If you are going to eat at any of the restaurants in Apgar Village - particularly the small one near the ranger station, get an EARLY start. They are small, served by foreign students, and can eat up a lot of time for a couple of eggs or pancakes. Sort of a Waffle House with a bad attitude. Not unlike a lot of the National Park outlets where the concessionaire knows they have a captured audience - good service or bad and they opt for the latter.
After the chaos, we headed up the Going to the Sun Road (GTTS). If you aren't at Logan's Pass by 10:30/11am, the parking gets sparse. We planned to do the hike to Hidden Lake from here, but it was actually in the 30s, fogged in, and snowing (in the final week of July). We took a pass! We will be back on another day when the weather is more cooperative - this is a great place to see mountain goats, big horn sheep, and more wildlife. We snooped around the park service building & moved on.
After the chaos, we headed up the Going to the Sun Road (GTTS). If you aren't at Logan's Pass by 10:30/11am, the parking gets sparse. We planned to do the hike to Hidden Lake from here, but it was actually in the 30s, fogged in, and snowing (in the final week of July). We took a pass! We will be back on another day when the weather is more cooperative - this is a great place to see mountain goats, big horn sheep, and more wildlife. We snooped around the park service building & moved on.
East of Logan's Pass are a number of pullouts on the GTTS road. Sunrift Gorge and Baring Falls are a couple of short easy hikes from pullouts that are easily done by families with small children - some good stretch time without the whining. Wild Goose Island Overlook is another pullout that supposedly is a "must see", but I could have kept going and not missed much. Your call.
We drove to St. Mary's and then south around the bottom of the park. We had lunch in East Glacier where the Amtrak Empire Builder arrives. (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321887&ssid=135 ) This is the way to go if you have a couple extra days - it runs from Seattle to Chicago with stops on both the east and west side of Glacier National Park (rental cars available at the station).
As many great photos as you may see on the Going to the Sun Road, most are probably taken by hikers or bikers. There are very few places to turn out and get a great shot if you are driving.
We drove to St. Mary's and then south around the bottom of the park. We had lunch in East Glacier where the Amtrak Empire Builder arrives. (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321887&ssid=135 ) This is the way to go if you have a couple extra days - it runs from Seattle to Chicago with stops on both the east and west side of Glacier National Park (rental cars available at the station).
As many great photos as you may see on the Going to the Sun Road, most are probably taken by hikers or bikers. There are very few places to turn out and get a great shot if you are driving.
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