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Glacier National Park Trip Itinerary - July 2027 Preplanning
Posted on 10/1/26 at 1:58 pm
Posted on 10/1/26 at 1:58 pm
A few weeks ago I asked for suggestions and thoughts on here for our trip in 2027. We are a family of 4, kids will be 13 (female) and 9 (male turns 10 in August) I did a bit more research and started putting together a plan. Id appreciate any suggestions you may have for what I have planned so far.
July 14 - Travel Day. Pick up rental car, and stop at the Sharing Shack in hopes of getting some items we will return after the trip (A cooler and bear spray). Then a grocery stop. We are staying in a VRBO in Columbia Falls.
July 15 - Hiking Day. Avalanche Lake / Trail of the Cedars followed by putt putt golf at Golfing to the Sun Mini Golf. (6.1 Mi / 780')
July 16 - Hiking Day. Take a boat to the trail head of Dawson Pass and stop on the hike back at "No Name Lake". Catch the boat back to the car and on the way home hike Running Eagle Falls. (Total 9.5 Mi / 2903')
July 17 - River Rafting Day - ~ Rafting trip w/ Glacier Rafting Co (~3 hour)
Followed by lunch at Freda's. Going to spend the evening in Whitefish with plans to eat dinner at Blackstar BrewPub.
July 18 - Hiking Day. Iceberg Lake and then check in at Many Glacier Hotel. Afternoon hike of Swift Current Lake / Nature Trail, then dinner at the hotel. (Total12.1 Mi / 1584')
July 19 - Hiking Day. Take a boat across Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine. Grinnell Glacier Trail. Drive back home after hike (7.4 Mi / 1978')
July 20 - Horseback ride the CM Russel Trail (2 hours) and then hike Rocky Point. Spending the evening in Whitefish to check out the Farmers Market and have dinner. (2 Mi / 236')
July 21 - Lake Day. Renting a pontoon boat for the day on Flathead Lake.
July 22 - Hiking Day. St. Mary/Virginia Falls, Baring Falls, and Rising Sun Trail. (5.3 Mi / 625')
July 23 - Shuttle to Logan Pass and Hike the Highline Trail (12.3 Mi / 1502')
July 24 - Travel Day home.
For picking trails I used hike734 and alltrails. My wife is a little concerned about some of the distances / elevation gains we will have on some of the trails. If you have kids of similar age I would like to know how they would handle the distance? Last summer we went to WNC and our longest day was just at 10 miles and ~1550'. I understand her concerns, but I also think the trails I have listed are "must do's". Again feel free to make suggestion or if you have anything you think I should skip and replace with kinda deal.
July 14 - Travel Day. Pick up rental car, and stop at the Sharing Shack in hopes of getting some items we will return after the trip (A cooler and bear spray). Then a grocery stop. We are staying in a VRBO in Columbia Falls.
July 15 - Hiking Day. Avalanche Lake / Trail of the Cedars followed by putt putt golf at Golfing to the Sun Mini Golf. (6.1 Mi / 780')
July 16 - Hiking Day. Take a boat to the trail head of Dawson Pass and stop on the hike back at "No Name Lake". Catch the boat back to the car and on the way home hike Running Eagle Falls. (Total 9.5 Mi / 2903')
July 17 - River Rafting Day - ~ Rafting trip w/ Glacier Rafting Co (~3 hour)
Followed by lunch at Freda's. Going to spend the evening in Whitefish with plans to eat dinner at Blackstar BrewPub.
July 18 - Hiking Day. Iceberg Lake and then check in at Many Glacier Hotel. Afternoon hike of Swift Current Lake / Nature Trail, then dinner at the hotel. (Total12.1 Mi / 1584')
July 19 - Hiking Day. Take a boat across Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine. Grinnell Glacier Trail. Drive back home after hike (7.4 Mi / 1978')
July 20 - Horseback ride the CM Russel Trail (2 hours) and then hike Rocky Point. Spending the evening in Whitefish to check out the Farmers Market and have dinner. (2 Mi / 236')
July 21 - Lake Day. Renting a pontoon boat for the day on Flathead Lake.
July 22 - Hiking Day. St. Mary/Virginia Falls, Baring Falls, and Rising Sun Trail. (5.3 Mi / 625')
July 23 - Shuttle to Logan Pass and Hike the Highline Trail (12.3 Mi / 1502')
July 24 - Travel Day home.
