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Montana/Alberta

Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks

Program No. 19946RJ

Discover historic national park lodges and magnificent displays of nature as you enjoy an immersive educational experience in two of North America’s most magnificent national parks.

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8 days

7 nights

18 meals

7B 5L 6D

Check-in, Orientation, Welcome Dinner

Whitefish, MT

Glacier Waterton, Lake McDonald, Wild Raptors Presentation

Whitefish, MT

Going-to-the-Sun Road Red Bus, GNP Walks, Many Glacier Hotel

Many Glacier

Many Glacier Valley Interpretive Walk, Park Presentation

Many Glacier

Buffalo Jump Museum, Historic Prince of Wales Hotel

Waterton International Peace Park, Alberta

International Study Boat Cruise, Waterton Walks

Waterton International Peace Park, Alberta

Glacier Park, Marias Pass, Running Eagle Falls, Whitefish

Whitefish, MT

Program Concludes, In Transit From Program

Whitefish, MT

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At a Glance

Explore two jewels of the "Crown of the Continent" — Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. These magnificent parks combined in 1932 to create the world's first international peace park, bridging the United States and Canada with the beauty and serenity of the Rocky Mountains.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to two miles on maintained natural surface dirt trails in mountainous terrain. The ability to climb stairs and get on and off a motor coach and boat is required. Elevations of 3,000-7,200 feet.

Best of all, you’ll…

Immerse yourself in the history, beauty and untamed wilderness of this soaring wonderland through its historic lodges, amazing geological features and diverse flora and fauna.
Enjoy daily field trips that showcase some of the most intact wildland on the entire continent.
Discover breathtaking views, rugged peaks, vast glacier-carved valleys and thundering cascades as you journey over the historic Going-to-the-Sun Road aboard an iconic Red Bus.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Ellen Horowitz

Ellen Horowitz is a naturalist, writer, hiking leader, and Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide whose outdoor education career spans 40 years. Ellen teaches botany classes at Flathead Valley Community College, and she is a long-time field instructor for the Glacier Institute and Road Scholar. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors including Montana Audubon’s Educator of the Year Award, and magazine writing awards from the National Wildlife Federation. She is the author of the award-winning children’s book, “What I Saw in Glacier.”

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Ellen Horowitz View biography

Ashley Mason View biography

Ashley started her career at the North Carolina School of the Art but transferred to Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina to receive her B.S. in Geology with a minor in field biology. Ashley then came to Montana to teach for the Glacier Institute and then completed graduate work at The University of Montana – Missoula in Environmental Studies. A veteran naturalist and conservation educator Ashley is a former Ranger Naturalist for Glacier National Park. In 2012 she was voted Audubon Educator of the year.

Leila Robinson View biography

Leila Robinson has developed a great love of the outdoors and especially exploring it in hiking mode. Her love of travel and nature has taken her to every continent, and she is thrilled to see and experience each journey. She has been a high school and college educator in art and interdisciplinary studies and a museum program developer for over a decade. Being able to live in Glacier for over ten summers has given her an appreciation of this incredible and favorite national park.

Denny Olson View biography

Denny Olson is an acclaimed author with training as a biologist and geologist. He has taught nature for over 30 years. He received an M.S. from the University of Minnesota and has researched beavers, hares, and loons. Using Native American storytelling as a teaching tool; he blends science, humor, and drama, establishing his national reputation as an innovative performer and educator. Denny has applied these skills to his love for Glacier National Park, leading interpretive hikes, Road Scholar birding trips, and doing many park presentations.

Susan Atkinson View biography

Susan Atkinson is an award-winning architect and professor of environmental design at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has traveled the world researching how people design and build in response to culture and climate. Susan grew up in the Flathead Valley, learning about wildflowers, and spotting grizzlies in Glacier National Park every summer since 1980. She is an avid trail runner who loves fly fishing, spending time with her rescue dog, Clover, and reading about wolverines. She has backpacked around the world.

Pat Van Eimeren View biography

Pat Van Eimeren, originally a “cheesehead” from Wisconsin, has been in Montana for more than 30 years. He recently retired as a Fisheries Biologist for the Flathead National Forest. Pat has a passion for wild places and wild creatures. In the winter, he works atop Whitefish Mountain Resort as a Mountain Ambassador, and in the summer he will be deep in the solitude of the Bob Marshall Wilderness with a fly rod in hand. He enjoys all the recreational venues that Montana has to offer.

