Granite Park Chalet

Other Price: Glacier National Park entrance fee. Purchase your pass in advance here. Linens are provided. Packs and hiking poles are available for rent.
Guide Tip Not Included: Industry standard is 18-20%

Description

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This trip offers the best of both worlds in Glacier National Park: immersive backcountry hiking paired with the comfort and character of the historic Granite Park Chalet. Explore Glacier’s stunning interior landscapes by day, then settle in for the night within the original stone walls of a backcountry icon.

Enjoy delicious, home-cooked meals served miles from the nearest road or grocery store, and unwind in the warm glow of the chalet dining room. After dark, step outside to experience Glacier’s internationally recognized dark skies, where stars fill the night in every direction. Best of all, you’ll enjoy this backcountry experience without carrying camping gear. Your daypack will weigh approximately 20 pounds and will include your clothing, lunch, water (two bottles or a hydration system), rain gear, and optional personal items such as a camera, binoculars, sunscreen, and similar essentials. Here’s a list of what to bring.

Depending on trail conditions, you’ll hike to and from the Chalet via either the Loop Trail (3.8 miles with 2,000 feet of elevation gain) or the Highline Trail (7.5 mostly level miles). The Chalet features a fully equipped kitchen and beds with linens, offering rare comfort deep in Glacier’s backcountry. This three-day hut hike provides outstanding opportunities to experience the park’s landscapes, wildlife, and natural history at a relaxed, rewarding pace.

Flora + Fauna

Mountain goats and bighorn sheep are commonly seen along the route to Granite Park Chalet. Grizzly bears, marmots, wolverines, bald eagles, and other wildlife may also make an appearance. In mid to late summer, trails are lined with vibrant wildflowers—beargrass, sticky geranium, and Indian paintbrush—creating colorful alpine meadows. With expansive, unobstructed views from both the Highline Trail and the Chalet itself, you may feel inspired to hum a tune or two along the way.

Bucket List Worthy

A stay at Granite Park Chalet is a truly iconic Glacier National Park experience. As one of the last remaining historic chalets in the park, it offers a rare chance to step back in time while enjoying access to sweeping alpine views and two of Glacier’s remaining glaciers. If Glacier has a bucket list, this trip belongs at the top.

Click Here For Reservation + Cancellation Policies

Granite Park Chalet Trip Itinerary

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Day 1

Meet at our office just outside of West Glacier at 7:30 AM to go over the contents of your pack with your guide. Sit back and enjoy the ride to the trailhead. We’ll navigate Glacier’s historic Going-to-the-Sun Road to Logan Pass. Next, our 7.5 mile hike on the Highline Trail begins.

This is a moderate hike. The trail undulates, gaining and losing a couple hundred vertical feet of elevation over its course. We’ll be hiking in an alpine environment with wide open views of the majestic peaks all around us. You can expect your daypack to weigh about 20 pounds. In late afternoon, we’ll arrive at Granite Park Chalet. Time to settle in, enjoy the amazing scenery, and watch for wildlife before dinner. Our guides love this trip because the fully equipped kitchen allows them to create gourmet backcountry meals!

Day 2

After breakfast, we’ll choose from a couple of hiking options. One favorite is the hike to Swiftcurrent Lookout, which sits on the Continental Divide and offers one of the best views in Glacier. From Granite Park Chalet, this is a rigorous 2 mile hike with an elevation gain of about 1,800 feet. Total distance is 4 miles round trip.

Guests who want more mileage, but not so much elevation gain, may choose to hike from Granite Park Chalet to Ahern Pass. At Ahern Pass we will get a glimpse into the remote Belly River area of Glacier. We’ll look down on turquoise Helen Lake. The hike to Ahern Pass from the Chalet is 4.5 miles one way, or 9 miles round trip. There is not a significant amount of elevation gain or loss.

After another delicious dinner, we’ll spend a second night in the comfort of Granite Park Chalet.

Day 3

Following breakfast,guests may hike to Grinnell Glacier Overlook. This is a 1.5 mile hike with an elevation gain of 900 feet — steep, but worth it! From the Overlook, we’ll enjoy staggering views of Grinnell Glacier, one of the largest remaining glaciers in the park. Total mileage is 3 miles round trip.

Guests that prefer a more easy going day are welcome to pass on this hike. Instead, relax and enjoy the views from Granite Park Chalet. Our group will reunite at the Chalet for lunch. Then, we’ll hike down the Loop Trail — 4.5 miles with 2,200 feet elevation loss — to the Going to the Sun Road. Expect to return to our West Glacier office around 4 p.m.

Granite Park Chalet Facilities

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Kitchen + Dining

Granite Park Chalet is a historic backcountry hut with an off-grid, propane-powered kitchen. Your guide prepares and serves hearty, home-cooked meals, which are enjoyed in the adjacent rustic dining room—a cozy place to relax, refuel, and soak in the classic chalet atmosphere.

Bedrooms

Our rooms feature two or four single bunk beds, so guests booking in odd-numbered groups may be paired with another participant from the guided group. When most reservations are couples, couples may also be roomed with another couple. The only way to guarantee a private room is to book a group of four.

Staying at the Chalet is a historic experience, preserved much as it was when built in 1914, with spectacular mountain views in every direction. Please note that walls are very thin—ear plugs are recommended for a comfortable night’s sleep.

Bathrooms

There are no shower facilities at the Chalet. Drinking water is available—bottled water may be purchased, or guests may use the filtered water system located near the Chalet. Vault toilets are located nearby and are stocked with toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

What’s provided? Do you need a sleeping bag? Here’s a list of what to bring.

Meeting Notes

Guests should call the day before departure at 406-387-5555 to check in. The day of the trip, arrive at our office at 7:30 AM to meet your guide.  Click on directions for how to find us.

Typical Granite Park Chalet Menus

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Breakfast

Hashbrown quiche, sausages, melon

Blueberry or banana pancakes, bacon, melon

Lunch

Cheese, meat, crackers; hummus pesto; oranges; fruit leathers, cookies, chips

Chicken wraps or peanut butter + jelly or hummus pitas; fruit; trail bars, chips, cookies

Dinner

Steak or chicken fajitas with rice and beans, salsa, tortillas; spinach salad with strawberries and almonds; brownies

Super pasta; veggie salad with ranch or balsamic vinaigrette; garlic bread; no bake cookies

Learn More About The Glacier National Park Chalets

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Interested in learning more about the Glacier National Park Chalets? There were once 9 chalets in the park that predated the Going to the Sun Road. Today, only 2 remain in service as chalets: Sperry and Granite Park. The Two Medicine Chalet is now a camp store. Here’s a list of good reads about the chalets:

• The Loss of Sperry Chalet-And History of the Original 9 Chalets
• Explore Our Guided Trips to the Glacier National Park Chalets
• 10 Reasons To Go To Granite Park and Sperry Chalets
• More Reading About Granite Park Chalet
• More Reading About Glacier National Park’s Lodges and Chalets
• Curious about hiking the Highline Trail to Granite Park? We lead trips there every Tuesday. Read more about that hike here. And then you can read even more about it here.