Glacier NP Suggestions for July

Our big tripped planned for this summer is going to be to Glacier, probably the last week in July. We have never been there before, and it will be our first long trip with a kid, who will then be about 7 months old. We plan on 5 full days in the park.

From doing a little research online, it seems like, having never been there before, I cant go wrong - it looks pretty awesome. Obviously, having a 7 month old, we cant do anything super intense, but we are more than fine with longer hikes to see some good stuff. I am mostly interested in getting awesome pictures.

We want to have a little bit of an outline for the trip, or at least a list of "must see's". Any suggestions? Like I said, we dont mind at all taking the longer hikes, my biggest hesitation with those hikes is that all the time we spend on one hike is time we cant spend somewhere else, so I want to make sure any longer hikes we are getting the biggest bang for the buck.

Any suggestions would be appreciated - thanks!

On our most recent trip to Glacier we spent two nights on the west side of the park at the Fish Creek Campground, we spent our time around Avlanche gorge/lake, johns lake, and along McDonald Creek. On day 3 we headed up to Polebridge where we rented a small cabin from the hostel, we also spent a bit of time around Bowman lake. Polebridge is AWESOME, there is a restaurant and little general store all run by hippies that make some of the best pastries I have ever had. For nights 4 and 5 we stayed in Saint Mary camp ground.. we spent one day hitting all the short stuff along the going to the sun road and the last day in many glacier. Many Glacier is where i always see the Bears, I have made 3 trips and every time I seen at least one bear (5 in one day on our most recent trip).

Well... for photos you really cant go wrong anywhere.

Kid friendly areas that come to mind are Avalanche gorge/Avalanche Lake, hidden lake, sun-rift gorge, johns lake, barring falls, and of course wild goose island on Saint Mary lake.

The real question is what part of the park are you going to be hitting up.



Sun Rift Gorge
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3245/...06a81ae1_z.jpg

Bowman Lake
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/...843cf08e_z.jpg

Thanks for the ideas Summit - the only problem is the pictures you take make everything look awesome!

I took a young child there a few years ago. Many good options (with a caveat).

Second the Avalanche area. It is cloaked with lovely Columbian forest (think red cedar; not the spindly lodgepole that hangs on in the east side of the park). I also really enjoyed Two Medicine Lake, including the tourist cruise to the far side. Other popular trails:
-Hidden Lake overlook, Logan Pass. Easy. Mountain goats at close range are common here.
-Iceberg Lake, Many Glacier. Some huckleberries around here. Moderate.
-Grinnell Glacier, Many Glacier. Moderate.

The problem with Many Glacier is that the NPS will often completely close entire trails in mid-late summer due to bear activity. For weeks, yes weeks, at a time. Just be aware that if you go to Many Glacier bent on hiking, you might strike out on your preferred destinations (we did). Have fun. Oh-consider taking the road thru Seeley Lake on your way up there. Wonderful forest and lakes. Also, be sure to check out the summitpost page for Glacier, it's one of the most extensive on the whole site, and will probably give you some ideas:
http://www.summitpost.org/glacier-na...park-mt/170953

Grinnel glacier is one sweet hike. If you stay at Many Glacier lodge beware that the hot water pipes start clanking @ 4:00 AM and sleep after that point is impossible.

We were there last week of September the day they closed the lodge and we saw more bears than you could count. And I dont mean the kind of bears you see over on the mountain, I mean the kind were you are on the trail going around a corner and there is a bear 30' away. They actaully got to be annoying there were soo many. But how cool is that, to get sick of seeing bears!!! Also make sure to stop and spend a day at the top of going to the sun road "Logan Pass Area" and take as many little hikes as you can there.

And dont miss McDonald Creek and the pebbles/colored cobble in the river bed. Make sure to have a camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are planning on going again this fall. Cant get enough of Glacier.

Oh PS. take the time to run up to Waterton Lakes NP for a day as there are plenty of places there as well. Take a boat ride across the lake there and do as much of the trail there as you can. SWEET!!!!! I will try and find the name of the lake and boat and glacier.

Find the book "Glacier on my mind" to get you really stoked about going there.

PS, if you drive up, camp on the shores of Polson/Flathead Lake just outside of Kalispell. Great 1st camp spot for the trip!!!!

Oh and the pics from Summit............. Its looks even better in real life!!!!!!

An easy hike is to the Hidden Lake Overlook, might be a good warmup for the kids. I really prefer the Many Glacier area but as noted earlier trails there are often closed. Avalanche Lake is a popular hike. Just north and back to Logan Pass on the Highline Trail will give you some great scenery. Outside of Glacier Park, east of Bigfork is the Jewel Basin Hiking area, shorter but still scenic hikes.
RP

So I just found out that we will be able to extend our Glacier trip to 7 or 8 nights if we want to. Now my question is, should we spend the whole time there and really get everything in, or try to hit something else entirely? I was thinking about maybe stopping for a few nights in Yellowstone on the way back, since I havent been there since I was 10 years old or so... but then again, I dont want to hit two parks, and not give either the sufficient time they deserve. Is there anything outside of Glacier that is worth stopping by, or should I just plan the whole trip in the park?