Glacier National Park & Canada -
A few travel tips for those interested in going to Glacier or to Canada - Steve and Wendy Bull
Gas in Idaho is cheaper than Oregon. So if a rider can get across the state line, better to fill up over there.
The DownTowner in Grangeville was a nice motel. Clean, relatively inexpensive rooms. Good service. Bike friendly.
Going to Glacier, one can stay at the Glacier Inn in Columbia Falls. Nice rooms about $80. Biker friendly. Or one can go up the road a little farther and stay in Hungry Horse (closer to the Park). Hungry Horse had motels and places to eat.
Ride the west side of Going to the Sun road to Logan Pass. It's a long, steady uphill with some places to pull over. In the parking lot at the top, the ends of the parking spaces are designated for motorcycles. So it's easy to find spaces. Then ride down the east side to St. Mary (17 miles). From St. Mary one can ride back up to Logan Pass and down the west side, or ride to Browning and around the southern part of the Park back to Columbia Falls.
You need a passport to get into Canada and to get back to the U.S. Don't bring any firearms with you.
We changed $200 U.S. into Canadian dollars at the first bank we came to after crossing the border. You can also get money from ATMs if your card supports Plus and one other banking service.
If you are going to do the Banff-Jasper route, ride the Kananaskis highway. It puts you near Banff. Stay out of Banff; it's expensive. Canmore is cheaper for motel costs.
You pay to enter Jasper and Banff National Parks. You can buy 1 or multi-day passes. If you were driving through in 1 day, you'd buy a 1 day pass. If you plan on spending several days in both parks, you buy a pass for as many days as needed. Bikers carry their pass with them on their person. Cars put the pass on their dash. Apparently park enforcers check for passes, but they probably don't bother with bikes.
Everything is more expensive in Canada, though the exchange rate favors the U.S. dollar. Gas is alot more expensive.
The roads are good that we traveled on.
Each time you enter a province, stop at the visitor's center. They have books for each province, with maps and motels listed for the major towns. There are more motels in the towns than are listed. But if you think you might need to make a reservation, call one of the motels listed in the morning and book a room for that evening.
Bikes are first on and first off on all the ferries.
