July 7 – 13, 2012

When John Muir visited the region that would become Glacier National Park, he described it as “the best care-killing scenery on the continent.” The famed naturalist's words are still valid today in this beguiling landscape of peaks, meadows, wildflowers and meltwater lakes fed by rills tumbling down off the park’s namesake ice shelves. A foray into Glacier’s wild bounty will refresh and energize contemporary spirits just as it did a century ago.

Trip Itinerary

The dates below do not include travel time to and from the destination. Please consult our tour operator, Natural Habitat Adventures, to discuss your best flight options.

Saturday, July 7: Kalispell, Montana
Meet this evening for an informal welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the downtown hotel, a classic western property built in 1912. Kalispell Grand Hotel (D)

Sunday & Monday, July 8 & 9: Glacier / Two Medicine Valley
This morning drive east to Glacier National Park, commencing your retreat into one of the United States’ most treasured natural landscapes, where glacially carved valleys and dramatic mountain peaks beckon. Glacier boasts the most intact natural ecosystem left in the lower 48 states, and you’ll have abundant opportunity to view many of the species that call it home, including the mountain goat, the park’s emblematic animal. Learn about the Lewis Overthrust fault and the region’s tumultuous geological history – studied by scientists from around the world. A boat cruise across Two Medicine Lake reveals the grandeur that is Glacier as you glide across its sapphire waters. Later, hike through winding Two Medicine Valley, bright with multicolored rock layers on the mountain walls and once a site for sacred Native American rituals. Our accommodations are at remarkable lodge. Built by the Great Northern Railway in 1913 to attract visitors to the park’s wonders, the hotel lobby features log pillars over 40 feet high and 40 inches in diameter, crafted from Douglas fir trees hundreds of years old. The Blackfoot Indians, awed by the size of the timbers, called it “Omahkoyis,” or Big Tree Lodge. Glacier Park Lodge (B,L,D daily)

Tuesday & Wednesday, July 10 & 11: Many Glacier Valley
At Many Glacier, enter one of the park’s iconic valleys. Scoured into a broad U-shape by rivers of ice that retreated some 10,000 years ago, Many Glacier features granite crags, waterfalls glissading from icy ledges high above and alpine lakes set like gems in the rocky backdrop. You'll see why the Blackfeet gave the name “Backbone of the World” to the greater Glacier Park ecosystem. Keep an eye out for black bears and grizzlies feeding among the bushes in avalanche chutes, mountain goats and bighorn sheep perched on cliffs, and elk grazing in the meadows. Your hotel, built in 1915, is a grand Swiss-style chalet meant to complement its setting in the “American Alps,” in the vision of the rail barons who constructed it. It sits regally on the edge of Swiftcurrent Lake, overlooking a panorama of crenellated peaks. Walks, hikes and boat rides take you right into the natural environs and close to an active glacier, an experience that future visitors may be less likely to have as global climate change hastens the melting of the park’s permanent ice features. Many Glacier Hotel (B,L,D daily)

Thursday, July 12: Going-to-the-Sun Road / Lake McDonald
An engineering marvel completed in 1932, Going-to-the-Sun Road twists and climbs around Glacier’s granite spine all the way to the Continental Divide. Waterfall spray creates rainbows as streams pour off rock precipices, while serrated peaks poke the blue sky. On the summit at Logan Pass, wander trails through alpine tundra thick with white bear grass and avalanche lilies, listening for the whistle of marmots darting among the rocks. Cresting the divide, descend to the wetter west side of the park, where thick forests of fir and cedar hug the mountain flanks, and fern and mosses grow in their shadows. At your lodge, another historic hostelry evocative of Swiss alpine architecture, there’s time to relax in front of the soaring stone fireplace and muse on the week’s wonders. Lake McDonald Lodge (B,L,D)

Friday, July 13: Kalispell / Home
This morning, get an early start back to Kalispell for flights home. (B)