Glacier National Park

The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in Glacier National Park is 116 miles long. When trails get this long they are better represented by waypoints rather than track points. Each waypoint label contains a trail section number, mileage within that section and a code. There are three sections within Glacier National Park (NP). In the WikiLoc map I inserted an alternack track, and waypoints for available campgrounds using three letter park codes.

Riding in National Parks is a logistic nightmare. first of all, they do no allow grazing so you have to pack all of the horse's food. Campsites only allow 8 horses. I was planning to go with 3 other riders, each of us with one pack horse. On my pack horse, camping and cooking gear weighs about 80 lbs.. That leaves 80 lbs for horse food. My riding horse and pack horse will eat that up in two days. I would have to re-stock before I traveled more than 36 miles. That would be OK for the first leg from the Canadian border to Many Glacier Campground. From Many Glacier CG to Two Medicine CG is 54 miles. The last leg to U.S. Hwy. 2 is 26 mile.

Getting campsites is tricky. The best approach is to apply for advance reservation on March 15 (I believe it starts at 10 AM) on Pay.gov. You can prepare much of your application in advance. 50% of campsites will be awarded in a lottery at the end of the day. However, you will not find out if you were successful for about a month. At Many Glacier CG and Two Medicine CG horses must be boarded in the outfitter corrals. Phone numbers for these outfitters are provided in Park brochures. I called one of the outfitters and they said that they only keep their horses in the corrals.

Campsites open and are available between June 15 to September 30 depending on an estimate of when each campsite may be clear of snow. Here are some recommendations on obtaining a permit https://trailmaps.us/GlacierPermit

Large group of 9-12 campers should submit application on March 1. When you click view more below you will be taken to a web page that has all the web links, brochures and trail maps you will need for further study. To me this park looks like fun but it would be too much work. Check out my plans to go to the Bridger Wilderness. Bridger has more glaciers and far less red tape.