space to the animals in national parks, even ones that aren’t aggressive! They need plenty of room so they don’t get nervous, just like humans. Even small, “cute” animals like chipmunks have been known to hurt humans who come too close to them. (Which is like … still super cute.)

Rule of thumb: Always keep 25 yards–about 1 school bus–away from a non-aggressive animal, or 100 yards/2 school buses away from large/potentially aggressive ones. You can learn more about wildlife respect and safety here.

During our trip, we saw everything from bears to moose, including one moose who kept trying to come uncomfortably close to us (fun fact: moose are some of the most dangerous animals in the parks – give them a wide berth). We stayed safely far away and used our zoom lens to capture photos of them instead!

Follow Leave No Trace guidelines.

All National Parks utilizes the ethos of “Leave No Trace”. What that means is that we don’t leave anything behind when we visit–even natural or compostable things, like banana peels or apple cores, which can disturb the fragile ecosystems within the park.

Whatever you bring in, you should bring back out again–pack it in pack it out. Don’t dig holes to bury things (including bodily waste), just bring a trash bag or use the park-provided facilities and trash containers!

Take Shuttles to get around.

If you want to reduce the emissions impact of your visit and avoid the stress of trying to find trailheads in your rental car, you can take shuttles around the park!

The shuttles run the length of Going-to-the-Sun Road, and they’re free! There are shuttle hub parking lots to leave your car, and the shuttles are all ADA accessible. They only run during peak season (summer) but if you visit before the end of September, they’re a great option.

You can see the schedule and all stops here.

Base yourself nearby.

We recommend basing yourself in the nearby town of Whitefish and driving in each day rather than staying within the park. The drive from Whitefish to the western entrance of Glacier National Park is around 45 minutes.

If you do base yourself in Whitefish, we recommend staying at the eco-friendly Pine Lodge, located right on the Whitefish River and a 3-minute drive to downtown. You’ll have easy access to the boutique specialty shops and galleries in town, and still within reach of all the outdoor activities.

Another fantastic option we found is this cute condo, located directly in town. You’ll be walking distance from everything in Whitefish! We recommend booking directly through Booking.com because it has fewer fees and more flexible cancellation policies than Airbnb – also, we’re not fans of Airbnb’s unethical track record and lax security.

That said: we think it’s worth the splurge to spend at least one night in the park! If you schedule your trip midweek outside of peak season, you can find fairly affordable rooms.

We’ve included an optional night at Many Glacier Hotel in our itinerary because of all the historic hotels in Glacier National Park – and we have stayed at all of them – we felt it was the MOST worthy of a splurge. Even though it’s not easy to get to from Whitefish – you’ll either need to drive around or through the park to East Glacier – but it’s well worth it.

Try to avoid high season.

We recommend visiting Glacier National Park in late August/early September. The park is crowded and packed with visitors in July and often still partially closed from snow in June, but if you wait until after school starts you’ll be able to enjoy a much less crowded park and absolutely perfect weather!

Be careful, though: if you time your trip too late in September, everything in Glacier National Park will begin shutting down because of snow (yes, that early)!

 I took my trip in later September, and while the leaves were beginning to turn into lovely golden colors, nearly everything in the park was shutting down – including many of the highlights of this itinerary! Book your trip no later than the 3rd week of September just to be safe, and double-check the seasonal closing dates before you book anything.

• Insider Tip: Visiting Montana in the fall is all about flexibility. You don’t want to trust the weather report beyond a couple of days out, and even then, you pack an umbrella and a jacket. The weather can change in an instant and you can experience all 4 seasons in 1 day!

What to Pack for Glacier National Park

Packing for Glacier National Park isn’t always the easiest task. The weather in Montana is fickle, and it’s not uncommon to experience all 4 seasons in the course of a day during the summer and fall. Throw in outdoor activities and long hikes, and you’ll need to get a little technical with your gear!

