Happy summer y’all! I hope everyone’s enjoying the same crazy, popsicle summer I am. Between trips to the pool, VBS, and quality cartoon time, I decided the fam needed to beat the relentless Texas heat (mild this year by my standards, since we haven’t even reached 100 degrees yet) and get out of town. So, we packed our snow boots and headed to Montana with a smile. And whew, what a fabulous adventure we had—not to be missed.

In lieu of my husband and I’s unwritten pledge to travel the US visiting all the national parks, Glacier National Park was top on my list, and a must see for mountain lovers everywhere. In one day we hiked a snow packed mountain, crossed the continental divide, drove the prettiest mountain road ever, and swam in snow fed McDonald lake.

I’ve highlighted a few of my favorite moments and must see for families with children as excited to visit Glacier as mine were.

1. St. Mary’s Falls and Virginia Falls: This is a short hike with sweeping views interspersed by beautiful unnamed waterfalls which were pumping in early July. I consider Virginia Falls the most impressive waterfall we saw on the trip and worth the 500 feet elevation change.

2. Going to the Sun Road: What can I say? This is the most impressive mountain road I have experienced to date, and even if you don’t have time to hike the park, this windy adventure is worth the trip. From cascading waterfalls, serine lakes, the weeping wall (where water pours out of the rocks), deep valley views, to the impressive snowcapped peaks of Logan’s pass there is so much to take in on the hour and a half drive through beautiful Glacier National Park. And even though Lonesome Dove was shot in New Mexico, these views are just what I would have expected Gus to see when he arrived with all those cows to Montana.

3.Hike to Hidden Lake: For us, this entailed sloshing through deep snow to find a view of a frozen lake, but that just added to the magic. The impressive valley view was the by far best I experienced on the trip—just wow!

4. Horseback riding in Many Glacier: Being on a horse just makes you feel rugged. And why walk, when a sure footed, kindly animal can trudge you up a mountain, right? Seriously though, my daughter and I had a blast on the trail to Cracker Flats. Just hold on to your hat, those winds are fierce.

5. Swim the crystal clear waters of McDonald Creek: Much to my son’s chagrin there are no chicken nuggets in the water, but what you do get is a sweet lake tucked right into the mountains fed by an ice cold creek. And, Lake McDonald Lodge is a great place to stop for dinner. The food was excellent.

6.  Hiking in Many Glacier: As the locals say, this is the prettiest terrain, and I believe I agree. We hiked to Ptarmigan Falls with views along the entire route, high meadows with a dusting of flowers, and alpine forests. All perfect for kids. My husband had hoped to continue on to Iceberg Lake, but the bridge was out. Perhaps next time.

7.The wildlife: Generally, my family never gets a view of animals in the wild. Could it be my son’s squeaky voice echoing off the mountains? Nah. Usually, we have to act super excited to see a chipmunk or ground squirrel and write them down on our wildlife list. But, not at Glacier. With my nose pressed to the car window, I took about fifty pictures of our first Black bear and her cubs, the kids flapping their arms and pointing with delight. But by the fourth bear sighting, I didn’t even scramble for my camera. A grizzly bear, mountain goat, big horn sheep, two snakes, and a marmot made the list this year, and that was just three days’ worth of serious hiking. Next time, we’re determined to see a moose…

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