 really want to pick and choose what areas of the park do you want to cover. Now there are six main areas in the park. The first area of the park is Lake McDonald area and this is basically the main area where most of people enter the park from the west side because of its proximity to the Kalispell Airport. Now in Lake McDonald the area is obviously where the Lake McDonald is which is the largest lake in the park about 10 miles long. It's just a beautiful area standing at about 3,000 feet and most of the hikes that you're going to be doing in this area are going to be below three levels. So make sure that you check the Lake McDonald, just spend some time there to see the sunrise or the sunset. The second area of the park is many glacier area and that's my personal favorite just because spent more time there and this is basically where the famous many glacier hotel is, many glacier campground and the famous Grinnell Glacier Trail which by the way guys if you stick all the way to the end of this video I'm going to talk about my favorite hikes in Glacier National Park. The third area of the park is North Fork. This is not an area that I'm very familiar with so instead I'm going to put more information in the description box if you want to learn more about it. And next is the St. Mary and Logan Pass area and it's located along the Continental Divide. Logan Pass is also the highest point of the going to the Sun Road which I will talk about in a little bit and yeah it's a beautiful area that's really worth exploring, visiting and probably doing some hikes in there as well. And that takes us to two medicine area on the east side of the park. This is a less busy area compared to the other ones and it used to be the entrance point or the main entrance point to the park when people used to take trains to get to Glacier National Park and absolutely beautiful and beautiful hiking trails as well. And finally the Waterton Lakes area which is a sister park to Glacier National Park more from the Canadian side so if you have more time to spend in the north side between Canada and Montana make sure to check it out as well. So now that you know the main areas of the park this is going to be a good starting point for you to kind of understand what area are you curious about what area do you want to spend more time at and jumpstart your plan from there. The next thing that you want to know about is the cost. Now entering the park there is a fee just like any other national park in the US and as of the latest information on the website that's a $35 per vehicle to enter the park or $30 per motorcycle. Now if you do have an annual national park pass you obviously don't have to pay anything. And just one thing that I want to mention here is towards the end of the season when the park is about to close you may not see a ranger at the entrance station but there will be an option for you to self-pay. Alright so now that you know about the main areas of the park and then you know about the cost let's talk about safety. Safety in the park is such an important topic and it really should be taken seriously and under this category we're gonna be talking about safety with wildlife safety on the road and safety wild swimming. So first of all let's talk about wildlife. Now you really want to make sure that you are well informed and well prepared. Obviously Malaysia National Park is very diverse in wildlife and that's probably one of the reasons why people are really attracted to come to the park. Now there are a lot of wildlife, a lot of wild animals in the park and mainly we're looking at grizzly bears, we're looking at black bears, we're looking at moose, deer and even mountain lions in some areas and of course the white mountain goats. So the first safety rule is obviously to keep your distance and do not pet or approach wildlife. There are wild animals and you can't always predict what their behaviors is going to be around you whether you are hiding or just walking around the park. The second thing and especially here we're gonna be talking about bears, black bears and grizzly bears. If it's your first time in bear country you really want to spend some time to kind of understand at least how to distinguish between a black bear, a grizzly bear because they have different behaviors and of course you want to make sure that you do have a bear spray with you. Not only if you are hiking but also if you're just walking around the parks, you're not going on any crazy hike. You really want to make sure that you do have a bear spray with you and not only that you need to make sure that you also know how to use it and I'm going to talk about this in the next section in a little bit here. So really spend some time, educate yourself about wildlife and stay safe and next is the safety on the road. Now the going to the Sun Road is this beautiful scenic mountain road that's about 15 miles long and spend the width of the parks really beautiful and enjoyable drive but it can get really tricky and busy. Now you know that Glacier National Park is not open year round. It's only two to three months at the very maximum and that's the time where most people and million of visitors are coming from all over the world. So when you are driving make sure that you are staying safe. You might get distracted by the beauty of the landscape but on the road you focus on driving and not you only worry about yourself but also worry about drivers around you. If you see an exciting or an