July Glacier National Park trip

As usual, photos at the end.

We drove 4,550 miles to Glacier National Park and back in early July. We were only back a few days, when the fires started in the park and closed the main road through it. The air was already hazy when we were there from fires already burning in Alaska and Canada.

It was lots of driving, but we always get to see many sites. This time we hit Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Three Forks, Glacier and a short stay in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. Yellowstone is getting very crowded in July. If you are planning a trip, try to pick June or mid-August into September to help avoid some very crowded conditions.

Had some nice stormy skies and some up close a personal wildlife encounters, but no rainbows.

Glacier is nice, but there is so much more to do in Yellowstone/Tetons. Also, the gateway towns to Glacier are farther from the park and lodging in the park is scarce.

Here are the photos
Best viewed full size by clicking on diagonal arrows in upper right of photo.

Thanks for the photos! Looks like a great trip.

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Originally Posted by Altair

Glacier is nice, but there is so much more to do in Yellowstone/Tetons. Also, the gateway towns to Glacier are farther from the park and lodging in the park is scarce.

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I've spent the past 8 summers near Glacier (still here in Whitefish as I type) and I find there's just as much to do here as there is in Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Most of your Glacier pics look like they're near the roads or from the short hike to the Hidden Lake overlook. One of the best things about Glacier is the hiking, if you ever make it back I'd be happy to recommend some beautiful hikes that I'm sure would change your mind about Glacier.

As always, I love your pictures! This is a trip I have planned three different times and always ends up getting postponed. :( Can't wait to actually get out there.
Why does the goat have a collar? Is it some sort of wildlife monitoring system?

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Originally Posted by NJGIRL

Why does the goat have a collar? Is it some sort of wildlife monitoring system?

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I believe it's a tracking collar.

Those photos are PHENOMENAL! I'd love to take a road trip like that. We travel up and down the east coast a lot, but I hope to get out west, sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the pics. They were beautiful. We're planning trips out west over the next few years and the pics are motivating me to go.

Loved photos, thank you.:)