Traveling to Glacier National Park, Montana

I recently added a new place to my top 5 favorite places in the world. Glacier National Park, you’re beautiful. I spent time hiking to the Hidden Lake Overlook, Trail of the Cedars, Avalanche Trail, and to Saint Mary’s Waterfall. I traveled the Going to the Sun Road both in the morning and at sunset, and those views.. there’s nothing like it. 

The trip started by flying into Spokane, Washington, and we spent the afternoon exploring the city before driving to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where we spent the next two days. We drove around Lake Coeur d’Alene, went on a boat tour, and hiked up Tubs Hill. We also checked out the famous Hudsons Hamburgers which was just as good as everyone hyped it up to be.

After a few days in Coeur d’Alene, we drove to Coram, Montana. We stopped along the way at Kootenai Falls Suspension Bridge. This trip was spontaneous because all we had planned was getting to Glacier. We got to explore so much of Montana that we didn’t even know existed. 

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA

When we first arrived at Glacier National Park, we watched the sunset at Lake McDonald. I hadn’t even seen much of the park at this time, but I was already sold that Glacier was making its way into my top 5 favorite places that I have been to. 

The following day we woke up pretty early to drive the Going to the Sun Road. As we traveled the Going to the Sun Road, we stopped at pretty much all of the lookout points. We hiked to Saint Mary’s Waterfall, and I took way too many photos, but that’s pretty normal for a photographer, right? Most of the day was spent in the park, and we ended it by taking a swim in glacier melt in Lake McDonald. It was freezing but felt sooo good after a long day of hiking.

HIDDEN LAKE OVERLOOK

The next day we hiked to Hidden Lake Overlook which is just shy of a 3-mile hike round trip. This view was absolutely breathtaking once we got to the overlook. The hike down to the lake was closed because of Grizzly activity, but the overlook was still worth the hike. On this hike, we encountered bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and some snow. Yes, I went to Montana to play in the snow.

That night I went to watch the sunset at Logan’s Pass. When we got there, a pack of about 15-20 bighorn sheep greeted us right where we were planning on watching the sunset.

TRAIL OF THE CEDARS AND AVALANCHE LAKE

On the last day in the park, we got up early to hike the Trail of the Cedars and to Avalanche Lake which is a 6-mile hike round trip. By early, I mean like a 4:30 am wake-up call so we could get to the trailhead around 6:00 am. If you want to hike this trail, get there EARLY. When we got to Avalanche Lake we ate a few snacks while we enjoyed the sunrise. 

Nature is by far my happy place. It was so refreshing to get away and spend so much time outdoors. I’ll definitely be going back sometime soon. But for real though – who wants to elope or have a couples session here?! Glacier National Park is hands down one of the top places on my bucket list for places I want to shoot at, view the list here.

Here’s a few other of my fav photos from our trip to enjoy!