Off The Beaten Path If You Want To Get Away From All Those People Getting Away From It All, Try Some Of The Quiet Corners Of Montana

Sun., May 11, 1997

Graham Vink Special To Travel

Read any book that describes the great scenic drives of North America, and you’ll likely find Going-to-the-Sun Road.

This 50-mile highway cuts through the heart of Glacier National Park, crossing the Continental Divide as it climbs from cool green forests through rugged mountain vistas - what National Geographic describes as “the glorious vandalism of the Ice Age” - then descends to the dusty plains of eastern Montana.

It’s a beautiful drive - and a popular one. Last summer, it also could be a nightmarish one, because extensive repairs and closures along the narrow, two-lane road created delays of up to two hours. (The road work was completed last fall.)

So while on a family vacation last summer, I looked for sightseeing opportunities - particularly hiking opportunities - that didn’t involve the main highway. And I found there are many ways to enjoy the region that don’t require visiting the heart of the park.

One of my favorite areas is Two Medicine, at the park’s southeast corner. You can get there by driving along the park’s southern boundary, avoiding Going-to-the-Sun entirely. Crowds are minimal, especially on trails. And many visitors say this region has the park’s most spectacular scenery.

My daughters, ages 4 and 7, enjoy hiking (well, more accurately, they tolerate hiking), but their little legs can’t cover great distances. So a nice way to get a head start into the backcountry is to take a boat ride on Two Medicine Lake.

The tour boat Sinopah carries about 50 people and makes several round trips each day from the landing at Two Medicine to the upper end of the lake. From there, it’s only a few miles on foot to Upper Two Medicine Lake, No Name Lake or Dawson Pass (both lake trails - about four miles round trip - are suitable for children).

We hiked with a group of 20 other people who were guided by a park ranger. His commentary about the native plants was particularly interesting (bear grass, for example, is eaten by many animals - but not bears), as was his tongue-in-cheek advice on what to do if we saw a bear and her cub: “Form a circle around the ranger.”

More seriously, this is grizzly country. The trail to Upper Two Medicine was closed the day we visited because of grizzlies, and a fellow hiker spotted one through binoculars, far above the lake, during our boat ride back. So make sure to check with a ranger before you set out.

Another spectacular hike in the Two Medicine region is Scenic Point, 6.2 miles round trip with 2,200 feet of elevation gain. It’s hard, hot work, but the lake and mountain views are great - and most of the route is above tree line, so you’re unlikely to surprise a bear.

Accommodations inside Glacier National Park are booked months in advance, so I often stay in Whitefish, a 45-minute drive from the park’s west entrance. Whitefish is best known for its proximity to Big Mountain, the popular ski and summer resort, which also makes a good base in summer (it’s affordable, convenient, and frequently has rooms even when everywhere else is full).

Big Mountain has a chairlift that runs all summer, offering an easy way to enjoy views from the 7,000-foot summit (there’s also a decent restaurant with an outdoor deck). Riders can either take the open chairs (kids love them) or sit in an enclosed gondola, and the lift runs at half speed so it’s easy to get on and off.

There’s a Forest Service information center at the summit (children especially enjoy the collection of animal pelts), and there’s a nice loop trail to Summer Point (2.8 to 3.8 miles, depending on the route). You can hike 5.6 miles all the way down to the base of the chairlift, but I don’t recommend it unless your knees can take a lot of pounding.

Big Mountain is steadily expanding its summertime offerings. On our visit, we joined an Old West Adventure dinner getaway, which involved a short ride in horsedrawn wagons to a barn-style dining hall. It’s a bit pricey (around $35 for adults and $25 for kids), and the barbecued chicken and ribs were so-so, but the (many) children enjoyed the cowboy stories and poetry (plus the opportunity to try their hand at roping) and the sing-along around the campfire.

The resort has a good range of accommodations, from simple rooms to plush condos, good restaurants and other activities from horseback rides to tennis courts.

Visitors to Montana may not realize the region is a mecca for water sports, but Flathead Lake, south of Kalispell, is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. A great base to explore this region is Bigfork, a little community at the northeast corner of the lake.

Bigfork has become something of a playground for celebrities and retirees with money. The town center, where summer parking space is scarce, has upscale stores, boutiques, art galleries and restaurants, packed into only a few square blocks. There’s also a popular summer theater program.

