Montana

Best of the Rockies: how to choose a national park

If you're like most, you probably already have an image in your mind of what the Rocky Mountain region is like – a string of jagged, snow-capped peaks, a wide-open meadow or a sheer-walled river canyon. But it’s a big territory. Where do you even begin?

Rocky Mountain National Park in the fall. Image by Ronda Kimbrow Photography / Moment / Getty

Becky Ohlsen

Lonely Planet Writer

Glacier National Park by train

America’s love affair with the motor car is a relatively recent phenomenon. One hundred years ago, wealthy tourists searching for an antidote to the stresses of city living travelled around primarily by train, courtesy of a rapidly expanding rail network.

Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the country’s multi-million dollar, cross-continental railroad system trail-blazed its way through a stirring assemblage of spectacular scenery and subtly ignited a healthy interest in the 'great outdoors'. One of its iconic stops was the 1350sqkm Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana.

Brendan Sainsbury

Lonely Planet Writer

Glacier National Park’s 100th anniversary

Rising like a ghostly apparition above the windswept prairies of western Montana, this World Heritage Site and International Peace Park is lauded for its back-country hiking and spectacular big-sky scenery. Come celebrate Glacier National Park’s centennial this summer and check out our top 10 park treasures.

1. Going-to-the-Sun-Road: Crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, this engineering marvel, juts through the heart of the park’s wilderness.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet Writer