fueledbymetal

I'm looking at various road bike tours to take and the images of Glacier National Park are just INCREDIBLE! Is it really this scenic in real life? So far this is at the top of my list for a domestic road cycling destination!

https://lizardheadcyclingguides.com/r...ional-park-mt/

ystava

It is a remarkable place; among the most beautiful I've ever seen first hand. It is not crowded like, say, Yellowstone or the Great Smokey Mountains, but it's still a national park, so you'll have to get pretty far off the beaten path to not see people. Eastern side is the less traveled side I believe.

It is a 10/10 on scenery though. Be prepared for cold though... the snow lasts a long time at that latitude and altitude.

bikemig 

It is beautiful. I went through the park on my cross country; I'd do it again in a heartbeat, .

12bar

It's like riding through a postcard I have yet to see a picture that does it justice.

indyfabz

Pretty much.

The images starting after the one of the world's largest purple spoon are from the west side of Going to the Sun Road and Logan Pass during my last trip up that waa, which was in '09 We started the climb about a mile west of Lake McDonald Lodge:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez20...7620763740044/

We had planned to cross the pass east to west, but it was still closed so we had to ride around the park via Looking Glass Hill and Marias Pass so we could at least ride the west side.

The earlier images from the grazing deer to the general store were taken between Waterton Village and St. Mary via Chief Mountain Highway, etc. That large lodge you see is the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Village, where you would stay on that tour. Lake McDonald Lodge has a lobby room with a large fireplace and massive trophy heads on the wall. You can grab a beer and sit by the lake.

In '99 I crossed Logan Pass from west to east. The following year, I rode up and back down the west side. Black bear ran across the road during the descent. The ride up thw west side is amazing. I have never been to Many Glacier, but I hear it's nice.

If you go, try to do some hiking. You will have a better chance of seeing wildlife. There is a nice walk from behind the visitors center at Logan Pass to Hidden Lake. Mountain goats are common along the route. You might also see frolicking hoary marmots.

jamawani 

I've cycled Glacier N.P. many times - - and, yes, it really is beautiful beyond belief.
Going to the Sun Road traverses the park from east to west across the continental divide.
It is a ride that every cyclist should do in his/her lifetime if possible.

Furthermore, almost every campground has hiker/biker campsites so it is cyclist friendly.
Going to the Sun Road does have cyclist restrictions from 11a to 4p on the west side.
The road is quite narrow and car traffic is heaviest during these times.

Logan Pass is cleared of snow usually sometime in June, sometimes as late as July.
Wildflower season is late June into early July - the best time for scenery.

But there is way more to the park than Going to the Sun Road.
With storage lockers, it is possible to bike and hike the park's stunning backcountry.
Plus, there are excursion boats that take you across most of the park's lakes.
And you can head into Canada and take in Waterton N.P., too.
From Cameron Lake you can mountain bike it over the divide to Akamina-Kishinena Prov. Park.

You can almost do a loop around the park on paved and unpaved roads.
Up until the late 1990s, you could cross the border north of Polebridge - I did.

The east side has paved roads that run the entire boundary making access fairly easy.
Many Glacier is THE place to enjoy the park at its fullest.
There is a camp store, little pizza café, and showers near the campground.
There's the fabulous, historic Many Glacier Lodge - maybe at least a meal there?
And you can hike up to Grinnell Glacier and more.

In the southeast corner, there's Two Medicine with a little camp store.
Again, hiker/biker camping and great trails.
There are hostels in East Glacier which is an Amtrak stop.
US 2 loops around the south and southwest sides of the park.

The west side is accessed by good dirt roads both inside and outside the park.
Polebridge Merc has a great bakery and cabins.
Bowman and Kintla Lakes are incredible - far less visited.
If you tour on a mountain bike, they are not that hard to reach.

Back to Going to the Sun Road - -
I would avoid camping at either St Mary or Apgar - huge carnivals.
Rising Sun on the east side has store, café, and showers.
Sprague is close to services on the west side, Avalanche is on the trail to a great alpine lake.

Riding Going to the Sun means leaving early - you must on the west side.
Getting up to Logan Pass before 11a means you can hike Highline Trail.
The crowds of people driving hike out to Hidden Lake.
Highline is above the tree line with stunning, heart-stopping views.
You can hike out to Haystack Butte and have lunch with the world at your feet.

Anyhoo - that's the dope from my angle.

Juan

Alekhine

One of the prettiest places I've ever been. Only thing in the natural world that beat it for me was Thailand.

