Glacier National Park campsites

[zaralps]

I'm heading out on a road trip in a few weeks thru Glacier then on to the Pacific NW and was looking for any input on campsites or "must do's". Glacier is the first stop and I've never been there so any advice would be great. Will also be stopping thru following places/areas in case there's more advice:
Coeur D'Alane, ID, then thru WA, down through Astoria & Portland OR.
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[larrie-SMB]

Jeff

The Oregon coast is beautiful south of Astoria. Astoria has a large Finish population and his translates to shops to explore for unique gifts. Fort Stevens state park is near Astoria. It is a nice place to stay as are most of the state parks in Oregon. They are funded by lottery dollars.

South of Astoria are lots of small towns. Seaside is one of the larger ones. It has an aquarium. Cannon Beach is a small touristy place with nice shops and an long beach. We spend a lot of time each year in Rockaway. Not much going on there but it has several good restaurants, a few shops and six mile of beach to walk on. Continuing south is Tillamook home of the Tillamook cheese and ice cream factory. A great place to stop on a hot day. The factory can be very busy on the weekends.

From Tillamook you can head east back to Portland and be there in less than two hours. You do not want to head east if you will get there after 3:00. Traffic between 3:00 and 6:00 can be very slow on weekdays.

East of Portland is the Columbia Gorge. Very pretty and lots of waterfalls. If you what to see the falls and do some hiking get off I-84 at Corbett and take the old highway. There are lots of falls right next to the road. Multanomah Falls is the big one. It is around a 400 foot drop. There is a good restaurant there with a view of the falls. It is accessible from either the old highway or I-84.

Hope you have a good trip.

Larrie

 

[Bigfoot-THOR]

Also, east of Salem, check out Green Peter Lake, Yellowbottom Campground, and Detroit Lake in Oregon. Very cool area. Drove through there, planning to go back and camp at some point.

http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visito ... Id=G206940
http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreat ... siteid=213
http://detroitlakeoregon.org/

 

[mtnrafter]

Too funny! I'll be in Glacier tomorrow. We're camping at Avalanche Creek. There's a great short walk up to the lake, there. I'm pulling a trailer so we'll leave it at camp and drive up and over Going to the Sun Road- they don't let trailers on it. The hike to Virginia Falls and St. Mary's Falls is easy, beautiful and you can access the trail right from Going to the Sun. For more camping options, drive up the dirt road towards Bowman Lake- bring your fishing pole.

Here's the link to the park map:

http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/ma ... nal%20Park

It's a great park. Have fun!
-Jay

 

[LenS]

We visited Glacier in 2007 while on our Great Northern Highway (US-2 Maine to Seattle) trip.

 

[OverlandWith.Us]

Jeff : ) x10 on what Larrie and Anzac shared. I live in the Astoria area and it is a cool-haven during the summer months (typically ~mid 60's to 70's so a nice retreat from the city heat). And spent many a day gold panning near Yellowbottom camp. Also there is a nice drive on hwy 26 through John Day Fossil Beds and The Painted Hills.

Best wishes on the adventure : )

Thom

 

[zaralps]

Thanks everyone for all the tips. I'm sure it will be an awesome trip....I'll just have trouble narrowing down all the choices!

Jeff

 

[cellularSTEVE]

For a remote part of Glacier, with much fewer people, you may want to camp at Bowman Lake. I was there in September a few years ago and was the only person on the lake. Very beautiful location. Contrast that with the main campgrounds and it is night and day difference. This is at the Northwest portion of the park. If you come in that way they are all dirt roads (which keeps the motorhomes and tourists away). You have to stop at the Polebridge Mercantile. They have excellent filled sandwiches and great cookies. My understanding is that it was for sale, so look it up to make sure it is still open. I very much recommend this area.

Here are a couple images.

Bowman Lake:

Polebridge Merc.:

steve :c3:

 

[zaralps]

Thanks everyone for all the advise. After putting 4060 miles on my rig in 2 weeks, averaging 13 mpg, and driving through/visiting 7 states, I finally made it home. Glacier NP was great...ended up staying at Bowman Lake and then just outside the park on NFS land. Polebridge Mercantile is still there and still has awesome pastries! Stayed in Whitefish MT, Coeur D'Alane ID, Seattle WA, San Juan Island WA, Astoria OR, and Portland OR. Also checked out a lot of the upper OR coast. Great food, wine, nature, weather, sights..you name it.
Thanks again

 

[cellularSTEVE]

Glacier NP was great...ended up staying at Bowman Lake and then just outside the park on NFS land. Polebridge Mercantile is still there and still has awesome pastries!
Thanks again

Excellent! Glad Polebridge Merc is still around. Hope you enjoyed Bowman! How were the crowds there?

steve :c3:

 

[zaralps]

It was peak time in the park so fairly busy. The first day we arrived at Bowman about 1pm and there were about 6-8 campsites open. We were trying to be flexible so we packed up everything the second day to explore thinking we might stay somewhere further South. By 4pm, every campsite in the entire park was full according to ranger. There was a nice little place on the outer road up to Bowman near Polebridge that is National Forest, so we camped for free with no one around! We actually had pastries from Polebridge everyday we were there...some of the best fresh baked stuff I've ever had!
-Jeff

 

[Angel-SMB]

Steve, thanks for the Bowman Lake info. I just camped there and it was wonderful. The bumpy 37 mile road was worth it for the bakery a the Polebridge Mercantile, alone. The lake was a beautiful clear blue. My SMB was the biggest vehicle there. Do not spread the word as we do not want to spoil this spot with tourist. People already want to pave the road there.

Angel

 

[cellularSTEVE]

Glad you enjoyed it Angel.

Maybe I should delete my posts about that area to keep it all to ourselves :b1:

steve :c3: