Good Morning!!

ETA: We will now be coming in from Casper, Wy. We'd like to stop by Museum of the Rockies, but our times and theirs might not match up.

Any recommendations on a cool route or stops to make between Casper and Missoula or Kalispell??

Thanks!!

Yesterday I was able to secure a room for my family in Kalispell, so we will finally be able to spend a few days in Glacier National Park. Hopefully by the 2nd week in July all of GTTS rd will be open....

Right now all I for sure is that I have a room for 4 nights in Kalispell with plans to visit the park. I'm a little flexible on days, as long as we can find a room.

I would love to hear your recommendations of "must see" and "must avoid". We will be traveling from SLC, UT to Kalispell. I would love to have your input about the route from SLC to Kalispell, also.

Thanks for your help!!

Its a straight shot drive on I-15 from SLC to Garrison,  then taking 12 and going up thru Seely Lake. Shorter and more scenic.Don't know that part of the state as well as SW MT where I live. My 2¢.

You will want to check for access to the park,you cant just drive up to the gate and get in anymore,they are requiring reservations/tickets to enter Glacier this year,my parents have been trying for weeks with no luck.

Let your parents know that they can enter between 5pm and 6am without a ticket....

https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/ticketedentryfaq.htm  #15

Not quite correct.  Take I-15 until you intersect with I-90 at Rocker/Butte.  Then head west on I-90 towards Missoula.  Just past Missoula take US-93 north to your destination.  If you want to go the Seeley Lake route, it is a bit more convoluted. More scenic in my view as well, but not quite an easy straight shot from that direction.

Fun fact of the day: After 5pm is currently the most daily traffic I have seen at Glacier. The line was out on US-2 the other day with 10-15 vehicles in the turn lanes coming from both East and West. If you don't get tickets 2 months in advance, more are released every morning at 8am for 2 days later. If you wanted a ticket for Monday the 21st, they go on sale tomorrow the 19th and so on. They are good for 7 days though, so that is nice. They also go pretty quickly as my wife and her family have been trying to get some. My MIL has been successful a few times.

I was at the Logan Pass Visitor Center yesterday. The road is plowed in both directions, but NPS crews are definitely making a bunch of repairs and reinstalling/repairing guardrails. It was awesome to get to go up with no public access! They still have a ton of snow to move around the Visitor Center and they were busy shoveling and installing handrails.

Visiting the Hungry Horse dam was a pretty cool few hours when I was there with the wife last fall. Straight off Hwy 2 a bit north of C Falls.

It's not the tallest or widest concrete arch dam in the country, but still an impressive feat of engineering done in the WWII/post WWII era.

The "morning glory" overflow spillway is the tallest in the world according to Wiki. It's scale is hard to capture in photos.

Are the extra tickets released at 8am mountain?  I have a trip coming up to pick up a pup in NW Montana, and I wouldn't mind swinging by GTTS Road.

Yep! "Secondary Booking Window: an additional batch of tickets are released two days in advance at 8 a.m. MT on a rolling daily window. Example: On May 26th, tickets will be available for May 28th; on May 27th tickets will be available for May 29th. First day requiring ticketed entry is 5/28th."

https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10087086?tab=booking

Funny that you are coming up here for a pup. I've got to go to the Billings area in 3 weeks for a puppy.

Take a day to drive northwest out of Kalispell. There are several ways to do it, but make sure to drive along Lake Koocanusa, through the Yaak River valley, and stop at the Yaak River Falls. It's a cool place to swim! If you don't swim, watch swimmers jump off the cliffs, and hang out in the rapids.

I would make a loop out of the drive, but stay off hwy 93.

The town of Troy has the best gun club for any town under population 1000.

BTW, go through Seeley Lake on your drive up. The town wears the flag on its sleeve, and the drive is scenic.

Agreed. If you're hungry, stop at Lindey's Steak House and hit up Bay Burgers. If you want to check out a nice "Tourist Trap" on the way north, stop by Bigfork. Sadly, the "Big Cow" at Clearwater Junction is gone (I heard for renovation).

Great info, folks. Keep it coming!!

I really appreciate the help!

Edited original post....

Coming in from Casper....looking for the most scenic route and cool stops between Casper and Kalispell

Thanks!!

https://fwp.mt.gov/stateparks/lewis-and-clark-caverns

If you've never stopped in - do. I'm fortunate enough to damn near live within walking distance so I go at least a couple of times every year. It's an incredible experience.

ETA: And since it's not too far from both Sir Scott's Oasis and the Land of Magic steakhouses - perhaps try one of those. They're both top-notch joints in my opinion.

Thanks for those recommendations...they all look awesome

The funny part about the Lewis and Clark Caverns is that people around here don't see it as anything special. One person I spoke to about it didn't understand why it would be remarkable - "doesn't everyone go to caverns like that for school trips?"