Erick L

You better go now before it's renamed No-More-Glaciers National Park.

raybo

I just finished a tour from Missoula, MT to Jasper, AB that included 3 nights in Glacier NP. It is a stunning place and, like John suggests, Many Glacier should be included on your itinerary. it is nestled in a bowl of huge mountains with quick access to back country hikes that are stunning. But, you will not be alone, either on a bike or in a tent. This isn't bad, just know what to expect. On the western side of Logan Pass, the campgrounds are a good distance away from the mountains, so if you want mountains, go for Many Glacier or other places east of the pass.

Another thing about Glacier is its extensive bus system means that many hikes are accessible by people who take a free bus ride to a starting place, do a hike, and then take the free bus back to their starting pace. Thus, hikes, even some remote ones, are not isolated.

As John says, the Highline Trail from the top of Logan Pass is a must.

All that said, Glacier is dessert compared to the Icefields Parkway that runs from Lake Louise to Jasper up in Canada, close to due North from Glacier NP, about a week of riding. It is 140 miles of indescrible variety and beauty. As someone suggested to me, I'd recommend doing both.

If you want to see some photos, here are about 90 selected pictures I took on my 4+ week trip in July, 2013.

shelbyfv

When we were there this summer, I think they were estimating about 10 more years for the glaciers. The Park Service is saying the name "Glacier" will still be appropriate because the landscape was formed by glaciers. Very sad. Of course I'm as guilty as anyone since I drove my truck out there

Machka 

From the Logan's Pass hub and spoke tour I did a few years ago ...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7606589046925/

indyfabz

All this points out why you would likely have a broader experience if were to do the park on your own rather than with an organized tour where you have to sitck to their schedule. Spent six days backpacking in the backcountry. Saw lots of goats, sheep and five moose. Notning like rolling out of your tent, stretching and turning around to see a bull moose 50' away grazing in a lake. If you have never spent any time in the backountry you can opt for a guided tour with this outfit:

https://www.glacierguides.com/

axolotl

That was always the principal reason the park was given its name. It has typical "U"-shaped glacially formed valleys. Even 100 years ago, the actual glaciers remaining there were quite small.

From the National Park Service website:

The park is named for its prominent glacier-carved terrain and remnant glaciers descended from the ice ages of 10,000 years past. Bedrock and deposited materials exposed by receding glaciers tell a story of ancient seas, geologic faults and uplifting, and the movement of giant slabs of the earth's ancient crust overlaying younger strata. The result of these combined forces is some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is the single most beautiful one day ride I've ever done in the US. For a mountain pass, the west side is unique, because you can see most of the road from the valley below before you begin to climb. You also pass almost vertically above the starting point before reaching the top. The climb has a fairly gentle, even grade. I love the way more and more mountains (and animals, at least early in the morning) become visible as you gradually gain altitude.

The park is also one of my favorite national parks for hiking.

Tourist in MSN

The elevation profile from my GPS going from East to West on going to the sun road. You will note that it is a lot less climbing than it would have been from West to East. Also, as mentioned above, there is one zone where cyclists can pedal downhill any time of day but are restricted certain hours going East. It was a steady uphill grind, but no killer segments of double digit grades, was nearly constant grade up hill.



There are free shuttle busses over going to the sun road, when I was there in 2012, many busses had bike racks but I saw no bikes on them. I do not know if they would let you carry four panniers, (etc.) on the bus but I suspect that they would not stop you. I rode the shuttle for two days sight seeing while base camping in Apgar and Sprague hiker biker sites.

Photo looking East on West side, took this on one of my two stops to let my rims cool from braking.



One of the irate inhabitants at Logan Pass visitor center.



Warning, the train through Whitefish is often late. I came from the East, train arrived in Whitefish at 1am. Good thing I had a reservation at the Cheap Sleep Motel, a 1.5 mile hike away. But the train is still a reasonably good way to get to the area, sure beats paying airline oversize luggage fees. Other Amtrak stations in the area do not handle luggage, thus Whitefish is the option if you bring a touring bike.



Consider the tour with Adventure Cycling. That is what I did. I got out there several days early so I could explore the park on my own before I joined up with the group.

Doug64

In July my wife and I did a 1200 mile ride from Vancouver BC to calgary and then south to Montana that included Glacier National Park and Logan Pass. Including Lake Louise, Banff, Jasper,and Waterton NP in your ride, along with Glacier NP will take you through some truely incredible scenery. Pictures do not do justice to Glacier NP.

I rank this ride as one of the best we have done.

I'm not including any pictures, which is unusual for me, because I've looked at raybo's pictures on another thread and they are really good. They do a great job of capturing the essence of the landscape. I highly recommend viewing his photos to get a feel for the country.

SparkyGA

I enjoyed the ride in GNP, I thought it was rather quiet by US parks standards when I rode.