An Amazing week on an RV - Off to Glacier National Park

F&F
Aug 4, 2020
14 min read

Updated: Feb 13, 2023

An RV road trip has been on our bucket list ever since we made our first visit to Alaska back in 2007. However, somehow or other, the plan kept getting pushed out of the list for some time in the "future".

Today, we’re still deep in the trenches of the coronavirus pandemic, so it is kind of looking impossible to predict when our "usual" travel routine might resume, and when we’ll feel comfortable trekking around the world again with the family. However, being cooped up inside for months, the relaxing time away from our house seemed much-needed. Given that air travel was completely out of question during these times, the RV road trip naturally bubbled to the top of our laundry list and we decided to execute on that.

The key to a successful road trip via an RV is definitely meticulous planning. We spent quite some time planning this trip. Tips and tricks from our planning can be found here.

We took some time to finalize on our destination. Given that this was our first trip on an RV, we did not want to venture out too far from Redmond, WA, our starting point of the journey. After considering a few options, we decided to head out to the crown jewel of Montana - the insanely scenic Glacier National Park, featuring some of the most beautiful natural landscapes that you’ll find anywhere in the country.

Follow along our amazing 7 day road trip below, day by day, augmented with the pictures of some of the beautiful scenery…

Day 1: Our Journey begins - from Redmond to Coeur d' Alene

Having packed everything the night before, we were ready to start on our adventure early in the morning (RV rental checkout is in the afternoon - we picked up the RV the day before and decided to wait until this morning to start so that we reach our destination by daylight, in order to ease the process of hookups). The only last minute thing left to load was the food in the refrigerator and freezer, which we quickly did. Fully packed and loaded we were off to a start from our home at around 9 am in the morning.

Our very first break was at Lake Easton state park, where we reached at around 10:30 am and was able to try out the RV restrooms (Quick Tip: when you are using the restrooms in the parked vehicle, you need to turn on the water pump). We walked around a bit in the picnic area of the park and then headed over towards the old Iron Horse Trail (now known as the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail) on the other side of the lake. We spent some time on the beautiful bridge crossing the Yakima River where Lake Easton starts. The kids spent some time throwing pebbles into the lake and wading in the water.

After some time, we came back to our home on the road - the RV, to get some quick lunch prepared. I had brought some homemade filling for chicken salad sandwich, which I now used to prepare some sandwiches for a quick bite.

The simple sandwiches tasted absolutely delicious - hunger is definitely the best sauce.

We started for our destination soon after lunch, at around 12:15 pm. Our plan was to stay at Coeur d' Alene for 2 nights. We reached our campsite (Camp Coeur d' Alene) at around 4:30 pm, with plenty of daylight to spare. I have to say that the campsite was pretty disappointing - no shade at all, and the sites were pretty crowded and close to each other, with little to no privacy.

In any case, we were pretty excited to be able to stop for the night and try out all the tricks we saw in the the videos that we had been watching - hooking up the water, and electricity to the camp hookups. It was a hot day with almost 90 degrees outside, so we got the AC running as well. We got some light snacks to eat, and then decided to take a quick nap. The sleeping arrangements in the RV were pretty comfortable, and we had a good midday siesta. At around 6:15 pm we woke up and went for a short walk around the campsite.

It was time for dinner. I had brought some marinated chicken from home, so we decided to prep for a BBQ dinner - chicken, grilled corn and some naan.

The kids wanted to have a few rounds of board games, so we decided to end the day with a couple of rounds of "Sequence" sitting outside. By this time, the mosquitoes were out and it was getting pretty uncomfortable, so the kids headed indoors.

Me and my husband went outside to throw the trash away, and do our very first round of dumping the sewer. The experience went well without any hiccups. It was time to retire for the night.

Day 2: Biking along the magnificent Lake Coeur d' Alene

After a nice and long sleep, we woke up around 6:30 am in the morning. In contrast to the sweltering heat during the afternoon, the night was pretty chilly, and we had to turn off the AC and even our portable fan in the middle of the night. The kids were still sleeping, so we decided to prepare some breakfast while they slept. My husband made some tea in the RV cooktop, while I prepared some egg omelettes with cilantro, green chili and onions. We had brought along our toaster and some bagels, so we put them to good use. Breakfast was bagel, cream cheese, omelettes and English breakfast tea.

