Glacier · Things to do

Vehicle reservations are not required in 2026. Instead, from 1 July to 7 September every private parking space at Logan Pass — 6,646 ft, the highest point you can drive to — is capped at three hours, enforced 24 hours a day, with a free timestamped permit from a kiosk on your dashboard. A ticketed express shuttle runs to the pass from both sides: tickets are $1 each on Recreation.gov, released 60 days ahead from 2 May and next-day at 7pm from 30 June.

The two walks that start at the pass itself: Hidden Lake Overlook climbs boardwalk and steps behind the visitor center, and the Highline traverses the Garden Wall on a ledge with a cable handline in the first mile. The car park is generally full between 8:30am and 4pm, so take the shuttle or arrive very early, and carry bear spray.

About five miles return and three to six hours, starting from the Avalanche area on Going-to-the-Sun Road. The first half mile is the paved, wheelchair-accessible Trail of the Cedars through old-growth cedar and hemlock; past that it gets steeper and rocky before opening onto a lake ringed with waterfalls. No dogs on the trail.

The 1930s buses with roll-back canvas tops — 33 of them, reckoned to be the oldest touring fleet in the world. They seat 16 on bench seats four across, so it is a snug ride rather than a comfortable one. Round trips leave from Lake McDonald Lodge and Apgar on the west side and from Many Glacier, Swiftcurrent, Rising Sun and East Glacier on the east, and they sell out most days.

A Blackfeet tribal business and authorised park concessioner running half- and full-day Going-to-the-Sun Road tours interpreted from a Blackfeet perspective. Departures from Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier Park, Glacier Peaks Hotel in Browning, and the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex (four passenger minimum); 406-732-9220.