For picking trails I used hike734 and alltrails. My wife is a little concerned about some of the distances / elevation gains we will have on some of the trails. If you have kids of similar age I would like to know how they would handle the distance? Last summer we went to WNC and our longest day was just at 10 miles and ~1550'. I understand her concerns, but I also think the trails I have listed are "must do's". Again feel free to make suggestion or if you have anything you think I should skip and replace with kinda deal.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 2:32 pm to lsucm10
I've not done Glacier personally, so just a couple of thoughts in general.
Besides the elevation gain of each hike, what altitude will you be at, and will you be acclimated? I know Logan Pass is roughly 6,000 feet asl.
You are looking at 20+ miles over 3 days, with 15 or so spread over 2 days twice. I don't know how physically active you and your family are, but that's a lot of walking. I think you need to pick a couple of weekends and go walk those miles at a local park to see how your body responds - not just that evening but a couple of days after. I can see the kids, especially the younger one, being tired, sore, etc. and just being miserable.
Besides the elevation gain of each hike, what altitude will you be at, and will you be acclimated? I know Logan Pass is roughly 6,000 feet asl.
You are looking at 20+ miles over 3 days, with 15 or so spread over 2 days twice. I don't know how physically active you and your family are, but that's a lot of walking. I think you need to pick a couple of weekends and go walk those miles at a local park to see how your body responds - not just that evening but a couple of days after. I can see the kids, especially the younger one, being tired, sore, etc. and just being miserable.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 2:40 pm to lsucm10
Do y'all hike regularly? Do you kids enjoy nature? I can't see most teenage girls wanting to hike 10+ miles at a time. And almost 60 miles in 10 days. Sounds a liiiiittle ambitious, but you know your family better than I do.
My kids are 3 and 6, the 6 y/o has been hiking for years. Damn near every hike is a fight in the beginning when he's not motivated. But we push him and bribe with candy.
Eventually, we get to a cool spot and it clicks for him and he's on cloud 9. The 3 y/o just started out of a carrier 6 months ago. I think he enjoys it most of the time but does get tired.
All that to say, we are a very active family, especially on vacation. But I think your plan is absolutely nuts. A 3000' gain hike will probably have y'all wanting to sleep for 2 days.
My kids are 3 and 6, the 6 y/o has been hiking for years. Damn near every hike is a fight in the beginning when he's not motivated. But we push him and bribe with candy.
Eventually, we get to a cool spot and it clicks for him and he's on cloud 9. The 3 y/o just started out of a carrier 6 months ago. I think he enjoys it most of the time but does get tired. All that to say, we are a very active family, especially on vacation. But I think your plan is absolutely nuts. A 3000' gain hike will probably have y'all wanting to sleep for 2 days.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 3:01 pm to lsucm10
quote:I was just there in July and rented a boat from Flathead Boat Company in Polson because they allowed you to take their boats to Wild Horse Island. Some of the other boat rental companies don't. We enjoyed tubing and driving around, but the best part of our lake day was parking at the island to swim, hike, and eat lunch.
July 21 - Lake Day. Renting a pontoon boat for the day on Flathead Lake.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 3:05 pm to lsucm10
quote:Listen to her. Parking in GNP can be a real hassle so I went to all the trouble of perfectly timing an afternoon easy hike to Avalanche lake only for my wife and kids to give up after 1/2 mile. Almost abandoned them. It is an easy hike, but we are clearly not hikers.
My wife is a little concerned about some of the distances / elevation gains we will have on some of the trails.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 3:54 pm to RonFNSwanson
quote:
Do y'all hike regularly? Do you kids enjoy nature? I can't see most teenage girls wanting to hike 10+ miles at a time. And almost 60 miles in 10 days. Sounds a liiiiittle ambitious, but you know your family better than I do.
My son and I hike when we tent camp in the state parks around here during the fall / winter months. 3-5 miles a day plus whatever random stuff we will do while out there. My daughter is active in sports basically year round now so she has a base to build on. This summer we went to Sapphire NC and in 4 days we hiked 25 miles (5, 10, 5, and 5 miles). So its a huge jump up for sure, but that trip went really well. We took our time and would pack in lunch and snacks.
quote:
But I think your plan is absolutely nuts. A 3000' gain hike will probably have y'all wanting to sleep for 2 days.
