Glacier is the most dramatic national park in the lower 48 and the one where families are most likely to see a bear, a mountain goat and a glacier in one day. It is also the one with the most rules about when you can drive in, so this is the park that needs a plan.
Reservations
Vehicle reservations are required for the Going to the Sun Road corridor and some other areas in summer, released months ahead with a few the day before. If you have a lodging or activity booking inside the corridor, that counts. Check the current rules before you fix dates, because they change every year.
Going to the Sun Road
Fifty miles over the Continental Divide with cliffs on one side and the valley a thousand feet below. It is open fully from late June or July to October. Drive it early, stop at every pullout, and expect the kids to be quiet through the Loop. The red bus tours with the roll back tops let someone else drive and the drivers tell the stories.
Logan Pass
The top of the road, with a visitor center and the Hidden Lake overlook trail, a boardwalk and dirt path of about three miles round trip through meadows with mountain goats that walk right past you. Snow lingers into July. The lot fills by eight, so go early or take the shuttle.
The easy trails
Trail of the Cedars is a flat boardwalk loop under giant cedars and over a gorge, and it continues to Avalanche Lake, a two mile climb to a lake with waterfalls streaming down the wall. That is the best family hike in the park. Lake McDonald has a lakeshore with colored pebbles that kids sort for hours. St Mary Falls and Virginia Falls on the east side are a gentle three mile round trip.
Many Glacier
On the east side, the most beautiful valley in the park, with a historic lodge on a lake, boat tours that link two lakes and lead to a short hike to Grinnell Lake, and grizzlies on the slopes that the rangers point out through scopes. Bear spray on every trail, carried and reachable.
Two Medicine
The quiet southeast corner with a boat across the lake to Twin Falls and Running Eagle Falls, which flows out of a cave. Fewer people, same mountains.
Where to stay
Inside the park at Lake McDonald Lodge, Many Glacier Hotel or the cabins at Apgar and Rising Sun, all booked a year out. West Glacier and Whitefish on the west side have the hotels and the restaurants. St Mary on the east. Junior ranger booklets at every visitor center, and the evening ranger talks at the campgrounds are worth the late night.
Planning Montana with kids? Start with the full Montana family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
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