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Email : vacation@glacierhavenresort.com
There’s so much to do while visiting our Essex, MT Inn, Motel, RV Park & Café
There are many Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter activities that you and your family can enjoy in the surrounding area.
Here is a sample of the many activities we would be happy to help you find and enjoy during your stay with us.
There is so much to do in Glacier National Park and the surrounding areas. For a small fee, as a service for our guests, we would be happy to book local activities to enhance your visit.
Please call us before your arrival and we can take care of these arrangements for you. Here are a few of the companies that we have recommended over the years.
Open year round but access is limited during the off-season. Spring is a beautiful and quiet time to be in Glacier National Park due to the sights of springtime coming to the park and less visitors during this time, however, you must be more self-sufficient because there are very few services open in the park in the early spring. Most of the concession services in the park do not reopen for the season until late May to early June.
This road is plowed from the Park entrance at West Glacier to Lake McDonald Lodge. Plowing of the rest of Glacier’s roads begins in late March on the east side of the park and by the beginning of April, plow crews turn their focus to the Going-to-the-Sun Road from Lake McDonald. Plowing of this historic landmark can take two and a half to three months depending on the snow conditions. By mid to late May, most roads throughout the park will be open for vehicle travel with the exception of the whole Going-to-the-Sun Road. The entire road will not open until mid to late June. The actual date of opening the whole road will depend on when crews have finished plowing it.
During the spring, lower elevations in the park usually melt out by the end of April, opening up some of the hiking trails. Trails towards the continental divide or middle of the park take longer to be free of snow for hiking, usually not until late July.
If you have plans on doing some hunting in this area, we can take care of you and your hunting partners. Not only will you have a comfortable room and bed to come to after a day of hunting, we can take care of your nutritional needs as well. If you need a sack breakfast or lunch, we can pack it for you and have a nice hot homemade meal for you at the end of the day.
There are so many hiking experiences in and around Glacier National Park. We can give you ideas on where to go and what you may experience from many of the Park’s trails.
There are many trails that can be accessed near our place both inside and outside of the Park.
There are a couple mountain lakes nearby and even a glacier behind us in what we call “our backyard”.
Some of the best fishing is easily accessible from our place with the closest fishing access just a mile and a half down the highway.
Our guests are welcome to use one of our campfire sites in our RV Park next door. If you just want to have a fire or cook a meal, you can enjoy the summer night’s outdoors.
There is badminton, volleyball, and tetherball available there too.
Besides spending time in Glacier National Park, within an hour away there is the Hungry Horse Reservoir, and Flathead Lake. Both of these areas are filled with great outdoor activities.
If you want to spend time shopping in local boutiques, antique shops, and more, we are less than an hour away from Kalispell, Whitefish, and Big Fork.
Fall in Glacier National Park and the surrounding areas can be a wonderful time to visit. Many of the services in the park are still fully available through mid to late September. By the end of September all of the concession services inside the Glacier National Park have closed for the season. Therefore, at this time of year, you have to be more self-sufficient when you are in the park. Generally, there are fewer visitors in the park, making it a lot quieter.
Most of the trails are still open for hiking in the park. There is a better chance of seeing wildlife because of being more active due to the coming of winter. The trees begin turning colors with the shorter sunlight available. On the west side of the divide, the larch trees turn a brilliant gold and red color. It is said the best area to view the larch trees and their changing colors are along HWY 2 around the southern boundary of the park, right where we are located.
In the fall, you will find the Going to the Sun Road is less congested with vehicle traffic. While the lower portions of the road remain open all year, the alpine section of this road generally closes for the season the third weekend of October. During this time, you can usually ride your bike on the road where it is closed to vehicle traffic unless roadwork is being done. Some sections of the road may close earlier to accommodate accelerated road rehabilitation work. When that happens, you will not be able to drive all the way through the park on that road, but you can still visit both sides of the park from our location.
Other park roads into Two Medicine and Many Glacier remain open until the 3rd week of November.
If you are planning on traveling to Canada, the Chief Mountain Port of Entry is open to September 30th, from 9am to 6pm and then closes for the season. Although the Port of Piegan/Carway, on Hwy 89, is open year round, 7am to 11pm.
We have areas just outside your door where you can ski or snowshoe into the Flathead National Forest. There are many areas along Highway 2 where you can do the same.
If you want to ski or snowshoe in Glacier National Park, you can park at Lake McDonald Lodge and then proceed on skies or snowshoes up the Going to the Sun road and trails in the area.
The Park offers various guided tours during the winter months.
Our neighbor, Izaak Walton Inn, has equipment for rent and groomed trails for skiing. Our guests can ski with a discounted trail pass.
If you want to do some snowmobiling, there are several miles of groomed trails 20 miles to the east of us near Marias Pass.
