Glacier Vacation

We are back from a road-trip vacation to Montana and had a fantastic time! Besides lots of time in the car, we went to 13 national park areas, hiked over 30 miles, tried lots of great craft beers, and saw tons of beautiful sites and animals.

Our ultimate destination was Glacier National Park on the Montana/Alberta, Canada border and it did not disappoint. Since we went to Big Bend at the Texas/Mexico border over winter break, I wanted to go to the northern border next (too bad it's 29 hours from our house!). There was plenty to see along the way - we stopped at Yellowstone and Grand Teton again, added classic South Dakota sites and a few Colorado days to the trip too.

We loved this trip and highly recommend Glacier National Park, add it to your to-visit list ASAP. Next time we want to go spend a month there with an RV. The trails are calling...

Trip Highlights:

South Dakota 

• Hiking in Badlands National Park (one of my favorite places from the trip)
• Exploring wacky Wall Drug, where Disney World meets gas station
• Crazy Horse Memorial (and we listened to a neat audiobook biography on the way) and Mount Rushmore at dusk for the lighting ceremony
• Camping near cute Hill City at the Oreville Campgound, a great central location in the beautiful Black Hills
• Touring Wind Cave National Park, hiking at Sylvan Lake (that beautiful lake from the cheesy National Treasure movie) in Custer State Park, and local wine sampling at the stylish Prairie Berry Winery
• Gold rush stuff in Deadwood and the historic Mount Moriah Cemetery

[Putting our new parks pass to work.]

[Rushmore]

Wyoming

• Hiking the tower trail at Devils Tower National Monument
• Driving the amazing Cloud Peak Wilderness Scenic Byway through eastern Wyoming 
• Exploring too cool Jackson Hole again, where we especially enjoyed a patio lunch at the Snake River Brewery
• Lots of awe-inspiring wonders at Yellowstone and Grand Teton, where we camped at a Flagg Ranch, a great location on the border between both parks 

[Devils Tower]

[Tetons]

[Jenny Lake]

[Teton Sunset]
 

[Yellowstone]

[Waiting for Old Faithful - crowded but worth it]

[Geyser Basin]

Montana

• Relaxing in Bozeman at the neatest little cabin for a few nights - we loved the Gallatin Guest House! 
• Whiskey tasting at the Roughstock Distillery
• Making it to Glacier! The park was AWESOME, especially the Many Glacier area where we stayed (in a perfect little camper cabin at the Swiftcurrent Inn) and enjoyed several great hikes, ranger talks, and animal sightings (Matt's two-bears-on-the-trail story gets better with each telling) 
• Enjoying the views from the patio at the Many Glacier Hotel and taking a fun row boat ride around the lake 
• Riding the shuttle on the gorgeous Going-to-the-Sun Road and hiking through a snow field in July at Logan Pass 
• Quick stops at the Lewis & Clark Museum in Great Falls, the Little Bighorn Battlefield, and National Historic Trails Center for nerdy pioneer trail fun

[Miles and Miles of Montana]

[Red Rocks Trail]

[Ptarmigan Falls Hike]

[Swiftcurrent Cabin]

[Our Rowboat Adventure]

[Many Glacier Lodge]

[Logan Pass]

Colorado

• Fun in Fort Collins with a Fat Tire tasting at the New Belgium Brewery
• Spending the 4th of July with friends Joe & Cassie by driving the Mount Evans Auto Road
• Exploring downtown Denver and the tasty and dog-friendly Denver Brewing Co.

[New Belgium Brewery]

More Trip Photos

Wildlife sightings...

Pronghorn antelope

Bison

Mule deer

Elk

Yellow-bellied marmots

Bull moose
Black bears
Mountain goats

Big horn sheep

Turtles

Ravens

Hummingbirds

Fox

Giant grasshoppers

Countless rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and prairie dogs

[Bambi sighting on the Iceberg Lake Trail]