Glac­ier National Park received its des­ig­na­tion in 1910. George Bird Grin­nell, an early Mon­tana explorer, was instru­men­tal in prod­ding the United States gov­ern­ment to pro­tect this land. Today, about 2 mil­lion peo­ple visit the 1500 square miles of the park annually.

For­tu­nately, Glac­ier National Park is well served by Amtrak’s Empire Builder year-round. The Great North­ern Rail­way (GN), which oper­ated on the tracks Amtrak uses today, pro­vided the ini­tial lodg­ing in the area along its stops. Here are lodg­ing alter­na­tives close to the four Glac­ier stops (going from east to west):

East Glac­ier Park: In 1913, GN opened its first Glac­ier lodge, the Glac­ier Park Hotel in East Glac­ier Park. Now known as the Glac­ier Park Lodge and Resort, the hotel retains the rugged looks of a cen­tury ago with mod­ern ameni­ties. The resort is open from late-May to late-September. Located across the street from the Amtrak train sta­tion, the 161-room lodge has accom­mo­da­tions that range from rus­tic “value lodge” rooms to a “Glac­ier Golf house” sit­u­ated about ½ mile from the main lodge. The resort also has three restau­rants and a “Cow­boy Cook­out” on Tues­day and Wednes­days. There are two retail stores on the prop­erty. Finally, there are over 20 other hotels and camp­grounds nearby.

Essex: In a small sliver of land between Glac­ier National Park and the Bob Mar­shall Wilder­ness, lie Essex and the Izaak Wal­ton Inn. Built in 1939 by GN to house win­ter snow removal crews, this hotel oper­ates year-around. The Izaak Wal­ton is located adja­cent to the Amtrak stop at Essex. You have a choice of one of 33 rooms in the inn, four restored rail­road cabooses, and six mod­ern fam­ily cab­ins. The restau­rant is opened for three meals a day. Repro­duc­tions of his­toric Great North­ern din­ner­ware are the fea­tured items in the hotel’s James J. Hill Gift Shop.

West Glac­ier: There are dozens of hotels and camp­ground close to West Glac­ier. Three prop­er­ties are on the shore of Lake McDon­ald in Glac­ier National Park. On the south end, in the Vil­lage of Apgar, there is the Vil­lage Inn at Apgar (the last Glacier-area lodge built by GN) and the Apgar Vil­lage Lodge. Apgar has a vis­i­tor cen­ter, restau­rant and gift stores. On Lake McDonald’s north end, are the mag­nif­i­cent Lake McDon­ald Lodge, Cot­tages and Inn. The main lodge was built by GN in 1914 in a Swiss Chalet motif. The resort has three restau­rants, a gift shop, and a campstore.

White­fish: Colum­bia Falls, Kalispell and White­fish have numer­ous lodg­ing options includ­ing tra­di­tional hotels, con­dos, bed and break­fasts, ranches and camp­grounds. Within an hour’s drive from Glac­ier National Park, this alter­na­tive is attrac­tive to those who want to expe­ri­ence more than just the park. For instance, White­fish Moun­tain Resort pro­vides win­ter sports and sum­mer hik­ing activ­i­ties. Also, Flat­head Lake, the largest fresh­wa­ter lake west of the Mis­sis­sippi River, is known for its fish­ing and boat­ing activ­i­ties. There are many good restau­rants and shops in this area.