Here are a few essentials to pack and bring with you on your trip:

• Packable Down Jacket: The weather in Montana is unpredictable, particularly when you’re in/around/near mountains. You can’t trust the forecast in Montana! This lightweight down jacket packs down into a tiny ball of fluff and will keep you warm when you need it. Keep one tucked away in your bag – chances are you’ll forget it’s even in there until you’re suddenly in dire need!
• Rain Jacket: For the same reason you want to bring a just-in-case warm jacket, a just-in-case rain jacket is also an excellent idea. This one also packs down into a tiny, lightweight little ball to tuck into your day bag. We also recommend bringing a pair of Waterproof Socks, just in case. The weather in Montana is unpredictable!
• Re-Usable Water Bottle: The higher the elevation, the more water you need to drink! Keep Montana’s wilderness pristine and plastic-free by bringing your own re-usable water bottle. We love this one because the insulation will keep water ice-cold or coffee piping hot for hours and hours!
• Mineral Sunscreen: Sunscreen is a must – when the sun is out at higher altitudes, it’s stronger than you might be used to! The least harmful type of sunscreen, according to science, is mineral sunscreen. Mineral sunscreens are safer for human use, less harmful for the environment, and use two natural minerals—zinc oxide and titanium dioxide—as active ingredients.
• Hiking Clothes: Although the hikes we’ve included in this itinerary aren’t difficult, we still recommend dressing as if they were. You’ll be more prepared, and a lot more comfortable too! We’ve tried a lot of different hiking clothing over the years, and these are our favorite tried and true picks.
  • Hiking Clothing for Her: T-shirt | Sports Bra| Hiking Pants
  • Hiking Clothing for Him: Short Sleeve shirt| Hiking Pants
• Hiking Shoes & Socks: We both typically hike in Trail Runners  – they’re lightweight and travel-friendly, flexible and comfortable, and they dry super quickly when it rains or after a water crossing, so your feet will stay toasty and try. Pair them with well-made wool socks. Our favorite wool sock brand is Darn Tough: soft, durable, and they come with a lifetime guarantee in the event of holes (that’s how you know it’s real). And bring multiple pairs of socks – you want to keep your feet clean and dry! If you prefer hiking boots, we love these rugged, lightweight boots from VivoBarefoot, which let your feet move as though you were hiking barefoot.
• Bathroom Kit: Things happen on hikes, so it’s best to be prepared! Bring a little roll of toilet paper and some hand sanitizer … but leave the trowel at home: you can’t cathole in the parks. Familiarize yourself with leave-no-trace principles, and keep an empty Pringles container on hand for packing out your used toilet paper and … other things (yes, I mean it).
• Camera:  Glacier National Park is stunning, so don’t forget to pack a camera! We took a ton of awesome shots with our GoPro – the wide panoramic angle is perfect for the sweeping mountain vistas. We also love the Canon Powershot, a lightweight, hike-friendly camera that takes amazing photos while still fitting comfortably into your pocket.

Travel Tip: If you’re planning to visit multiple parks this year, we recommend picking up an America is Beautiful National Parks Pass. The pass is valid at over 2,000 National Parks and 10% of the sale proceeds are donated to the National Park Foundation, helping to keep our parks beautiful!

The average cost of admission to a National Park is $35, which means that the pass quickly pays for itself after just a few visits. AND you are supporting the National Park Foundation. Win/win! You can pick up a pass online at REI or in person at any National Park.

Glacier National Park Itinerary

Without further ado, let’s dive into our 2-day Glacier National Park itinerary!

Day One: Going to the Sun Road

The primary road through Glacier National Park, Going to the Sun Road, is a feat of engineering. Running all the way from West Glacier to East Glacier, the road winds through the valleys before suddenly plunging upwards and climbing turn by turn through the mountains of Glacier National Park, with views of sweeping U-shaped valleys and aquamarine lakes around every corner.

It is a must-do. But be sure to time your visit just right: the road opens in June or July and closes for weather-related reasons around late September or early October, so be sure to check that date before you go (and remember: the weather in Montana is unpredictable AF).