I'm most willing to change this particular hike as I agree with you on it being a beast. The downside is the other trails I would like to replace it with are not much better distance / elevation wise. I have a lot of time to consider things and it helps having someone else tell me this is a little crazy lol. Just pulled up the trail on all trails again and it seems like 2,000 feet of the gain happens in about 2.25 mi lol.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 4:20 pm to PJinAtl
quote:
Besides the elevation gain of each hike, what altitude will you be at, and will you be acclimated? I know Logan Pass is roughly 6,000 feet asl.
The house we are renting is around 3100'. Our first day of hiking peaks out around 4,000'. Our second day of hiking is when we will reach our highest hike, just shy of 8,000'. From the other comments, I probably need to rethink doing that hike since it also has us climbing ~3000', with 2000' of that from mile 2.25 to 5 ish. Our previous height we have hiked to is just under 5000'. So all valid points yall are making.
quote:
You are looking at 20+ miles over 3 days, with 15 or so spread over 2 days twice. I don't know how physically active you and your family are, but that's a lot of walking. I think you need to pick a couple of weekends and go walk those miles at a local park to see how your body responds - not just that evening but a couple of days after. I can see the kids, especially the younger one, being tired, sore, etc. and just being miserable.
In a earlier response to another poster I mentioned my son and I hike around here and my daughter is active in sports. Our plan is to take them walking a few days a week with my wife and I starting in the spring and maybe a few hikes in Saint Francisville to get some hill action. While no where near the same, it will at least get them some time on their feet. I'm confident they can spend the time on their feet because they walk 10+ hour days at WDW. Again, not the same experience, but it' something. I appreciate your input and I will likely have to make some changes. You'll laugh, but my first version of this plan had even more miles, so I have changed a good bit already. I need to keep finetuning the plan to make it a bit more enjoyable for everyone.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 4:27 pm to lsucm10
I will preface this with saying that we live in Colorado at 5800' so being at elevation doesn't bother us. I have done every hike you show and most of them with my kids. You will be fine. Your kids will be fine as long as they are somewhat active kids, they did 10 miles last summer so they can do this.
Dawson Pass is the only one on your list my kids didnt do. I did it with Pitamakan so came down what you will climb. Scenic Point is in that part of the park and pretty awesome also.
Highline has a spur trail to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier. It is about a mile each way and pretty damn steep, you should definitely do it and anyone who isnt feeling it can wait for you at the chalet. If you take the spur trail this hike gets much more strenuous.
My kids did all the other hikes you have when they were 5 and 6, they were fine.
You need to have dinner at the Belton Chalet one night.
Dawson Pass is the only one on your list my kids didnt do. I did it with Pitamakan so came down what you will climb. Scenic Point is in that part of the park and pretty awesome also.
Highline has a spur trail to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier. It is about a mile each way and pretty damn steep, you should definitely do it and anyone who isnt feeling it can wait for you at the chalet. If you take the spur trail this hike gets much more strenuous.
My kids did all the other hikes you have when they were 5 and 6, they were fine.
You need to have dinner at the Belton Chalet one night.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 8:01 pm to idontyield
quote:
I will preface this with saying that we live in Colorado at 5800' so being at elevation doesn't bother us. I have done every hike you show and most of them with my kids. You will be fine. Your kids will be fine as long as they are somewhat active kids, they did 10 miles last summer so they can do this.
Thanks for the confidence boost!!
quote:
Dawson Pass is the only one on your list my kids didnt do. I did it with Pitamakan so came down what you will climb. Scenic Point is in that part of the park and pretty awesome also.
Pitamakan was on my list along with Dawson Pass. If I recall correctly that’s the one with the tunnel at the end. If so I didn’t know if the extra distance was worth it and went with Dawson instead. I’ll have to recheck scenic point. It’s a bucket list trip so I want to choose the better of the two!
quote:
Highline has a spur trail to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier. It is about a mile each way and pretty damn steep, you should definitely do it and anyone who isnt feeling it can wait for you at the chalet. If you take the spur trail this hike gets much more strenuous.
I wasn’t sure if it was worth getting the vantage point of Grinnell Glacier while on the Highline trail since we are making the trip to it on another day from a different trail head. Maybe if timing works out I can let them have lunch at the chalet and go up there solo. 2 miles could take as much as 40-60 minutes which they may be happy to have resting. May be a game day decision!
quote:
You need to have dinner at the Belton Chalet one night.
