Glacier National Park
Parking lots fill up by 8:30am during peak season - can reserve camping spots until 4 days in advance/backcountry is best, but with limited time: Monday: • hidden lake overlook (Logan pass visitors center) 3mi • Avalanche lake via trail of the cedars (middle) 5mi • Sun point nature trail (east) 2mi • st Mary lake sunset (east) Tuesday: • Grinnell Glacier trail 10mi (near swiftcurrent and sherburne lake) // avalanche or rising sun Wednesday: • highline trail > grinnell glacier overlook > loop (Logan pass visitor center) 11mi Thursday: • anything that didn't get done • Waterton lakes national park? • Drive back to Jackson (9 hours from Glacier) Friday: • Drive back to Denver (8 hours from Jackson) Cracker lake Dragontail Chief mountain Logan pass >> highline trail > grinnell glacier overlook // 39 mi o&b+loop options such as 11 mi • Logan pass visitor center or Loop (start early) Grinnell glacier trail // 10 mi out and back • Via many glacier road until signs Sun point nature trail // 2 mi o&b ( east glacier) Going to the sun road drive: st Mary to west glacier // 50 mi • saint Mary lake • birdwoman falls Hidden lake overlook // 3 mi o&b • Hidden lake trail starts from Logan Pass MOUNTAINGOATS Avalanche lake via trail of the cedars // 5 mi o&b • avalanche campground Lake sherburne Lake McDonald Lakeview ridge Pitamakan/Dawson // 18 mi • two medicine campground > oldman lake trail bridge > right towards pitamakan pass Grand Tetons
Parking is always an issue so the earlier the better! Camping: • Shadow mountain in the Gros Ventre is the only place I know of with free campsites outside the park (but there could be others) otherwise backcountry camping might be the way to go (I think you need a permit) but then there are a bunch of places deep in the park Viewpoints/overlooks: • Oxbow bend • Schwabacher's Landing (popular photographers spot for sunrise) • Kelly cliffs (also can cliff jump here) • Signal Mountain (can drive to the top and there are two separate viewpoints) • Jackson Hole Tram (have to pay but you can take the tram all the way up to 10,000ft and get a cool view of the area) • Jackson Lake • Colters Bay area • Mormon Row and Moulton Barn (my friend's family's old homestead) in Antelope Flats across from the Tetons - the most photographed barn in the world (supposedly) Hiking: • Blacktail Butte (two trails, one to the top and one to a lookout; also a popular rock climbing spot) • Jenny Lake trail to Hidden Falls to Inspiration Point into Cascade Canyon (these are four separate trails but they lead into each other > if you go all the way to the end of Cascade Canyon and back this way then you're looking at a total of ~20 miles but it's super beautiful and you can backcountry camp in the canyon. A lot of people turn around at Inspiration Point and this is one of the most popular trails. There's also a boat you can pay to take you across Jenny Lake but it's a beautiful and easy ~2mi trail around the lake • Paintbrush Canyon • Phelps Lake Overlook and Phelps Lake trail (also a popular place for easy cliff jumping) • Delta lake - super cool beautiful turquoise glacial lake that's the most heavily trafficked unofficial trail ~7mi but totally worth it and you would love. It's listed on the All Trails app even though it's unofficial, and when you deviate from the marked trail you get to climb over fallen trees and scramble up a boulder field. I think you would really like this one • Surprise Lake to Amphitheater Lake to Disappointment Peak (this would be the same trail in the beginning that you take to get to Delta Lake, but most people are going up the switchbacks to Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes, which are very close to each other and where people frequently report bear sighting). If you're up to it, you can then continue on up towards Disappointment Peak, which is manageable except there's one class 4 move halfway up. If you make it to the top you get an up close and personal view of the Grand • Garnet Canyon (route to climb the Middle Teton but also a really beautiful canyon to just hike in) • Bradley and Taggert Lakes (really easy and popular hikes) • Leigh Lake (beautiful, easy, ends with a beach beneath a mountain) • Lake of the Crags - one of my favorite hikes but super hard and also an unofficial trail. It's through Hanging Canyon and the trail description legitimately included the phrase "turn right after the circle of rocks" Random other things: • I love Thai Plate • Browse and Buy is a really popular/great thrift store where all the millionaires and billionaires from Jackson dump their old things and you can find a lot of great gems here especially $1 books • Dornan's (where I worked) does a Hootenany every Monday night which is basically locals coming in to sing during dinner • Jackson Hole does summer music concerts and festivals but might have to check the dates • The area is made up of three towns that form a triangle: Jackson, Moose, and Wilson. Moose and Wilson are connected by Moose-Wilson road that's closed in the winter, and Jackson Hole ski area is between them but closer to Wilson. Moose is basically just the entrance to the park, and Jackson is the main town. Not a lot of roads, but a lot of people • The entrance to Yellowstone is only an hour north but it's another hour to Old Faithful after that, and you can drive the whole lower loop in one day but it's a long day and parking is also an issue here • Everything is super beautiful and you will love it |
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