Suggested Reading List (8 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks

Program Number: 19946

Glacier - A Natural History Guide

by David Rockwell

Author and naturalist David Rockwell presents in-depth descriptions of the geology, history, flora, and fauna of the park. He explains the park's evolution from the erosion of Siberian mountains more than a billion years ago to the glaciers that gave Glacier National Park its distinctive landscape. He examines the park's great predators-grizzly bears, mountain lions, and wolves-and their complex relationship with their prey. The result is a fascinating and intimate portrait of one of the world's last wild places.

Wildflowers of Glacier National Park

by Shannon Kimball and Peter Lesica

Wildflowers of Glacier National Park and Surrounding Areas is a user-friendly field guide featuring over 300 of Glacier National Park's most common plant species. From wildflowers to trees to grasses and sedges, this book features beautiful photographs, detailed descriptions, notes on habitat and fun facts for each plant. It's a perfect plant reference for anyone with an interest in the natural history and splendor of Glacier National Park.

The Great Divide: The Rocky Mountains in the American Mind

by Gary Ferguson

For most of our nation's history, Americans have identified with the "purple mountain majesties" of the Rockies. Trappers and debutantes, miners and missionaries, artists and drinkers, escaped slaves, independent women abandoning hoopskirts, and assorted black sheep of respectable families have all sought refuge and inspiration there. This spectacular landscape has always offered a sense of freedom from crowds and conformity--a world, as Frederic Remington described it, "beyond derby hats and mortgages bearing eight percent." Gary Ferguson spins magnificent tales about the vivid characters who have peopled this majestic region, from the original Indian inhabitants and their interactions with European explorers, to the delirious victims of gold rush fever, to hippies in the Sixties, to today's adventure travelers in high-tech outerwear toting satellite phones into the wild. Throughout, he explores the ebbs and flows of America's attitude toward the vast expanses that embody our sense of freedom.

Going-to-the-Sun Road: Glacier National Park's Highway to the Sky

by C.W. Guthrie

Traveling Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road is an experience like no other. Laborers toiled for nearly 20 years to complete the 50-mile road that winds an impossible route through the heart of Glacier. One of the most scenic highways in the world, this marvel of engineering set the standard for all national parks. C. W. Guthrie tells the intriguing tale of the history and the construction of the epic Going-to-the-Sun Road. Includes more than 60 black-and-white historic and color photographs, maps.

Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park

by James Willard Schultz

The author writes a series of diary entries as his Blackfoot friends tell stories in the lodge or around the fire at the end of the day. He has managed to keep the compelling style of his original material, told by talented story tellers. The stories run the gamut from tribal history to legend and myth and convey something of Blackfoot culture, daily life, and beliefs.

Geology Along Going-to-the-Sun Road

by Raup, Earhart, Whipple, and Carrara

With this colorful and lively guide, Glacier National Park visitors can tour the fascinating geologic events that created the park's majestic scenery. Complete with an easy-to-read map that offers a three-dimensional perspective on the area's geology, Geology Along Going-to-the-Sun Road gives lay readers and geologists alike a glimpse into Glacier's unique geologic summary.

Grizzly Country

by Andy Russell

The grizzly bear has always inspired awe in man, but the animal's true nature and character has long been shrouded in myth. Few people know grizzlies as Andy Russell does, and in Grizzly Country he shares stories from a lifetime of experience observing them, first as hunter, then as cameraman. In wonderfully engaging prose, he reveals the life cycle of this remarkable creature.

Moon Glacier National Park: Including Waterton Lakes National Park

by Becky Lomax

Writer, editor, and avid outdoorswoman Becky Lomax offers an insider’s perspective on Glacier National Park. From walking through multi-color meadows filled with wildflowers to observing the Sperry Glacier, a victim of global warming that will vanish in less than two decades, Lomax knows the best ways to enjoy the park’s one million acres of wilderness. She also includes unique trip strategies for travelers with specific interests and restrictions, including a Wildlife-Watching tour and a whirlwind One Day in Glacier tour. Whether it’s biking up Going-to-the-Sun Road or watching a grizzly forage in huckleberries, Moon Glacier National Park gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience.

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Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks

Enroll with Confidence

Protecting the Environment

At a Glance

Best of all, you’ll…

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