Apgar Village or Lake McDonald Lodge area?

[spinnaker]

I really hate making long term plans. But the Glacier Park area is so beautiful I just have to go and plan to in 2019. My original plan was to due a multi day bicycle tour of the park staying in park lodging. But with logistics unpredictable weather etc I decided to modify my plan a bit and maybe just do a bit of riding in the park.

My plan is as follows. Ship my bike to Whitefish. Fly out to Seattle and arrive in Whitefish on the Empire Builder. Stay there a couple of days and do some riding in the park. I would like to arrive in early June to take advantage of the closed roads. Do some hiking and kayaking in addition to my bicycling. At the end of my trip jump on the Empire Builder back home.

I am trying to decide between Apgar Village or Lake McDonald Lodge area.

Looks to me like Apgar Village is a lot cheaper but then again I don't mind spending the extra money. And I will be nice and close to the train station. If I stayed in the lodge area I was considering moving to West Glacier anyway so I could be nearby for the early morning departure for the eastbound Empire Builder.


So thoughts? Apgar Village or Lake McDonald Lodge area based on my plans. Would I be missing out not staying near the Glacier Lodge or nearby motel?

[llholmes1948]

If you are going to be biking on whatever portion of the Sun Road is open at the time, then I think Apgar village would be the best option. Be aware that the train station in West Glacier is about two miles or so from Apgar village. There may not be many hikes open on the west side at that time. Probably Avalanche Lake and Apgar Lookout would be the best. There is no checked baggage at West Glacier and the train station is not staffed. I don't think you can check a bike to or from there but you could give Amtrak a call to check this out.

At East Glacier, Glacier Park Lodge is probably about 400 feet from the train station there and the station is staffed and has checked baggage (not sure about bikes). Many other lodging places in East Glacier are within walking distance of the train station. If you stay at East Glacier, I guess you could ride to Two Medicine and do some hikes there. There are some nice early season hikes there but some trails will likely not be passable in early June.

Lyman

[spinnaker]

Thanks. Actually both East and West Glacier have bike service. Confirmed on Amtrak website. But as you mention no luggage in the west.

I am considering staying at East Glacier and riding to Two Medicine. Also considering changing to mid June and on the weekend. Apparently the special bike shuttles only run during the weekend.

Also might visit Many Glacier and have a question that I will post in a separate thread.