Whitefish, Montana is hands down one of the prettiest places in the United States. From the mix of beautiful bright blue lakes, to the towering mountains, you will not be disappointed. Whether you are a huge outdoorsy person or not, there is stuff for everyone of all ages and athletic ability.
We went for Memorial Day weekend, left Friday and came back on a Tuesday. The weather was on the chillier side and the lakes were way too cold to swim in because it was freshly melted snow. However, it was perfect to go see Glacier National Park because there were not too many people. If you plan on doing a lot of hikes, I would suggest staying longer than 3 days (which is what we did). Though there is a variety of hikes, they are all pretty lengthy to complete.
Getting There
From Denver, Colorado, it was about a 2 hr and 20 minute flight. We flew into Glacier Park International Airport (FCA) and rented a car to drive to Whitefish, Montana (about a 15 minute drive).
Where We Stayed
We stayed at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake: which is four minutes outside of town. You can either rent a cabin style condo that will fit a whole family or rent a hotel like room which doesn't hold as many people. The Condo rooms have close proximity to the main lodge which is where you will find the Lodge's restaurants, private beach, and the marina. The Condo's also are the ones that will have views of the lake if you ask for them. There are two places where the hotel rooms are located, in the main lodge, and across the street (getting to the main lodge by a sky-walk bridge). The rooms in the main lodge will have a lakefront, standard view, or partial lake view, unlike the ones across the street which will not. The rooms range from a standard room to suites. Or... if you are traveling with a ton of people... you can rent one of their luxury homes.
http://lodgeatwhitefishlake.com
Review of hotel: Overall, we loved the lodge. It was a beautiful location, the staff was incredibly friendly, the rooms were clean, and the food was decent. My only complaint is their unclear times when the marina dock is open for activists (renting kayaks or canoes.) But I will get into that later.
Where We Ate
Boat Club Lounge: Has a great view of the lake and live music 3/7 of the nights. The food was fancier bar food (and not your typical food): from elk meatballs to halibut fish n chips. There is a variety of stuff on the menu. Nothing spectacular, but not bad. - 3.5/5
Sweet Peaks Ice Cream: Easily one of the best ice cream places I have been to. This is a great mom and pop place that always had a lot of energy from locals to tourists. They have a wide variety of flavors, and I was not disappointed once. -5/5
Zucca Marketplace Bistro and Pig and Olive: This was a great place for sandwiches. It is in a warehouse type building with a ton of other restaurant stands, galleries, and shopping. The energy was incredible in there, because so much was happening at once. It is a great place if you want a variety of food options (kind of like a more hip food court.) -5/5
Amazing Crepes: I am a huge crepe person so I was shocked to see a place dedicated to crepes. The crepes were good, but basic. It was good for a small town, but not the best crepes I have had. -4/5
Wasabi Sushi Bar: One of the more expensive dining places in Whitefish, but if you like sushi, this place is great. Make sure you have a reservation because they were very busy. The had interesting rolls and your typical rolls. -4/5
Casey's Bar: Our waitress was great. That's about the only positive thing I have to say about this restaurant. It took 50 minutes from ordering to get our food which turned out to be only moderate. The restaurant was not that busy so I can't imagine how long it would have taken if it were any busier. -1/5
What We Did
Glacier National Park: From the lodge it is about a 55 minute drive to Glacier National Park. Some important things to be aware of are the bears. They call it the bear district due to all of the bears they have walking around the park. So make sure you are very very aware when walking along the trails. Do not disturb them and they should not disturb you. However, they do sell bear spray throughout the small town near Lake McDonald if you want to have extra protection. Another thing to be careful of is the weather. Make sure you know the conditions of the weather before committing to a 5 hour hiking trail. You do not want to get caught on the mountain in a storm.
Lake McDonald: The first thing we did at Glacier National Park was visit Lake McDonald, this is the base of the entirety of the park. We parked in the parking lot at the Apagar Visitors Center (1 of 3 visitors center) there we took a short trail to where Lake McDonald is. We later learned we could actually park much closer to Lake McDonald however it was great getting to walk through a small trail in the woods to get there. By Lake McDonald is an ice-cream shop and other stores to walk around and see.
Flathead Lake: One of the last things we did was drive down to flathead lake is Kalispell, Montana. From the Lodge, it was about a 25 minute drive to the lake. However, we drove around on the west side of the lake to Rollins, Montana so we could view the mountains on the east side. Flathead Lake is absolutely beautiful. The lake looks like an ocean and the water is a bright blue color. In some areas you can see the bottom of the lake because of how clear the water is. Each of the towns surrounding the lake are worth looking at to see if there is a local ice cream shop or restaurant you want to try. Or you can do what we did and just head straight to the docks.