Our plan today was to drive to the small city of Harrison, and bike a small and scenic portion of the magnificent Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes. This 72-mile paved rail-trail stretches across the Idaho Panhandle from the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation in Plummer, to Mullan, a few miles from the Montana border. We did the part that starts at Harrison, and ends at the Heyburn State Park. The round-trip was about 19 miles, thankfully with almost no elevation gain. This ultra-scenic bike trail skirts the shoreline of sparkling waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene and is one of our favorites. The beautiful Chatcolet Bridge (pedestrian and bikes only) can be crossed to get to the other side of the southern part of the lake. This bridge has a stair-step ramp which made the uphill climb much easier and made for an exhilarating roller-coaster like ride downhill.

We stopped at the Heyburn State Park, our final destination for the bike ride, for some snacks and a break to stretch those tired legs. We took a few other photo stops on our way there as well. On the way back, the kids wanted to ride the whole 9.5 miles in one go, so we basically came back in one shot, without stopping. Once back to the RV, we prepared some sandwiches for a very late lunch - it was almost 4:30 pm - glad that we had a heavy breakfast in the morning to keep us going. Exhausted after the long bike ride, both the kids fell asleep in the car (Note that while driving the passengers need to sit with seatbelts fastened, but kids were easily able to use the dining table propped with comfy pillows as headrests for their nap), during our 40 minute ride back from Harrison to the campsite.

Once back, after we did the usual routine of hooking up our RV, we took a quick afternoon siesta. Well rested, we woke up and all took turns taking a shower... although the bathroom is pretty compact, it worked out well. While the rest of the family took turns at the shower, I cooked some rice and heated up the food I brought for home in preparation for dinner. We lit up the firewood outdoors (One of the perks of this campsite is free firewood), where the kids made some s'mores. After a few rounds of family board games (our must-do each night) we retired for the night.

Day 3: On Our way to Montana

Woke up around 7 am this morning. Planned to have a light breakfast today, so made some tea, and had it with toast and butter and salted cookies. We packed up the few loose things that were outside the RV, dumped the sewer and started for our final destination, the Glacier National Park. The drive from Coeur d' Alene to West Glacier was simply stunning! We drove through mountains with jagged peaks and rolling hills, passing countless lakes, creeks and waterfalls.

We had two planned stops in mind. The first one was somewhere on the banks of Clark Fork River and the second was Flathead State Park (Finley Point). Unable to find a suitable RV stopping spot on the banks of Clark Fork, we made a random stop at the Muchwater recreation area - a USFS unmaintained campground in Lolo National Forest and stopped there for a few minutes.

Once on our way, we found a gravel parking spot at the Kookoosint fishing access site and decided to make it our first stop. The scenery here was simply breathtaking. Pretty hungry, we opted to have lunch here at the river banks, enjoying the gorgeous views of Clark Fork river.

Our second stop was at the Flathead lake park - our original plan was to get in the water with our inflatable raft, but the weather was not in our favor today. The day was super windy, so we instead spent some time relaxing on our picnic mats in the park before starting for our final destination at 5:50 pm.

We lost an hour due to time zone change once we crossed the Idaho-Montana border. Need to mention here that we took route 35 (instead of 93) towards Glacier national park - I highly recommend this minor detour even though it takes 30 minutes extra. The route is ultra scenic - lined with fruit orchards on both sides - pure bliss to see those ripe cherries hanging from the branches of the trees.

We reached our campsite, the West Glacier RV park at around 7:30 pm in the evening. In contrast to our previous campground - this campsite was simply beautiful! We fell in love with the campground at first sight. The sites were spacious, with a big grass patch on the side for the picnic table and the firepit. The views of the mountains in the horizon made for an amazing backdrop.

Once at the campsite - we did the usual -by this point we were pros at hooking up the lines and getting the RV power and water going. Dinner was made/heated up, board games were played before we went to bed for the night.

