FrumCA

You will love the park. It is spectacular!!

Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

I was there in the fall 2019. If it's bright and sunny, your best photo opportunities will be in around sun up and sun down. I scoped out my locations during the day and then arrived before sun up with my tripod set up at earliest light. Consider taking a polarizer for the lakes.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I spent a week there a couple of years ago. I had planned to drive the Road, but opted for the red bus tour. Not much opportunity for really good photos on the tour. And if you drive, you're fighting for a parking space and probably not getting one. My suggestion would be to visit every lake and do every hike you're capable of during your stay. Also, drive up to the Canadian park. It's beautiful also.

photoman43

If staying at Many Glacier Lodge, take the Iceberg Lake hike and be prepared to take lots of landscape shots along the way, at the lake and of the stream that flows from the lake towards Many Glacier lodge. Other shorter trails at Many Glacier are wonderful too with vistas of mountains and lakes.

At Lake McDonald Lodge, photograph the lake shore line near the lodge in early morning light or at sunset. Remember to shoot when the sun is still below the horizon line. Read up on blue hour and twilight images in morning nd evening.

Definitely do the Going to the sun ? road trip. I hope you can stop at the top and hike and take photos.

Bring a polarizer filter to reduce glare from water surfaces of from foliage if you hike in the woods.

Don's Leica Loc: Asheville, NC

Steve, you must be buried with advice by now. Visiting GNP years ago, I took hundreds of wildflower photos that kept my botanist wife up until midnight looking up their names. She identified about 100 species. She suggests Friends of Glacier National Park website. We also heard an exciting lecture on birds by Park Ranger Pat Hagan, whom
we believe still works there.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Glacier NP is Spectacular. We were there in 2019 and stayed at 3 different Lodge locations. Here are some tips that you should keep in mind.
1. Parking is a premium anywhere you go. Some places extremely limited in parking spaces. Get to wherever you are going very early. Note: The National Parks do not reserve parking spaces for Lodge guests. There are a lot of day trippers coming into the park each day and parking spaces fill up quick. Example, we stayed at Many Glacier lodge and when we left in the morning we had to park some distance to the lodge and walk. Tip: Daytrippers leave in the late afternoon and evening so you can move your car closer to the lodge.
2. We drove the Going to the Sun road,very nice and not scary at all. Again parking is a problem in any of the parking areas.
3. Logan's Pass is nice: The trail for Hidden Lake is on the side where the Visitor's center is. We arrived there early. Note: We were there in July and it was extremely cold that morning. Plan appropriately. Tip. There is a hidden trail off the sidewalk that will take you up a nice trail to a waterfall. It's not an approved trail but we talked to the ranger and they had no problems with us taking it.
4. Across the road from Logans Pass is the Highline Trail head. We didn't go the whole way on the trail but the views are pretty awesome along the trail. Be warned, it's not for the people afraids of heights. There were a few places where you actually have to grab ahold of a rope. I can post a couple of photos I took from there to give you an idea.
5. Avalanche Lake trail is nice. Again go early. There is not a lot of standing space when you get back to the beach area of the lake. It's a beautiful view of the mountain with the reflection in the water. There was probably about 30 people there on the beach when we headed back down the trail. We lost count when we hit 300 people coming up the trail.
4. As far as wild like we saw some bears but at a distance. Strongly advise that you have bear spray with you. Moose sightings. Go the far end of the parking lot of Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and take the trail. About a 1/3 of mile up the trail you will see a path on your left. Take that short path down to Fishercap Lake. We saw Moose there on both mornings we went. Talked to a few locals and they said the Moose like to eat the vegetation in the Lake.
5. The food in the Lodges is just average or below with above average prices.
6. St Mary Waterfall Trail.You can see 3 waterfalls there. Nice. Warning the parking pull-off area is very small and this is a popular waterfall trai.
Safe travels to you. I look forward to see your images when you get back.

craneman

I was just up there and Going to the Sun Road wasn't open yet. Check before you go.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

If you are hiking, carry bear spray.

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

Look at roadtrippers.com, all trails, the National Park app, Google for images, Photopills for sun and moon info, Astro info

I'm envious as Covid stopped a road trip that included Glacier National Park. The advice about bears is very valid there and most of the nw parks with increased attacks.

kcooke Loc: Alabama

Yes that’s a good idea. Another is to know how to use it very well and fast. We went to a class put on by a ranger at the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming last summer. Here are some facts he presented. There are about 1500 grizzlies in the lower 48. 800 in Montana and 600 in Wyoming. Also a few in Idaho and Washington state. the average response time for you to pull the spray out of a holster, take the safety off then aim and deploy spray is about 4 seconds if they are charging. That’s assuming they are in the 30 yard range of the spray. You can buy inert canisters to practice with which we did. He said bells are useless. Better to yell hey bear every so often. Especially in dense brush. Unless you are hiking especially in the backcountry it’s not a huge problem.

Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

Suggest going after Labor Day to avoid crowded roads and parking. Check timing of fall colors. Also check to make sure that the roads are still open. They close for weather and, before the snow sets in, they sometimes close for road maintenance. Seems like a lot of checking, but information is readily available and it's worth some planning and travel flexibility.

SnoShuSam Loc: Texas, (ex Virginian)

One of my favorite places to photograph. Lots of wildlife and lots of spectacular images. Be aware of where you are and what's around you. My wife watched a mother Griz and her cub walk 20 yards behind while I was at the waters edge getting some exposures. I never saw them and they ignored me. When I walked back to the hotel my wife and several others were out front to tell me about what I had missed. That's when my knees started shaking. That was in Watertown NP in Canada. It joins Glacier at the border so it is almost one park.
We stayed at Many Glacier Inn and it was terrific. The great hall has entertainment at night from the students that work there and it has is a great roaring fireplace. All the people there at the lodge sit around and compare what they saw that day and where they were. One of my very favorite NP's. Even better than Yosemite.

Xinloi6870

Especially when you’re being chased by a 1000-pound grizzly.

spaceytracey Loc: East Glacier Park, MT

Also after 5PM.

slcarn Loc: Draper, Utah USA

Thanks for the information.
Steve