Glacier National Park with Kids – Apgar Village, Avalanche Lake, Lake McDonald

We just took a trip out to Glacier National Park and boy-oh-boy, do I have a lot to share! I’m going to break up our trip into multiple blog posts and then create an overall itinerary. Hopefully it’ll help those looking to take a trip to Glacier!

We live in Michigan, so we started our trip by staying at the Westin inside the Detroit Metro Airport. We had a fun view from our room and then woke up around 4:30 a.m. the next morning to catch our 6:30 a.m.ish flight. We flew into Seattle and then took another flight back to Spokane. When in Spokane, we rented a minivan and set off down the road. We chose to rent a minivan in Spokane and make the drive rather than rent elsewhere due to car rental costs being outrageous in some areas closer to Glacier. The drive from Washington, through Idaho and into Montana was about 4 hours and it was a stunning and quiet drive!

We arrived at Glacier National Park after a long day of travel and sleepy eyes, but we were thrilled to find what awaited us!

I almost missed the Gateway to Glacier National Park sign! A cute little village, West Glacier Village, was just behind this sign. A little ways down the road we arrived in Apgar Village which sits on Lake McDonald. Oh…and when I say “village,” I mean village. It’s the cutest little place with just enough to offer – a couple of little stores, ice cream, a restaurant, a place for coffee, kayak rentals. There’s a campground, cabins and a couple of motels. We booked our stay at The Village Inn a year ahead of time. Our room was a family based room with three queens and the perfect amount of room for the five of us. It is updated in the sense it has comfortable and clean bedding and towels, but the rest of the room is kept true to itself. It’s original and authentic and it’s perfect!

Every room at The Village Inn has a lake view and the balcony space is shared amongst other guests. It’s the epitome of quaint and stunningly gorgeous!

The famous rocks of Lake McDonald.

The backside of The Village Inn.

Upon seeing the view I think we all gasped a little. We were so excited to have arrived and eager to explore this beautiful place.

He headed to eat within the village and the food was great! We then headed to bed as it had been an exhausting day. The next morning we had booked a boat tour of Lake McDonald, but we wanted to make sure we took advantage of all the amenities, so we let the kids swim for a while before heading out.

The water was the clearest and cleanest water I’ve ever seen and it remained this clear all the way out in the middle of the lake.

Our boat tour was at 11. In order to use the Going-to-the-Sun Road, one must have a park pass or reserved accommodations OR a reservation in form of rafting, kayaking or a boat tour. There is a check point that slowed us down to ensure all vehicles had proper passes. The check point goes from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily from May-September. We were told to arrive 30 minutes before our boat tour because the tour will start to give tickets away – they mean business!!! We arrived about 15 minutes ahead of time and Jon said there was someone who would’ve received our tickets had we been just a few more minutes late.

It felt good to have these tickets in hand.

We learned a ton on our boat tour of Lake McDonald! The photo below shows the remnants of a fire improperly extinguished by a camper. It was so sad to see, but also wildly beautiful.

The boat tour took place at the Lake McDonald Lodge, which in and of itself was a treat to see.

The boat tour, on a boat built in 1930, was well worth it and the mountains were spectacular!

After the tour Jon and I attempted a romantic kiss, but…kids…soooo this is the best we could do! 😉

A Red Bus was parked outside. Many people book Red Bus Tours to take them on Going-to-the-Sun Road! I’ve heard amazing things about this tour! It’s worth looking into bookings!

We ventured inside the Lake McDonald Lodge and it did not disappoint. It felt almost like Disney, except this hotel has been here since 1913/1914.

We continued our journey of making the very most of our stay and headed to Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake. The hike to Avalanche Lake was just shy of 5 miles out and back. It took us about 3 hours to do and it was a lovely and shaded hike.

When in Montana, always carry Bear Spray!

The Trail of the Cedars has a beautiful boardwalk…

The scenery was a delight…

Our hike up to Avalanche Lake was so much fun. There was some elevation gain to the point of me being a tad sore the next day, but still a relatively easy hike.

Jane talked and talked and talked while on our hike. She was also alive with her imagination. Here she is riding a “horse!”

Jane flexing her muscles…

…finding rainbows…

…finding large trees…

…and walking through trees that looked like doorways…

….aaaaand here’s Jane pretending to eat something… I’m sure it was a cake or a cupcake, but like I said, her imagination was non-stop! Hahaha!

Nature is the best teacher. 🙂

The scale of this mountain behind Jon – like whoa!

Such beauty!

As we ventured on, we could hear waterfalls!

From the middle of the woods to an opening of a blue sky to trees, gorgeous blue water and waterfalls – our eyes did all they could to take it in!

I could’ve stayed here all day…

I think our fellow hikers were thinking the same thing…

We hiked back to the car while continuing to take in the sights, but not without Mama giving a memory smooch to my favorite teenager! Look how happy he looks! 😉

Once we arrived back at Apgar Village we rented a kayak and took turns taking it out. The lake was alive with tourists, but also still very quiet. Jane even made a friend!

Kayak rentals were easy and the kayaks were clean. We were grateful for the most amazing day for this activity!

Henry does this thing called, Remote Bird, he’s been doing it all summer. It’s basically a very loud bird sound made mostly to startle me all summer when I least expect it…because, well, teenager. Anyhow, he made the noise while we kayaked and a bird kept responding. I have the best video of him in the moment and his excitement!!

Jane loved kayaking and even checked to make sure I had my life jacket on. I do wish I would’ve kayaked with Eliza. Jon ended up taking her so hopefully they both hold onto that memory together. 🙂

The kids could’ve kept swimming and kayaking all day and into the night!

Lake McDonald, you have our hearts!

It was an absolute treat to stay at The Village Inn at Apgar Village. If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them. Thanks for following along. Next up, I’ll share our hike on the Highline Trail!

Marie 🙂