Day 4: Hiking at Avalanche Lake Trail in GNP

Our plan for today was to go for a hike on the Avalanche lake trail. We started early in the hopes of beating the crowds, and in the hopes of finding a good spacious parking spot for our 25 ft rig. Despite all the rumors and news about the huge lineup at the Glacier National Park West entrance, we lucked out in our timing, and was able to enter the park within 10-15 minutes of getting there. Once inside, we headed straight towards the Avalanche lake trailhead. One important point to note here is that with any vehicle larger than 21 ft, you can only go up to this point on the Going-to-the-Sun road. The two-lane Going-to-the-Sun Road is quite narrow and winding, with hairpin turns, especially west of Logan Pass. Consequently, vehicle lengths over the highest portions of the roadway are limited to no longer than 21 feet and no wider than 8 feet between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun picnic areas. With an RV, you will most likely be unable to visit Logan Pass, the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun road and the prime attraction of the park. We were okay with this restriction since this was not our first trip to Glacier NP.

We reached the Avalanche Lake trailhead around 9:30 am, but the ranger there told us to come back an hour or so later since the lot was full - already. We still insisted in going in just to turn around and check if in case, someone was planning to leave. Luck favored us. A group of 3 cars were packing up and putting the kids into their carseats in preparation for leaving. We parked!

The hike to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park begins from the Trail of the Cedars Trailhead, a loop hike that begins and ends along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We started the hike on the western segment of the loop which is slightly shorter, planning to complete the loop on the eastern side.

The hike was about 7 miles round trip from the parking lot. We started the hike at 10:15 and at about an hour (and a few photo stops) later reached the banks of Avalanche Creek, where we got an up-close view of the powerful, deep turquoise blue glacial waters gushing through the narrow gorge.

At 2.3 miles of the Avalanche Creek trail, after about a couple of hours of hiking we finally reached the foot of gorgeous Avalanche Lake. We spent about an hour here taking in the marvelous views and dipping our feet in the clear blue waters.

We started heading back. This time we took the more scenic eastern route of the connecting Cedars trail loop - walking along a raised boardwalk, passing through a forest of ancient western hemlocks and red cedars. We reached the parking lot at 3 pm. By this time, we were simply starving. I quickly prepared lunch at the parking lot - hot dogs for the kiddos, heated up some noodles for us in the RV cooktop (which uses propane). We also had some tea and cookies - the much needed caffeine to recharge us up.

On our way back to the park entrance, we kind of accidentally found this amazing boondocking (a way to utilize free camping without amenities or hookups) spot at the Apgar day use camping area. Due to covid19, overnight camping in Apgar was prohibited, but there was this day use campsite where you could station for the day and enjoy the Lake McDonald area. We decided to experience semi-boondocking so we parked our rig in a shady campground and took a two hour nap. The kids were still deep asleep, exhausted from the hike, so me and my husband decided to check out the lake side beaches to see if there was any available with no people there (of course, we were trying to avoid crowds due to covid19). We found one great spot, which was a bit farther away from where the RV was parked! We moved the RV over to another day-use campsite across from this secluded beach access area. Kids had woken up by then and we decided to spend the afternoon in this scenic spot and watch the sunset. I took the camping stove on the banks of lake McDonald and started prepping dinner (another perk of travelling with your home with you). Cooked rice, heated up daal (red lentil soup), tilapia curry and okra (that I had cooked at home) and had dinner on the banks of Lake McDonald with an amazing view, enjoying the rays of the setting sun.

Later in the evening we returned back to our campsite in West Glacier RV park. Me and my husband went for a short bike ride around the campsite, doing some RV watching - the different types, sizes and varieties of RVs out there was simply mind-blowing. The kids spent some time doing the much-missed screen time, since this campsite had free high speed Wi-Fi!

It was getting pretty late and we called it a day - no board games this evening, since kids seemed to be more interested in the screens...

Day 5: Biking and Boating at Glacier NP

The plan for today was to take our inflatable raft for a float at Lake McDonalds. We also wanted to explore the beautiful biking trails from our campground, given our limited options in the park with an RV. Shortly after our breakfast, we inflated the boat using the external 110V power from the RV, since we would not get this once out of the campsite.

