Glacier/St. Mary Village

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Many Glacier

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I'm worried it is too remote(lack of restaurants and other services). This is why I'm leaning towards St. Mary Village. Looks like a good compromise between east side scenery and services.

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I'm worried it is too remote(lack of restaurants and other services). This is why I'm leaning towards St. Mary Village. Looks like a good compromise between east side scenery and services.

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Check the week you are staying and see if it coincides with this Blackfeet Indian celebration week (which seems to be some time around the last week of July/first week of August), if getting a drink is important to you.

The whole east side is considered part of the Blackfeet Reservation and they ban the sale of all alcohol during that week on the entire Reservation area.

I found out the hard way a few years ago.

Otherwise, I do like the idea of staying some on the west side (we got a house outside of Columbia Falls) and some on the east (we did the Glacier Park Lodge - sans alcohol). The Lodge is actually a bit isolated from other areas of the park, but it has the village right at it with restaurants and such. The St. Mary area is a bit more accessible it seems, but has more of a strip-mallish newer motel type feel. I wanted to get the old school Lodge experience.

ETA, although if you can get into Many Glacier Lodge, I wouldn't hesitate to do so for 2-3 nights. It has the most iconic setting in the park and is a great spot for many of the best hikes. The whole "dining/town scene" anywhere else around there is not really interesting enough to make up for that - especially on the East side.