interesting viewpoint, you can pull over, stop there, take some pictures, enjoy it and go on. And finally swimming and the reason I'm talking about swimming here is because it's the main reason of deaths in the park. It's pretty interesting and not surprising though because there are a lot of beautiful lakes. They're so beautiful, so enticing. So obviously if it's sunny outside and it's beautiful you really want to enjoy it and swim. The one thing that people don't think about sometimes is you are swimming in glacier water for example and it's super super cold. There are icebergs floating there and it's really cold and the risks of hypothermia can get really serious and fatal. So just make sure that you are aware of that. You do have a change of clothes. You know how to keep yourself warm. Do not go so deep into the water. Make sure that you are with someone should anything happens. And this is pretty much it about safety and next we're gonna talk about gear. The one thing that you absolutely want to have as far as gear goes is a bear spray. Now if you are flying from a different state you probably won't be able to pack it with you but first for example we flew to Calispell Airport and right when we landed there was an outfitter at the airport and they do sell or rent bear spray and not only that but the one thing that I learned is to carry a bear spray belt and that's basically a belt that goes around your waist to place the canister in instead of putting it in your back and having to reach for it which was a hustle for me. But yeah so there are the outfitter for example they will provide you with a bear spray canister and not only that but they will also make you watch a video about safety in bear country and how to use your bear spray. So having a bear spray is very important but you also want to make sure that you know how to use it. If you are not landing at the airport you can talk to a ranger or you can do some research online and I will put some links in the description box for you guys to check as far as how to use the bear spray properly. The second thing that you want to think about is clothing. The park is really interesting because the weather changes dramatically in just one day. When we did the Tarmigan lake trail or Tarmigan tunnel trail we really experienced four different weather in one day. When we started it was raining at the top it was hailing it was foggy and then it started to rain and then later on in the day towards the end of the hike it's just beautiful and clear and sunny. So the weather changes very quickly and very fast in the park and the right thing to do is to dress in layers so that you can adjust and be agile as far as the weather changes go. Now it's also important to have some rain gear especially if the weather predictions are saying that it's going to be rainy which happens most of the time in the park when we were there in September it was pretty much raining every single day. So make sure that you do at least have a poncho, a rain jacket and make sure that you do have something to protect your backpack with as well. So we talked about bear spray, we talked about a bear spray belt, we talked about clothing. The next thing is a bear belt. This is not necessary if you are hiking with a group of people, a large group of people even two to three people but if you are hiking alone which is not always recommended you really want to make sure that you are making enough noise so that animals are staying away from you and the one thing that's gonna help you guarantee that you are making enough noise is a bear belt that you can have with you but regardless if you are hiking solo or you are hiking alone you want to make sure that you are being heard by the animals around you. One thing that I learned from our last visit is carrying binoculars with you and I really wish I knew that before there were a lot of times where we were either hiking or just walking around the park and I would see people watching wildlife seeing or spotting a bear that's way far in the distance and moves and the only way for you to see it is if you have binoculars so if you do have a pair of binoculars with you that's not too bulky make sure that you're taking it with you so that you can see as much wildlife as you can. You definitely want to make sure that you do have a GPS, a map or even an application on your phone like all trails even though there's not self-service in most of the areas in the park especially if you are hiking in the wilderness but you can probably have an offline map that you can rely on and by the way if you want to watch a video about how to use all trails for hiking and backpacking you can check a video up here. Now as I said either a physical map, a GPS and there is a map that I really recommend especially for those of you who are in the park mainly to hike and it's this map here for day hikes this one was created by Jake Bramante I hope I'm saying his last name right and this is the first person who hiked all these 734 miles of Glacier National Park this is quite impressive and I think this was a great investment especially if you know that you're gonna be doing a lot of hiking and if you know that you are coming back again to the park that was $11.95 and I feel like it's really worth it it has a detailed map about the different areas of the park the best hikes in each and every area and the level of difficulty as well as the profile of every trail so really worth it if you are looking for a map