So. CA to Glacier Natl Park via Idaho

[jlsnyder]

We plan to make a trip to Glacier NP this summer traveling through Utah to Idaho and on up to Glacier NP. We would like to see more of Idaho and are looking at taking Hwys. 75 & 93 through Hailey, Ketchum, Salmon, etc. to Missoula, MT - and then from Missoula to St. Mary (at Glacier) via Hwy. 35 and then back around Glacier NP over to Whitefish/Flathead Lake area, over to Coeur d'Alene, ID and then meander down thru Washington and Oregon to then reach our friend's house in Willow Creek, No CA.

Has anyone traveled the Idaho Hwys. 75/93 thru Idaho (and Hwy. 93 into Montana)? Hoping to hear from others if there are roads we should avoid, and also any great campground and sightseeing suggestions for the Glacier NP and Whitefish areas. Has anyone stayed at the Glacier NP campgrounds - St. Mary's in particular? We are thinking we should stay at both the eastern and western ends of the park. We like both dry camping and RV parks, and will be traveling with our two dogs.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

Joyce

[deatherage]

I think you have a great trip planed. I lived in Salmon several years in the 80's and it is beautiful country. Depending on your rig you will have some slow going all the way from Ketehum to Hamilton MT. There several Forest Service Campgrounds along the way.

Things you can see and enjoy: Sawtooth Range at Stanley, Salmon River, Challis Hot Springs, Old Mining areas, Sunbeam area, North Fork River of No Return, Lost Trail. Just some PLaces we enjoyed.

The third weekend of July Sawtooth Mountain Mamas Arts Festival at Stanley.

Lots of beautiful country and history. enjoy your trip.

[jmr12]

Montana is the only location that I can help with. From Missoula north to Flathead, there is a nice campground on the south end of the lake. Also look at Finley Point. There is a state or fed campground. Finley point is nice. On the West side of GNP, Apgar is a nice place to stay. It is on Lake McDonald. You probably cannot take your MH over the Going TO the Sun Hiway to Logan Pass. But you have to go. The Park ownes some Classic Red Busses that leave Apgar and will take you over the pass. If you are pulling a car, you are good to go. Make sure to stop at the observation building at Logan Pass. There is a board walk that goes to Hidden lake. It is a beautiful easy hike. Make sure you put your toe in the water.

On the east side, Two Medicin lake and campground is the nicest place in the entire park, and not as busey. If you are a little adventurus, there are alot of places to go. If you can change your route, stop in Conrad, on Interstate 15, just south of the Canadian Border. Stop at the Northgate Motel on Main street, you can't miss it. The owner has a 30 ft RV and can map something out for you. [He is the one typing this]. If not, make sure and check legal lengths of your coach. The dogs will have to be leashed while in GNP.

Please forgive my spelling.

Have fun.

One other thing. Get a Gazzitter map for the stat of Montana. Not sure if that is how you spell it. Just google it. I ordered one when we went to Arizona. It is a nice map. Very detailed. [You might allready have one]

[jlsnyder]

Thanks for the great responses - much appreciated!

As the trip gets closer in time we are starting to narrow our route down. I've found quite a bit of campground information for the Ketchum/Challis/Salmon, Idaho area and it sounds wonderful. After going thru Missoula, think we'll take Hwy. 200 to 83 up to Bigfork and then catch Flathead Lake on the way back down from Glacier NP. Since gas prices are still high, we'll probably drive the RV only to the west side of Glacier and then drive the tow over the mountain for day trips. Agpar does look nice, and it is nice to see campsite photos on the govt. website - makes it so much easier in deciding where to stay!

We then plan to take Hwy. 28 to 200 thru Thompson Falls over to Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene, then head thru Spokane and down a quick route thru Oregon and on towards California. Can't spot Finley Point on our map so will have to look for the map of Montana that you referenced, jmr12. Sorry too, jmr12, that we won't be over your way. Mighty nice off you've made - thank you! We have a 34'er - any problems we'll have with length that you know of?

So nice to get input from people who know the areas. Thanks again, and happy traveling!

[kfd14]

Looks a lot like the route my family and I took last spring. I live in the Ketchum area and am very familiar with most of that route. It's an amazing drive. We have a 1993 Thor Ambassador 33' and it was no problem. We weren't towing anything so that might slow you down a bit but all of the roads should be do able. You have however choosen one of the most whindy streatches of road known to man. Most of the section from Stanely to Missoula follows a river - right next to the river - as long as you are prepared it's no big deal, great views just keep you eye on the road.

Ketchum is great. Good shopping lots to do. It's a ski resort town so definetly check it out.

Stanely is beautiful, definetly try to plan a day or two there. Go to Redfish lake and hang out for the day, eat dinner at the lodge, you wont soon forget the view. Mountain Mamas is July 21-22 this year. Kind of a folk art festival. Lots of people but fun to check out if you are in the area. Camp grounds are extremely full all summer in this area, so try to reserve something. Might be able to find a hookup in stanely, if not sunny gulch C.G. is close and first come first serve, you might be able to find something there last minute. Last ditch effort might be to contact one of the local hotels, they might let you park overnight for a small fee. Truely a great town with lots to see.

From Stanely to Missoula is beautiful but not a lot to stop and see. The only side trip might be off the top of lost trail pass towards Wisdom MT. There is a Native American museum that is pretty cool. It was the sight of the battle of little big hole. A pretty pivital battle in the American frontier history. Museum was under a remodel when we were there but you can do lots of walks onto the battle ground and surrounding areas, truely unbelievable.

Hwy 200 is one of the most beautiful drives you can find, however you will probably find it boring after being in Glacier . Lots of places to stop for the night. When you get to Lake Pend Oreille there is a resturant in East Hope called the Floater. One of the only floating resturants in the area.

