Glacier National Park by car · Glacier National Park by car
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Glacier National Park by car
Glacier National Park by car
From the East: Take I-90 freeway to about 8 miles west of Missoula, then exit at US Hwy 93 north (Exit #96). In Kalispell, turn right at US Hwy 2 East (Idaho St.) From there it's 32 miles to the West Glacier entrance. OR, if you're approaching from North Dakota on US 2, it's a straight shot to Glacier Park. Heading west on I-94 across North Dakota, the shortest route to Glacier is exiting at Glendive to Montana highway 200s to Circle, then north on Montana 13 to east of Wolf Point, then west on Montana 25 to Wolf Point, then US 2 to Glacier Park.
If coming from the South (Great Falls) or East (Havre) and your destination first is Waterton Lakes National Park, the fastest way is taking US 2 to Cut Bank, and then going north on Montana secondary 213 to Del Bonita, where it becomes Alberta highway 62. At the "town" of Del Bonita, Alberta (2 miles from the border) turn west on Alberta secondary 501 and go to Cardston, and then directly to Waterton Lakes on Alberta highway 5. This is signficantly faster than US 2/89 via Browning.
For East Glacier there are various routes including the I-15 Fwy (see From the South below). However, from the freeways, East Glacier via West Glacier is about the same time and distance. The best route for those wanting to avoid Montana's freeways and save over 250 miles is to follow I-94 just inside Montana from North Dakota and exit #211. State Hwy 200S becomes 200 (no turns) and later becomes shared with US Hwy 87. On the west side of Great Falls where the highway merges into the freeway, take I-15 North for 12 miles and Exit #290 in Vaughn. On US Hwy 89 go 105 miles to Browning in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. At the museum, turn left and take US Hwy 2 into East Glacier. (If using I-90 you can join this route via Billings. Follow State Hwy 3 at Exit #450, which is later shared with US 12 & 191. Turn left at the end of the highway at "Eddies Corner" and follow as above going to Great Falls.)
Don't underestimate the huge size of the state of Montana (550 mi/880 km wide). Glacier Park is actually closer to Seattle than it is to far eastern Montana.
From the West: Take I-90 freeway to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Exit #12, turn left) on to US Hwy 95. Where US Hwy 2 and 95 split north of Bonners Ferry, turn right to get US Hwy 2. From there, it's 167 miles to the West Glacier entrance. Don't forget to set clocks an hour ahead when entering Montana.
A slightly more ambitious (though fully paved) short cut is to stay on the I-90 freeway up to St. Regis, Montana (Exit #33). Then turn left on State Hwy 135 and go 21.6 miles, left on State Hwy 200 for 8.3 miles, right on State Hwy 28 for 46.7 miles, and left on US Hwy 93 in Elmo on Flathead Lake. In Kalispell, turn right at US Hwy 2 East (Idaho St.) This is a very scenic route along the Clark Fork River and Flathead Lake (which both contain all the waters of Glacier Park west of the Continental Divide) with farmlands in between. However, gas (petrol) and other services are limited between the freeway and Elmo.
Note: Using Hwy 200 east from Sandpoint, Idaho is not recommended, as all north-south connections with US Hwy 2 in between Libby and Kalispell are NOT paved! There's just no quick and easy way to get through the Cabinet Mountains beyond 15-20 miles from the Idaho border.
From the North (Canada): If first visiting Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, take Canada Hwy 2 south to the junction of the Crowsnest Hwy 3. Then go west (towards BC) 43 km and turn left at Pincher Station on Canada Hwy 6 for another 50 km. Turn right at the junction of Hwy 5 to enter the park. Upon leaving to get to Glacier, make two right turns just after exiting the park, and follow Canada Hwy 6 for 22 km to the U.S. border. This becomes State Hwy 17; turn right in 23 km onto US Hwy 89. The first park entrance is Many Glacier in 7 km (just after Babb).
Note: The international border is closed overnight between Waterton and Glacier, so via Cardston is only way in (see below). Bring US/Canadian pasport, passport card or enhanced driver’s license. If bypassing Waterton, take Canada Hwy 2 south to Cardston and cross the U.S. border. This becomes US Hwy 89. The first park entrance is Many Glacier 17 km from the border.
From the South: Take freeway I-15 North to Shelby, Montana (Exit #363) and turn left onto US Hwy 2. From there it's 70 miles to East Glacier. A short cut would be to exit I-15 in Vaughn, Montana (Exit #290) and take US Hwy 89 to Browning in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. At the museum, turn left and take US Hwy 2 to East Glacier.
For West Glacier, transfer to I-90 West from I-15 (Exit #121) just before Butte, Montana and see From the East above.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Glacier National Park
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Glacier National Park Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.