There are a few options for driving Going to the Sun:

Option 1: Self-Guided Drive

You can drive Going to the Sun Road yourself in your own vehicle. The road is 50 miles long and takes about 2 hours one-way with no stopping (but you’ll definitely be stopping a few times, so allow yourself extra time).

Although you’ll be winding up a mountain and certain spots may induce white-knuckling from nervous drivers, the road is not treacherous or dangerous. You’ll be perfectly safe and don’t need to worry about special tires or other safety precautions: when the road isn’t safe, it’ll be closed down to traffic and you won’t be able to drive on it.

• Travel Tip: If you’re planning to stay in Whitefish and driving yourself on Going-to-the-Sun Road, we recommend stopping your trip through the park mid-way at Logan Pass, going for a lovely day hike – we recommend the 5 mile Hidden Lake hike. As a bonus, you can use the facilities at the Logan Visitor Center before turning around and heading back to West Glacier or Many Glacier!

Option 2: Take a Free Shuttle

There are shuttles running throughout Glacier National Park, and you can take them from the entrance of West Glacier up Going to the Sun Road all the way to Logan Pass and East Glacier (and back again) – for free!

The shuttles are ADA accessible and make several stops, but take about the same amount of time as driving your personal vehicle. Note that shuttles have limited seating and you may find yourself waiting for a seat during high season.

Learn more about the shuttles here.

Option 3: Take a Guided Tour

Taking a guided tour is a fantastic option for Going to the Sun Road because it allows you to sit back and take in the views while learning about the history of the park and the flora and fauna that inhabit it.

There are only two tour operators driving this route.

• Tour Option #1: Glacier Sun Tours Operated by a Blackfeet Tribal Member

From the Sun Tours website: “our Guides are life-time residents of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and possess extensive knowledge in many facets of Tribal History, culture, and lifestyle. They provide an all-encompassing history and experience surrounding the landscape of Glacier National Park’s inhabited areas: Park history; animal species; common plants and roots used for nutrition and medicine; and the Blackfoot spiritual and philosophical perspectives/stories of life in the Buffalo Days as well as modern times.”

Sadly I didn’t have a chance to take this tour myself during my trip, but I’ve heard nothing but good things. Not only will you be learning about the park directly from the people who originally inhabited (and still, technically, own) it, but your tour fee will be directly supporting a local Native-owned business.

• Tour Option #2: Red Bus Tour operated by Xanterra

Your 2nd tour option is a historical icon of Glacier National Park: the Red Buses were the first-ever motorized tour buses in a US National Park, and they have been operating since the early 1900’s! They were designed especially for the inclines and turns of Glacier National Park & Going to the Sun Road, and their unique designs have been a staple of the Park ever since.

Our Red Bus was 91 years old and named Jill. Don’t worry: they’ve made a few technical adjustments since the original wooden buses, but those wooden frames are still in there somewhere!

Other than the bus’s abilities to handle turns and inclines, it has one more major advantage to an ordinary car: 360-degree scenery! On nice days, the bus’s canvas top rolls back to grant you absolutely stunning views of Glacier National Park from all angles. At certain points during the tour, you’ll even get to stand up on your seat and peer out – this is called “prairie dogging” and yes, it’s super adorable.

Your tour will be led by a Jammer – they’re called “Jammers” because they used to have to jam the stick shift to climb the mountains, and the entire park was filled with the lovely sound of gears jamming (the cars have since been upgraded to a jam-free experience).

The tour is operated by Xanterra, and we did notice a few corporate-enforced touches that we didn’t entirely appreciate. One thing we didn’t love was the focus on the Great Northern Railroad as the hero of Glacier National Park.

Essentially, the story that is told on the tour is one of unapologetic American capitalism, starring pioneers in the luxury tourism industry (referred to on the tour as “the first people here”) with significant erasure of the Indigenous peoples (referred to on the tour as “our Ancient people” – only they’re very much still around). The story of the Great Northern Railroad is certainly an important and relevant history of the park, but it’s not exactly a story we felt was worthy of much admiration and celebration, which is how it was presented.