After inflating, we kept the raft outside beside the RV while we took our bikes and hit the McDonald Creek Bike Path - the only paved trail in the park, which runs from West Glacier to the Apgar Visitors Center. Relatively flat, this two-mile long scenic bike path was perfect for our family bike outing. The lush greenery along the way and the mild breeze between the tall pine trees made the ride really pleasant. The trail was pretty empty, which was a good thing during these trying times. We passed a fellow cyclist, who told us how we had missed spotting a black bear, feeding on berries - we were so disappointed (to be honest though, I was a bit relieved inside, although did not admit it to the rest of the crew).

We did manage to spot a deer along the trail, walking around, eating leaves, unafraid of the people around her. We also made a brief stop to pick and eat huckleberries.

We biked till noon, and then decided to head back to the campsite for some lunch. After lunch we loaded the inflated boat into the RV (yeah that was a bit of a struggle but we managed) and went to the Apgar day use picnic area - the one we had discovered the previous afternoon. We found a suitable parking spot at one of the campsites that had easy access to a deserted spot on the banks of lake McDonald. The kids were really eager to go boating, so we unloaded boat, oars, life jackets and all the other necessary stuff. The kids hit the water right away.

I was feeling really tired, so opted for my regular afternoon siesta on the beach- on the picnic mat this time, bringing pillows and a quilt from the RV. When I woke up after an hour, the kids were done boating and were ready for a shower. My husband took them back to the RV for the shower, while I prepared some snacks for the hungry kiddos (and ourselves) and tea by the lakeside using our camping stove.

The kids were exhausted and needed some rest, so they went back to the RV for a nap. Me and my husband took the raft and went boating for 30 minutes. We took the walkie talkie with us and left one with the kids, since there was no phone signal here.

Once done, we packed up the stuff and decided to drive around the park a bit since this was our last night here. We made a few stops for photo ops, although kids were fast asleep in the car.

We returned to the campsite quite late in the evening, so had a quick dinner and did some internet browsing before we retired.

Day 6: Chexpidition!

Today we are leaving Glacier National Park... upon waking up, we packed up the remaining loose stuff that we had around the campsite and loaded the bikes on the racks. We started on our way at 10 am. Today happened to be our 19th wedding anniversary, so we decided to stop for a cake at the DQ drive-through in Bigfork, MT. The kids also ordered some fries. On our way to GNP, we had eyed all those cherry orchards with the plump and ripe Rainier cherries hanging from the branches - we really wanted to find a place where we could pick them ourselves, so I did a quick search on the internet for one such location. Lo and behold - we found one right on our route - the Bigfork Orchards. Super excited at the prospect of picking cherries, we all rushed down, and the orchard surely did not disappoint! We found some of the most plump and juiciest cherries, and what can be better than eating them right then and there fresh from the trees!! We got a bit crazy and ended up picking almost 17 lbs of cherries (don't ask me how much we ate while picking, we easily could have exceeded 5 lbs!).

Satiated with the mouth-watering cherries, we continued on our way to our campground for the night at St. Regis, MT. We took the Paradise to St. Regis scenic byway which has insanely breathtaking scenery - sharing a few snaps below...

Our home for the night was the Nugget RV Park. This RV park was also situated on a beautiful location, and we luckily managed to get a spot with an amazing view of the gorge.

There was no wi-fi here fortunately, so we were back to our routine of board games... tonight it was Uno before we headed for bed. This is our last night of the trip, tomorrow we start for our home in Redmond.

Day 7: Heading back to reality...

The drive from St. Regis to Redmond is a long one, so we started pretty early, right after a quick breakfast. On the way we had to stop for gas. The scenery along the way was pretty magnificent, so sharing a snap taken from the car at the MT-ID border...

For lunch we stopped at the Blue Heron Park, near Moses Lake in WA. It was sweltering hot with a temperature of 100+ degrees, so we quickly wrapped up and went on our way.

We had to dump the sewer one last time, so we stopped at a sewer dumping station at the Issaquah Village RV Park before going back home. Sharing some pictures taken in our very own beautiful Washington state on our way back...

We were back home and back to reality after spending a fun-filled week on the road... Maybe we will end up doing many more such trips, but this trip will always hold a special place in our hearts as the very first of its kind.