that you can rely on or a map guide that's something that you definitely should check out and you can find it as I said in different outfitters in the park or even at the airport this is for gear obviously you want to make sure that you have enough water enough food and all the basic things that you would take with you on a regular hike if you are hiking in the park reservations and here we're talking mainly about campground reservations for camping as you know hotels even lodges and cabins they can be pricey in the park and so you might want to spend night camping in one of the campgrounds if you do have a solid plan you know exactly when you're going you know what area you want to be spending more time at I recommend that you go online and make your campground reservation way ahead of time because let's be honest if your plan is to get to the park and then rely on the first come first serve it may not happen especially if you are visiting during peak season for us when we visited in September there was not an option to make reservations online it was mainly just first come first serve and the one pro tip that I want to share with you guys is start your day early it's going to save you a lot of time and a lot of hustle we started our days mainly around 5 a.m. just to get to the area when a campground in make sure that you are waiting on the line talking to someone secure it and then start your day on a hike that you are interested in for example but starting your day early is going to help you get a campground reservation if you're gonna go the first come first serve route it's going to help you avoid all the hustle of the traffic and busy roads and it's going to guarantee that you will find a parking spot for your car so wake up early this day you also want to make sure that you are staying up to date about the park information by checking the website and making sure that the campgrounds are not closed the roads are not closed there are a lot of scenarios where the road is closed for many reasons they either have some maintenance work going on that's mandatory or there is bear activity when we were in the park and we plan to camp in the San Mary area and all the campgrounds were closed because of bear activity so you really want to make sure that you are up to date and you want to make sure that you are checking the website frequently to get those information transportation you really want to make sure that you do have a reliable mean of transportation like a car or motorcycle I really don't see how it's going to be possible to explore the park without a car it might be I know for example that there are shuttle services to go from and to places but the options are kind of limited not so familiar about the shuttle system in the park but I'm going to do some research and put some more information for you guys in the description box to check it out and just like I mentioned earlier really want to be careful while driving to keep yourself and people around you safe and sound food my favorite now the one thing to consider when you get to the park or before you get to the park you have a car make sure that you do have enough water snacks maybe fruits maybe sandwiches and the reason is there are limited dining options in the park there aren't restaurants everywhere you're not going to be having the fanciest meals although in many glacier hotel which is this gorgeous hotel in many glacier area they did have some very tasty prime rib and steak which I had for one night two nights but that's going to be a little bit pricey if you want to you know look for cheaper options or you are on a budget make sure that you do have a backup especially if you're going to be doing a lot of hiking make sure you that you do have enough snacks there are supermarkets outside of the park now at the visitor centers the off-guard village Logan pass will be options for you to grab drinks maybe water maybe some snacks it's not going to be solid meals so just keep that in mind and plan ahead of time ice cream you probably heard about the famous glacial National Park Huckleberry ice cream it's very tasty when we were at the lake in the McDonald area we tried some of the ice cream dance very very delicious so make sure you check that out this is one of the beautiful things that visitors like about the park just you have a sweet tooth or you just love ice cream and finally I want to touch on food storage especially if you are camping in one of the can grounds as I said earlier this is prime bear country so bears and wildlife why the animals are really attracted to sense so you really want to make sure that you are storing your food properly you absolutely don't want to sleep in your tent with your food and snacks and anything with a sense with you in the tent it's just not safe for you not safe for people camping around you as well now in the park there are food storage bins which you can basically use just to put all your food in there and then it's secured bears or any other animals cannot access it that's one option the other option is to use your car and just make sure that everything is in the car all the food, deodorant, perfumes which I don't know why would you take a perfume to the park but anyway so perfumes everything with a strong scent everything with the scent keep it in the car make sure the car is locked put it in the trunk or even inside of the car and you should be good to go so food storage is very important when you get to the park the park