U.S. North to South: Glacier National Park, Montana

Bob in Glacier NP, Montana

It took a while, but we are finally back in the U.S. for the remaining posts of our North to South adventure that started in Barrow, Alaska. You can check out the entire series here. We now leave Portland to travel back up northeast towards Glacier National Park in Montana. For this we must cross the state of Idaho at Coeur d’Alene.

Portland OR to Glacier National Park MT via Coeur d’Alene ID Ram 3500 in Glacier National Park, MT

Bob my Ram 2500 is at home here: the Ram Pickup was the 2nd best-selling vehicle overall in Idaho in 2015 as you can discover in our Exclusive U.S. state by state rankings. The Ford F-150 led the way for just 130 units with the Chevrolet Silverado in third place. As it was the case in Alaska and Oregon, Subaru is extremely strong in Idaho, placing the Outback at a fantastic 4th place overall, and this was confirmed by my observations on the road. The GMC Sierra (#5), Ford Focus and Fusion are also popular here, but for the latter two this has a lot to do with purchases from rental car companies.

Bob on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT 

Now crossing over onto Montana, and let’s clear it once and for all: Glacier National Park is one of the very best (if not the best) National Parks in the United States. It is the only place in the lower 48 states where grizzly bears still roam in abundance as a flurry of warning signs attests along the way – yet I did not see any. I drove Bob through the aptly named Going-to-the-Sun Road which ended up being every bit of the wonder it was drummed up to be: one of the most spectacular roads I have ever driven on. I had the chance to be in Glacier NP on perfect sunny days and was lucky enough to experience a totally still Lake MacDonald (see below). Not a single ripple on the surface had me pinch myself to make sure this wasn’t all a dream. Stunning.

Bob at the mountain pass of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MTLake MacDonald, Glacier National Park MTGlacier National Park, MT 

Given the Going-to-the-Sun Road was only open until the Jackson Glacier Overlook and mountain pass, day Two of our Glacier National Park exploration was spent contouring the park to the south at Devil Creek to check out East Glacier Park, Two Medicine and St Mary near the Blackfeet Indian Reservation for sunset. Although an unassuming drive, the element I missed was the total absence of petrol station in the vicinity and I ended up having to cut the engine at every downhill in order to make the most use of the little petrol I had. This led to the best fuel economy of the entire trip at 22 miles per gallon! Tomorrow we stop in Bozeman, still in Montana – stay tuned!

Best fuel economy of the trip so far…Paradise does exist, and is only 24 miles away… Glacier National Park is the only place in the lower 48 states where grizzly bears abound. Subaru Outback in Glacier National Park, MT

The Photo Report continues with more pictures below.