What to see in Glacier National Park in early June
These are the top places to see in Glacier National Park in early June. The Going to the Sun Road was still closed right past the Trail of the Cedars all the through to the most iconic hike, the Highline Trail. We only had 2 days to see what we could in early June. Read on to see what we chose to see.
This part of the trip was added on late in the planning. We didn’t have a lot of time to spare or money. The decision to make it work was that Glacier NP was going to be ‘close’. Our trip started in Yellowstone and ended in the Grand Tetons. To get to Glacier NP from the Grand Tetons, it would be a 9 hour drive. Despite the long drive, we decided to add it.
West Side Timed Entry Ticket
You need a National Park Pass to get into Glacier NP on the West side AND you need a Timed Entry ticket. Timed Entry ticket is attained ahead of time. You can get a ticket for a certain time between 6:00 am up to 3:00 pm. Since we weren’t going to be there until 3:00 pm, we didn’t need a time entry ticket. Which worked out perfectly for us as the time for us to get the ticket had passed.
After taking our picture with the Glacier NP sign, we drove into the park. Our plan was to see one thing on the West entry side. We chose the Trail of the Cedars.
The Trail of the Cedars
The parking at the trail head was rather large. We ended parking in the empty campground.
The first part of the hike was rather flat. The Cedar trees were very tall. Along the trail there is a small river.
The amount of logs laying beneath the towering cedars was bewildering. So many dead trees. If a fire ever started here, it had plenty of fuel laying on the ground, to burn down all of the old Cedars. What made me think of this is from the many forests throughout Yellowstone and Grand Tetons had new lodge pole growing amid the burnt out trees. There were some whole mountain sides that looked like this.
We began to ascend on the trail. Still the view did not change. The trail is rightly named with Cedar as there were so many. The vegetation here is much like Cuyahoga National Park. Where we didn’t see anything but lodge pole pines and short grass in Yellowstone. We saw lodge pole pines, aspens trees and a little brush underneath in Grand Teton. Here in Glacier, it looked normal to us.
The trail ends at Avalanche Lake. There were people walking in the very frigid water, some even swimming. The lake is surrounded by a mountain. On this mountain are small streams of water, from where we were standing, rushing down the mountain. We could hear the water falling.
I would recommend hiking the Trail of Cedars and walk all the way to Avalanche Lake.
Cedar Creek Lodge and Conference Center
We had booked this hotel before we left home. It was a simple hotel. It had everything we needed. We ordered a pizza and ate it in their lobby, swam in their pool and enjoy their free breakfast in the morning.
East Side No Timed Entry Ticket
We headed out early. Our day was packed and we didn’t want to waste any of it. Today we headed to the East entrance. No need for a timed ticket on the East Side. That meant we could get into the park when we got there and didn’t have to worry about the time.
As the Going to the Sun road was closed, we got to the east side by Route 2. This was a very scenic drive. We stopped and got pictures.
St. Mary and Virginia Falls
Our first hike was the St. Mary and Virginia Falls. The hike starts with a descent through a hillside that had been ravaged by a fire. St. Mary Falls is a short walk. My family played around on the rocks and put our hands in the water. It is a very fun place to explore.
We continued on and found another small fall. Then the vegetation was backend the trees were shading us from the sun.
To get to Virginia Falls, you have to walk up a hillside. As we were there in mid June, the waterfall was loud and powerful. I was not standing close but got drenched by the mist that was coming from the fall. It was super fun! Definitely worth the walk.
Two Medicines
After lunch, we headed to Two Medicine. We wanted to hike to the Twin Falls but we would need to take the ferry as we didn’t have the time to walk. The time the ferry was leaving and when we would back was going to be too late for us.
We decided to see the Running Eagle Falls. It was a simple hike. There are lots of places to explore. Running Eagle Falls is a trick falls. There are two falls on top of each other. One comes through the rock below and the other comes from a stream. As we were there in mid June, the upper falls was full. Can you see both of them?
My Take Ways
- If you can make it there, do so! It’s not close to mosts locations. If you like to go to National Parks, don’t miss this one!
- Make the timed tickets work for you. We did the West side first as we didn’t have a timed ticket. Then we did the East and Medicine as we had the flexibility.
- If you only have 2 or 3 days, pick the best. I picked the best, that was open, in all of the sections of Glacier NP: West Side, East Side and Two Medicines. This way I feel we saw Glacier as a whole. Would we go back and spend lots more time there? Yes, but I don’t think I will get back there.
Want to read more about my trip out west? Here are some other posts!
Have you been to Glacier? Have any tips to share? Share them below!