rangers are going to focus on this point and if you do have any questions you can ask don't be shy ask the park rangers they are going to be your best friends throughout your visit I'm approaching the end of tips for first-time visitors of Glacier National Park just a few things that I want to add here before I jump to talk about my favorite hikes in this park the one thing is be flexible really be flexible and go to the park with the idea in your head that things might change you might have a solid plan you might not hike all the trails that you want to hike you might not be able to access some areas the weather can get crappy it's going to start to rain foggy just put all that in your mind mother nature it's not something that you can control you are in the park to enjoy it and if it rains for example it starts snowing as long as it's safe for you enjoy it and embrace it the changes in the weather the rain the snow the cold the heat they are part of nature they are also worth exploring and enjoying so don't let that stop you from enjoying your stay in the park and the second thing I want to mention and we talked about binoculars earlier you also want to make sure that you are taking nice photos to keep us souvenirs and to show to your families and your friends make sure that you do have your camera photography or videography gear make sure that it's protected and take beautiful photos and by the way if you do have any photos from glacial national park let us know on instagram or on our facebook page share them with us we will be very happy to see them and one last thing here that you might find to be a nice idea the third day we were on the park we were hiking and just taking pictures all the time sometimes it can get really overwhelming because everything is beautiful there are mountains and trees and animals just so overwhelming and to me it was unlike anything that I've seen before so I was so lost and all over the place and all I wanted to do is to take pictures and videos but take some time to take the beauty of the place in enjoy it and be present we met a couple on the trail while I was taking pictures and the lady asked me a question and she said so what is your theme for the day it's like I don't have a theme I'm just taking pictures of whatever and I asked what do you mean by having a theme and she said well every time we come to the park they seem to be regular people and she said every time we come to the park we do have a theme one day we are hiking outside and our goal or our theme is wildlife or wild animals mainly so they would take pictures of animals only and one day it's wild flowers the other day it's lakes and the other day it's mountains and I was just thinking to myself that's such a brilliant idea and I made my theme for one of the days to be berries there are a lot of beautiful colorful berries all type of colors from white purple red and I really enjoyed the fact that I narrowed my focus and I knew that besides all the beautiful things around me this particular day or on this particular trail I'm going to focus on taking photos of just berries and I ended up with a beautiful collection that I really appreciate and cherish up to date enough talking for me and I'm going to jump to talk about my four favorite hikes in the park and this is pretty much all the hikes that I did while staying in Glacier National Park we spent about four to five days in there so number one is Grinnell Glacier Trail this is one of my favorite hikes in the world and up to date and absolutely my favorite hike in the park it goes through beautiful three lakes the Swift Current Lake many Glacier Lake I don't remember what the third one was and it goes all the way to the end where you are faced by this beautiful spectacular glacier with floating icebergs it's a must-do hike if you do have the strength and the stamina to do it really worth it number two on the list is Three Falls hike this is a hike in the St. Mary area and this is more for the waterfall lovers this hike takes you through beautiful waterfalls all the way to Virginia waterfall and by the way we do have videos about all the hikes that I'm going to be talking about and you guys can check them out just to enjoy the beauty of the park the third hike is Tarmigan Tunnel going through Tarmigan Lake it's a beautiful hike that takes you as I said through Tarmigan Lake and all the way to a man-made tunnel that opens up to a beautiful gorgeous view really enjoyed that hike I didn't even know about it before coming to the park but three people that we met at least on the trail told us absolutely check it out and we loved it as well so that's three hikes and the fourth one is the iceberg lake now this is more of an intermediate hike if you are looking for something not so strenuous it's really beautiful it also opens up to a beautiful glacier with some floating icebergs in the right seasons so these are our favorite hikes in Glacier National Park again we only visited the park once and we can't wait to go again and again and again and explore more of it so if you guys enjoyed this video please give it a thumbs up if you are new to the channel consider subscribing for weekly vlogs and videos about hiking and backpacking and let us know in the comments if you've been to the park already what is your favorite hiking trail that we should check on our next visit and with that your trekking paths Habiba and Alex thank you guys for watching and we'll see you soon on a new adventure