Just ran out of time I'll write more in a bit.

Seth

[kfd14]

Okay, continuing. Next town is Sandpoint. Great little town with one BIG problem. It seems to be a central hub for all of the freight trains in the northern half of the US. I think that the way the tracks were layed makes every train run through Sandpoint. We stayed two nights in a friends driveway on the north side of town and one night in the RV park at the public beach, heard trains all night and day long in both places. Locals say there isn't a place they can't be heard. The RV park at the beach was convenient, it's a stone through away from the water and one street from downtown but the draw back is the track that runs right behind the fence of the park. My three year old boy loved it, the rest of us not so much.

After that our paths deviate a little. We continued to Coeur D' Alene and then down the east side of the lake to a town called Harrison. Would have loved to spend more time there. The RV park is so close to the water you could fall out of bed into the lake. You'll need to make reservations if you are planning a stop. If you thought the road through Idaho was windy you should see the road to Harrison. It literally follows the shore line of the lake.

From Harrison we went to St Maries and basically hugged the Frank-Church Forest through Orofino and to McCall, then back to Stanely and home to Ketchum.

Hope this helps, You'll have a great trip.

Safe travels.

[jmr12]

I think you will be ok with the length of your coach. We have a 30ft Monaco and have stayed at Apgar.

If we go to the GNP from home, we leave about 7 am and can drive, hike and see a lot in a 12 hour day, and not be rushed.

Hiway 83, thru the Swan Valley to Big Fork is a great choice. We stay at Placid lake all the time. The campground is paved, and they have spots with electricity. The people that run the campground are great. It is a little off the highway, unimproved road, but drive slow and it is OK. When you turn North off of 200 onto 83 there is a nice rest area. There is a RV dump there also. I think the turn to Placid lake is 12 miles from the turn onto 83. Alot of things to do around BIg Fork. I don't know what time of year you are coming, but there a lot of U-Pick cherry orchards on the east side of Flathead lake. Big Fork is kind of popular for its Plays it puts on if you are into that kind of thing. I'm trying to think of the name of the theater, not sure.

If you are planning on staying at Apgar, get there kind of early in the AM if you can. It is a busy place. If you can't get a spot, ask about the group spots. They have to let you stay in one if it is available.

If you get to the east side of GNP, over Logan Pass and onto St Mary's, continue on 89 to Kiowa, then take 49. Turn into Two Medicin and check out the lake. Then to East Glacier and check out the Lodge. Can't miss it. You can get back to Apgar on Highway 2 to West Glacier. You will cross the Continental Divide at Marias Pass.

There is a place to pull off called the Goat Lick. It will be on your left. Not much of a walk, but you probably will see some wild life, and the view of the Middle fork of the Flathead River is great. It takes less than a hour to drive from East Glacier to West Glacier. If you really want to get adventurous, take a helicopter tour of the park. Use Minuteman aviation. They are just south of West Glacier on the west side of the hiway. I have lived in Montana all my life and have done alot of things, but the helicopter tour has stuck with me.

Have fun. Remember that no matter what the weather, the drive over Logan Pass is always good.

[TomLorraine]

Here is a little help. Wife and I are full time, left Redondo Bch in March 2011 & travelled to Coeur D'Alene. From Coeur d'Alene we traveled to Glacier then to Flathead area.

When we went North into Idaho we did so through Reno, NV and North on US 95 stopping in Eagle, ID then McCall, ID to Coeur d'Alene. Eagle & Boise were okay but not spectacular. McCall on the other hand was exceptional. We arrived 4/26/11 and there was still snow on the ground. The city and area were pretty much still in winter mode. That said, there is a large mountain lake, the RV Park was truly a resort with pool, jacquzzi, weight room, etc. & camping spots on the river. North from McCall followed a stream which was a beautiful drive. We drove into Lewiston, ID then onto Coeur d'Alene.

In Coeur d'Alene we first stayed at Blackwell Island RV, a very popular location on the Spokane River with a river dock and boat rentals. There is also another campground a bit North on US-95 named Alpine RV Campground. Either location is centrally located to the area. From Coeur d'Alene to Glacier Nat'l Park we traveled a Northern route on US 95 to Bonners Ferry then across US-2 to Kallispell, MT which is Glacier Nat'l Park area.

From Glacier we traveled South on US-93 to Missoula (Jim & Mary's RV), thereafter we used I-90 through MT enroute to Cody,WY. We visited Yellowstone from Cody then went through the park to Jackson, WY. There we stayed in Nat'l Park campground: Gros Ventre {grow - von} (most awesome place we've been).

We did all this traveling in a 45' diesel pusher pulling a Ford Escape. Without hesitation I can say the roads we were on were okay to travel with any type RV.

Recommendations:

Sand Point, ID, "Woods V bar X Ranch" local grown and processed beef is worth the stop. Lake Pend O'Reilly {pond-o-ray}, 1200' deep fresh water lake.

Polson, MT, "Miracle of America Museum" nominal cost to enter, looks like a junk yard on exterior but the operator has collected so much it is like a trip through history. Polson is also home to a "Motor Coach Resort" where you can own your own space, I don't but drove through the place.

Kalispell, MT, Whitefish Mountain is a ski resort and in the summer they set up Zip Lines. It was our first before traveling across the country. Wife was terrified before, now she searches for Zip lines. Our second was in Louisville, KY in an old limestone mine.

Glacier Nat'l Park: We were there in September of 2011 after the summer rush. The Road to the Sun was under construction at the top, Continental Divide we went to the Visitor Center and it took 20 minutes to get back onto the road. Very beautiful mountains, however, the glaciers are melting away and we thought nearly gone.

Hope this gives you some information, enjoy your trip and travel safe.