Waterton & Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park and Waterton National Park have been a big bucket list item for us the last few years! We are so happy we finally made it and it was more than we could have hoped for. This was also our first trip with two kids...and we survived! Haha! We’re excited to share some of our adventures and photos!
We decided to split up the driving from Boise to Waterton National Park - so we stopped about half way around Bozeman, Montana at the cutest, most magical Airbnb we’ve ever stayed in. We stayed in a tipi at Happy Souls Ranch (follow Airbnb host @jessiepink13 to see more tipi photos)! Our hosts were THE sweetest and our experience there couldn’t have been more peaceful. After all the craziness the last couple of months with moving, welcoming Elly to the world and starting a new job, this was just what we needed.
The next day we crossed the border into Canada and started our adventures in Waterton National Park. We stayed at the Bay Shore Inn Resort & Spa in the park, which is right on the lake and surrounded by absolutely incredible views. Our room had a lake view balcony that we loved hanging out on - especially Addison! After seeing where we were staying, we questioned our decision to even go on a hike the next day because we were doubtful that anything we could hike to could be more beautiful! We loved our experience at the Bay Shore Inn and would easily recommend it to anyone visiting Waterton!
Hiking to Bertha Lake was one of our highlights in Waterton. It’s a 6.5 mile (round trip) hike up to the lake passing some really beautiful waterfalls and views. Luckily Elly slept the whole time and Addison was a trooper. Our hammock was the perfect place to snuggle and regroup at the top of our hike. We did have to bribe Addi with ice cream though in order to get down. Haha! She reminded us about every 30 seconds that we were going to get ice cream - she was absolutely stoked for her reward after the hike!
We also got to go on this AMAZING boat ride with Waterton Shoreline which ended up being my favorite experience in Waterton. The boat ride started right next to our hotel and went to Goat Haunt in Glacier National Park. It was really fun to cross the border this way and the tour was awesome. We were in awe at the scenery and didn’t want it to end.
From Waterton, we drove the “Going to the Sun Road” through Glacier. Absolutely amazing. And I think we really hit the best time to go with all of the fall colors coming through.
One of our favorite experiences in Glacier was taking our time to stop at all the different pull outs. We loved finding our own little hideouts and setting up our Wise Owl Hammocks. Addison especially loved her own sized hammock and even Elly enjoyed swinging in them! So much fun! (The kids hammocks are only $20 and the adult doubles are less than $40 - such a steal. I linked them so you can check them out!)
Another one of our highlights was the cabin we got to stay in right outside of the park in West Glacier. We stayed in Glacier Raft Company’s cabins at Glacier Homestead. Glacier Homestead is a set of cabins and vacation rentals right outside glacier national park on 185 acres! They have all sizes of cabins - you could go as a couple or have an entire family reunion there! We enjoyed our cabin so much that we had a hard time leaving it to get to the park! We can’t wait to go back!!
The weeks leading up to our trip to Waterton and Glacier were pretty nuts. I was having second thoughts if we should even go because the timing was probably the “worst timing.” BUT there were several times throughout our trip that both of us felt it was just what we needed - we needed this quality time with each other and with our babies. It was a good reminder of why we travel and make an effort to plan these trips - all the cool things we see, the places we stay and things we eat are just a nice bonus.
