Glacier National Park: Arrival and information
There are visitor centers just inside the park's western entrance at Apgar , on the shores of gorgeous McDonald Lake, twenty miles east of Whitefish and just 35 miles south of the Canadian border (May-Oct; various hours, but open at least 9am-4:30pm daily and until 8pm in summer) and at the main east gate at St Mary , seventy miles west of Shelby (daily: late May to late June, early Sept to mid-Oct 8am-5pm; late June to early July 8am-9pm; early July to early Sept 7am-9pm). Another visitor center (early June to mid-Oct; various hours, but always open at least 10am-5pm daily) stands at the top of Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun road - the one through-road between the two entrances, usually only passable between early June and mid-October. The park itself is open year-round, however, and it's well worth entering as far as Lake McDonald or St Mary's Lake even when the road is blocked and the visitor center is closed. The entrance fee of $10 per vehicle is good for seven days; for park information call 406/888-7800, or go to .Glacier combines with the adjacent, much smaller Waterton Lakes National Park (tel 403/859-2224) in Canada to form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park , though Going-to-the-Sun road does not pass that way. Both parks operate their own fees and regulations, and to get to Waterton's separate entrance, north of St Mary, you have to pass customs and pay a $4 entrance fee.
The southern border of the park is skirted by the low-lying US-2, which remains open all year and constitutes an attractive alternative drive. Amtrak trains follow the same route, stopping at West Glacier, a short walk from the west gate, and in the south at East Glacier (thirty miles south of St Mary) and Essex Park.
Intermountain (tel 406/563-5246) operates a fairly frequent summer bus service from Missoula, Kalispell, Whitefish and, to the east, Great Falls. Travelers arriving by public transportation are faced with the problem of how to see the actual park: bright red vintage "jammer"buses (so called because of the need to jam the gears into place) run throughout the park on narrated sightseeing tours from the main lodges (May-Oct; tel 406/888-9817). They also offer shuttles from the Amtrak station at West Glacier to the Village Inn and Lake McDonald Lodge , hikers' shuttles from Many Glacier Hotel to the various trailheads including Logan Pass, The Loop and Siyeh Bend, and a number of one-way tours and connections. Sun Tours (tel 406/226-9220 or 1-800/786-9220) offers tours given by members of the Blackfeet Indian tribe, providing a historical perspective to the park's beauty.
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