Glacier National Park is one of America’s crown jewels. It is located in Montana, just south of the border with Canada and straddles the Rocky Mountains as they cross the 49th parallel north.

This park is unrivaled for scenic mountain views and is packed with wildlife. Its many trails take you into the backcountry where alpine lakes abound. This park is built in mountainous terrain, which ranges from gentle mounds and valleys to near vertical cliffs.

Glacier has two major areas that flank the park and serve as base camps to use when exploring this fantastic area. West Glacier and Apgar Village are found on the west end of the park. Visitor services include helicopter flight-seeing trips, rafting trips on the Flathead River, and various lodging, restaurant, and RV park services. In addition, the small Apgar Village is next to West Glacier and is located right on the shores of Lake MacDonald. On Glacier’s east end is St. Mary, another area with lodging, dining, and RV services. Connecting the two is a single road through the park called “Going-to-the-Sun Road.”

Going-to-the-Sun Road is an engineering marvel. Completed in 1933, it clings to the side of mountains, overlooking valleys below and climbs to eye level with glaciers. It was designed to be architecturally invisible so as not to be a blight on the landscape. Masons carefully cut and laid blocks of stone, quarried from nearby areas to create a scenic guardrail. This high alpine road generally opens in the very end of June after all of the snow is finally cleaned away and is limited to vehicles shorter than 21 feet in length due to the sharp curves. The road itself is a must-see and one of the park’s claims to fame.

But, the name of the park is Glacier, and you can expect to see a number of them during your visit. Being a high-country area, there are plenty of glaciers clinging to the mountains. You can see many from Going-to-the-Sun Road, but there are countless others accessible by hiking trails. The Glaciers are receding as the global climate gradually warms every year, but they are still a sight to behold.

If your destination is the west side you can arrive from any of the four directions. U.S. Route 93 southbound will bring you to Kalispell from Canada to the north. U.S. Route 2 eastbound will bring you in from Idaho’s panhandle. U.S. Route 93 northbound brings the majority of visitors up from Interstate 90 and Yellowstone to the south. U.S. Route 2 westbound will skirt around the southern edge of the park and bring you in from Browning to the east. There are a number of full service campgrounds in West Glacier that you can select from as well as in nearby Hungry Horse, Whitefish, and Kalispell.

If you choose to stay on Glacier’s east side then campgrounds around St. Mary are the most popular. It’s important to note that Montana Highway 49 between Kiowa and East Glacier Park is a twisty climb over a mountain, and RVs are prohibited on that road. If you plan on traveling with your RV between East Glacier Park and St. Mary, you will need to travel to Browning and then up to St. Mary rather than take the short cut.

U.S. Route 89 is a great highway between Yellowstone and the Canadian border, but the section between Browning and St. Mary is a challenge. It’s certainly doable, but not very relaxing.

A better alternative is a shortcut that we’ve discovered. Actually, it’s a long cut in that it adds a few extra miles to the trip, but it’s all smooth sailing at highway speeds. To take this route, leave U.S. Route 89 in Browning and take Montana Highway 464 northbound. Also known as the Duck Lake Road, it makes a left turn and heads west past Duck Lake and meets up with U.S. Route 89 just north of St. Mary at Babb.