Our guide was also not allowed to admit the existence of Climate Change, even when discussing the disappearance of Glacier National Park’s rapidly melting glaciers.

That said: the scenery is wonderful, the buses are comfortable and perfectly adapted to their surroundings, the tour was interesting, and the Red Buses are a fascinating piece of the history of Glacier National Park!

If you do opt for the Red Bus Tour, you’ll want to bring a ton of sunscreen (open top means LOTS of sun), plenty of layers as the morning is quite cold and the afternoon is quite hot, sunglasses, loads of water, chapstick, and snacks (just be sure to pack all the snack waste out with you).

Oh, and you’ll also need to book your tour about a year in advance. They’re very popular.

Day Two: Many Glacier

There are several historic railroad lodges located within Glacier National Park, and we had a chance to stay at a few of them during our trip. Most of them are comfortable yet rustic, and we had difficulty justifying their high nightly rates. But one of them stood out above all the rest: Many Glacier Hotel.

The lodge is fully Swiss themed – the better for attracting wealthy 1900’s tourists who typically prefer to summer in a Chalet on an Alp somewhere – and the rooms are modest but cozy. But the real draw, and the reason we recommend splurging on a night here, is the view. Ohhhh, the view!

The hotel is located on the banks of the glacial blue Swiftcurrent Lake, seated at the base of jaw-dropping glacier-covered mountains. The hotel’s wraparound deck offers the best lakeside sunset view I’ve ever seen! I was lucky enough to have a lakeside room, and that view was everything.

Oh, and there was also a herd of mountain goats casually grazing on the driveway when we pulled up. Ya know, Montana things.

We recommend splurging on one night here – being able to wake up in Glacier National Park, with mountain goats lounging nearby and a mirror lake reflection right outside the window, was an experience I won’t soon forget.

After a filling breakfast, pack some snacks, lace up your hiking shoes and head out for an excellent hike which starts right at the Many Glacier Hotel: Josephine Loop is an easy/moderate 5.8 mile hike with connections to Grinnell Lake or Hidden Falls.

The mostly flat loop takes you all the way around Lake Josephine, which is absolutely stunning, and doable even for slower hikers.

For a shorter hike, take the Chief Two Guns shuttle boat across Swiftcurrent Lake, walk about a mile to board the Morning Eagle to shuttle across Lake Josephine, and then hike a 3.6-mile hike to Grinnell Glacier.

Both boat shuttles are operated by the family-run Glacier Park Boat Company and operate from June through September. Be sure to book your boat shuttles in advance!

After your adventure, order a glass of wine or a locally brewed beer and relax on the giant wrap-around deck, gaze at the mountains, and watch the jaw-dropping sunset.

For dinner, refuel with a delicious, hearty, locally-sourced meal at the Ptarmigan Dining Room, inside the lodge.

And don’t skip out on dessert: try the Huckleberry Cobbler. Because you can’t visit Montana without eating something made from Huckleberry, and because there’s no better way to end your last night in Glacier National Park!

Is anyone else already dying to spend longer than 2 days in Glacier National Park on their next trip? Yeah … us too!

Psst: Planning a visit to Montana? We’ve designed the perfect 10-day road trip itinerary!

• The Ultimate Montana Road Trip: Detailed 10-day Itinerary

Looking for more outdoorsy travel destinations to explore? Here are a few of our favorites:

• 14 Epic Things to do in Yosemite National Park, California
• Where to Stay Near Yosemite National Park
• The 6 Best Day Hikes in Zion National Park

FOLLOW US!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Moon Travel Guides and includes tracking links. For more information about tracking links and how to opt-out, please visit All About Do Not Track prior to clicking any links found in this post. Additionally, my trip was hosted by Glacier Country, Montana. As always, all opinions, suggestions, recommendations, and bad jokes are 100% my own and absolutely not their fault.

2.6K shares