A pleasant place to stay here is Marina Cay, a five-minute walk from downtown. The 125-room resort straddles one of the lake’s inlets, and guests can rent paddleboats or canoes, or even take a dinner cruise. The resort also has an excellent restaurant with a creative chef. Accommodations range from motel rooms to townhouse-style units with full kitchens.

Even if upscale shopping is not your idea of a Montana vacation, Bigfork has three other charms: location, location and location. This is the easiest gateway to the Jewel Basin, more than 15,000 acres at the north end of the Swan Mountains. The alpine basin, mostly above 6,000 feet, contains 27 lakes and 35 miles of trails reserved for hikers (no horses or mountain bikes allowed.)

The main trailhead, at 5,760 feet, is only a 20-minute drive from Bigfork, allowing easy access for day hikes or overnight stays. The region offers Montana hiking at its finest - secluded trails, easy grades, meadows dotted with Indian paintbrush, monkey flower and arnica, and plenty of huckleberries and wild raspberries for snacking. Most lakes offer fishing for cutthroat and rainbow trout.

A few miles south of Bigfork is a Montana institution, Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge. Operated by the same family for more than 50 years, this 2,000-acre dude ranch is considered one of the top family vacation spots in America.

Visitors come for a week at a time, with the all-inclusive price featuring meals, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, lake cruises, sailing, water skiing, tennis and much more. Guests stay in small cabins, and the lodge is classic Old West - high ceilings, wooden floors and family style meals served on long tables. Many families, mostly with children, have been coming here for generations, frequently reserving a year in advance.

My family spent a day as guests of the ranch and enjoyed the horseback riding, the meals and an evening cookout offering children their ultimate fantasy - being ferried into the forest aboard a fire truck with working water pump. Even a downpour couldn’t spoil the evening.

Michael McCoy, the author of “Montana off the Beaten Path,” said of the lodge: “A grander scene is hard to envision. It belongs in a 1930s Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn movie.”

Finally, a visit to Montana wouldn’t seem complete without seeing buffalo, and you can find them at one of the region’s lesser-known attractions, the National Bison Range.

The range, founded in 1908 when buffalo were on the verge of extinction from overhunting, covers 18,500 acres near the town of Moiese.

About 500 bison now live on the range, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Depending on the season, a variety of loop drives through the park are available, ranging in length from 30 minutes to two hours.

The scenery looks like a wasteland, brown and harsh. But you’ll definitely see buffalo, and you might also see elk, deer, antelope, bighorn sheep, muntain goats, black bears and coyotes - a vivid reminder that to find the real Montana, you need to wander off the beaten path.

If you go

When to go

Although Glacier National Park has some lower-elevation campgrounds that are open year-round, lodges inside the park don’t open until May and Going-to-the-Sun Road usually isn’t cleared of snow until mid-June. The best hiking is from June through late September; cross-country skiing is popular all winter.

Getting there

Glacier National Park is about a five-hour drive from Spokane, depending on how you interpret Montana’s “reasonable and prudent” daytime speed limits. Amtrak trains stop in Whitefish, and also can pick up and drop off passengers at the Izaak Walton Inn south of the park on U.S. 2.

Where to stay

Some suggestions from my most recent visit.

Big Mountain Ski and Summer Resort, Whitefish, (406) 862-1900. The resort is open year-round. Lower-elevation trails are snow-free around the beginning of June, with the entire system clear in early July. Snow reappears at higher elevations in September. Accommodations from simple rooms to plush suites in a variety of lodges and condos; make sure to ask about special packages.

Marina Cay in Bigfork, open year-round, is a good base for hiking and water sports in summer and fall, a good location for cross-country skiing in winter and spring. Call (800) 433-6516 or (406) 837-5861. Rates range from around $40 for a room in low season to $290 for a suite in high season; accommodations are cheapest in spring and autumn. The well-known Eagle Bend golf resort is only a few miles away; call (800) 255-5641 or (406) 837-7333.

Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge is one of the premier dude ranches in the United States, with accommodations by the week only. Reservations can (and should) be made up to a year in advance. Weekly rates, which include all meals and activities, are around $1,700 for adults, $1,000 for children. Call (406) 837-4391.

Excursions

Boat trips and guided hikes are offered on St. Mary (406) 732-4430, Many Glacier (406) 732-4480 and Two Medicine (406) 226-4467 lakes. In summer, the boats occasionally fill, so arrive early.