Appreciate the suggestion! Going to have to look into it.
I didn’t think this think would be as or more expensive than a trip to WDW, but here we are lol.
Random question since we are at it. What kind of clothes do you recommend for July up there? Pants and light layers for upper body?
Posted on 10/1/26 at 8:09 pm to lsucm10
highline is rough brother. Especially the beginning. I think you should think about toning down a bit…pick one long hike and the rest short ones. While you are at Many for example you can hike all around the lakes with no elevation gain and its drop dead gorgeous. Plus you’re likely to see moose.
Grinnell is popular for a reason but that’s a long arse day with kids especially of the female sort. You don’t have to see everything
Avalanche, hidden lake, st Mary’s/Virginia etc are all good choices
Grinnell is popular for a reason but that’s a long arse day with kids especially of the female sort. You don’t have to see everything
Avalanche, hidden lake, st Mary’s/Virginia etc are all good choices
Posted on 10/1/26 at 8:52 pm to lsucm10
I would give a slight nod to Dawson plus you get to do the boat ride.
The spur trail off Highline is about a mile before you hit the chalet. The chalet has snacks they can buy and eat on the porch while they wait on you. It is 100% worth doing, even if it is just you. It is the steepest trail you will encounter on your trip by far.
Even starting early hiking you will warm up quickly. Shorts and a jacket/sweatshirt you can take off. You will have to carry it so plan accordingly. You will want pants and a jacket at night.
I have been up there about 5 times. Your itinerary is fine, dont let anyone talk you out of it. You have some easy short days built in for pulling into overlooks and stopping to play in the rivers and lakes. You are good,
We did Grinnell Galcier hike when my kids were little, like 5 and 6. It was the biggest hike they had done at the time. The park had record heat, it was 100 degrees. We ran out of water on the way back and were miserable by the end. The wife was beyond pissed at me. We all lived and it is a great story now.
The hikes there got my youngest into hiking, he just backpacked the Teton Crest with me this summer.
The spur trail off Highline is about a mile before you hit the chalet. The chalet has snacks they can buy and eat on the porch while they wait on you. It is 100% worth doing, even if it is just you. It is the steepest trail you will encounter on your trip by far.
quote:
What kind of clothes do you recommend for July up there? Pants and light layers for upper body?
Even starting early hiking you will warm up quickly. Shorts and a jacket/sweatshirt you can take off. You will have to carry it so plan accordingly. You will want pants and a jacket at night.
I have been up there about 5 times. Your itinerary is fine, dont let anyone talk you out of it. You have some easy short days built in for pulling into overlooks and stopping to play in the rivers and lakes. You are good,
We did Grinnell Galcier hike when my kids were little, like 5 and 6. It was the biggest hike they had done at the time. The park had record heat, it was 100 degrees. We ran out of water on the way back and were miserable by the end. The wife was beyond pissed at me. We all lived and it is a great story now.
The hikes there got my youngest into hiking, he just backpacked the Teton Crest with me this summer.
Posted on 10/1/26 at 9:34 pm to idontyield
quote:
The spur trail off Highline is about a mile before you hit the chalet. The chalet has snacks they can buy and eat on the porch while they wait on you. It is 100% worth doing, even if it is just you. It is the steepest trail you will encounter on your trip by far.
Wife just informed me that these are not agreeable terms lol. It is what it is. Pushing the limits as is, so to keep the peace it looks like I’ll have to skip it. Unless I can talk all of them into it lol.
quote:
I have been up there about 5 times. Your itinerary is fine, dont let anyone talk you out of it. You have some easy short days built in for pulling into overlooks and stopping to play in the rivers and lakes. You are good,
That was what I was thinking but wasn’t sure if it’s enough easy days between some of the two day hikes.
quote:
We did Grinnell Galcier hike when my kids were little, like 5 and 6. It was the biggest hike they had done at the time. The park had record heat, it was 100 degrees. We ran out of water on the way back and were miserable by the end. The wife was beyond pissed at me. We all lived and it is a great story now
I think the cool kids are calling this “type 2 fun” these days. Sucks while doing it but looking back on it, it was a good time!
I’m sure we will have moments where my wife and kids will be like wtf, but when we get home those stories will be positive.
I do appreciate all the input. I have a much more detailed spreadsheet based on current plans but not sure how to share it without putting my personal information out there.
This post was edited on 10/2/26 at 5:38 am
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