Looking for transportation info around Glacier/Canadian Rockies

[pudgy_groundhog]

I know there are some members here familiar with Glacier and the Canadian Rockies (I know, big area, lol) and I'm looking for some recommendations/advice on transportation (although it's kind of a long shot).

We had a two week vacation planned for the Beartooth Mtns and Glacier National Park. We recently had the opportunity to extend this vacation and will now be adding on two weeks in the Canadian Rockies (still not a set itinerary, but our two priorities are Lake O'Hara and Assiniboine). We're set for plane tickets, but are hitting a roadblock for a car rental. We'll be flying into Billings and out of Calgary. The quote for a one way car rental between these two location is $10,000. Um, that's a little beyond our budget. I'm wondering if we'll need to do two car rentals, one in the US and one in Canada and find alternate means of transport across the border. Any ideas? Thanks in advance if you have any ideas!

 

[woodsxc]

I emailed a guy I work with out there. He's the head track/XC coach at Gonzaga University, but he runs a camp at Flathead Lake. I'll let you know what he says.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Thank you!

 

[woodsxc]

Ok, just heard back from Pat. He suggests flying into Spokane and renting there as you'll save on the airfare and the rental. While the drive times to Glacier from Spokane and Billings are roughly the same (Spokane is a bit quicker), the distances are not. Spokane to Glacier is 290 miles, Billings is roughly 430 miles. That's something to consider if you're gonna be paying by the mile...

In terms of actual rentals, Pat doesn't have the name of the van company, so I can't help with the specifics, sorry. If you've booked your tickets, this isn't really helpful, but if you haven't, it's worth considering.

Hope this helps.

 

[arghman]

Ok, just heard back from Pat. He suggests flying into Spokane and renting there as you'll save on the airfare and the rental. While the drive times to Glacier from Spokane and Billings are roughly the same (Spokane is a bit quicker), the distances are not. Spokane to Glacier is 290 miles, Billings is roughly 430 miles. That's something to consider if you're gonna be paying by the mile...

I would definitely concur. I visited Glacier last summer and rented from Avis in Spokane, then drove to Glacier, Waterton Lakes, and visited some places in SE British Columbia before returning to Spokane. A 2-wk rental cost me I think $600. I used a coupon code but can't remember where I got it... the car I got in Spokane was a Ford Fusion. Make sure you do NOT get one of these cars. It has a 2-speed gearing system (normal and L = really damn low) which is just not enough flexibility to deal with downshifting in the Rockies. I wasted a day in Kalispell to exchange it for a Hyundai Sonata which was much better.

Some companies/locations (Enterprise in Spokane was one) do not let you take cars into Alberta for some insane reason. I had called up Enterprise in Kalispell and they chuckled and said they'd lose a big chunk of their business if they did that (Waterton Lakes NP is in SW Alberta).

p.s. some other relevant info in case you're wondering:

I enjoyed the east side of Glacier NP a lot more than the west; there's more trails, more entrances, more reasonable lodging options, and it's just really a lot more interesting. I'd heard this was the case and budgeted fewer days on the west side, but if I'd known this ahead of time, I wouldn't have spent any time at all on the west side of the park.

The hill country in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is superb scenery (Montana Highway 49 is a fabulous winding mountain road, just be prepared to go slow when there are cattle in the road), and be sure to visit the two restaurants in Babb, pop 500 or so (Two Sisters Cafe, and Cattle Baron Supper Club).

I highly recommend the Carthew-Alderson trail in Waterton Lakes NP -- you can take a shuttle from Waterton Townsite to the trailhead, and hike the 10-11 miles or so back to town over some spectacular scenery.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

This doesn't answer your question directly, but on the general subject of car rentals in Canada -

I recently needed to rent an SUV where I flew to/from Calgary. The cheapest I found was from Budget (check out Costco's links on automotive rentals) but rent at the airport was VERY expensive as opposed to an offsite. So, I paid a $40 cab fare to the offsite location, but it saved me $400 in rental fees. And, the car didn't have to be returned to the offsite location - I could drop it off at the airport. I was told this was common practice at most rental companies.

If you look at the rental car itemization from most rental companies, you'll notice that as much as a third of the cost when renting at airports is due to specific airport-related charges, so going offsite for the pickup, and dropping it off at the airport may save you some $$.

Finally - most rentals in the US in my experience have unlimited mileage. Some, like Enterprise, won't let you leave the US or drive the vehicle to California if you rent it in OR or WA. But, don't take unlimited mileage for granted in Canada - Budget in my case limited the mileage to 1,400 kilometers (approx 1,000 miles) with an excess charge of .18/km for additional kilometers, which seemed to be the norm for other rental companies as well.

Dollar often has real bargins, but may not show up on some search engines (.i.e. Kayak, Expedia, etc).

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Ok, just heard back from Pat. He suggests flying into Spokane and renting there as you'll save on the airfare and the rental. While the drive times to Glacier from Spokane and Billings are roughly the same (Spokane is a bit quicker), the distances are not. Spokane to Glacier is 290 miles, Billings is roughly 430 miles. That's something to consider if you're gonna be paying by the mile...

In terms of actual rentals, Pat doesn't have the name of the van company, so I can't help with the specifics, sorry. If you've booked your tickets, this isn't really helpful, but if you haven't, it's worth considering.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, we already had tickets booked. But we'll keep Spokane in mind for any future trips. We are flying into Billings because we're first going to Cooke City for a week, then on to Glacier and further north.

I did find a shuttle company and got a quote. We also looked at an extra flight too before we found that Avis allows for one way rentals between Kalispell and Calgary (plus, we were able to use our company discount). So we're going to do a one way rental between Billings and Kalispell and then another one way between Kalispell and Calgary. *phew*

Thanks for the tips arghman. I have to be honest and say I know zilch about Glacier. Steve is doing all the planning for that part. I'm just working on logistics at this point. I'll pass along the info.

Kevin, when I got the quote from the shuttle operator he mentioned the same thing about the high fees at the airport. As it turns out, we're not picking a car up there so it doesn't matter, but it's good to know. When I did some pricing at least 1/4 of the cost was taxes and fees.

And thanks for the top on mileage.

 

[arghman]

...before we found that Avis allows for one way rentals between Kalispell and Calgary (plus, we were able to use our company discount). So we're going to do a one way rental between Billings and Kalispell and then another one way between Kalispell and Calgary. *phew*

I think you'll find that the rental car folks in Kalispell are really nice. It's a small airport that depends a lot on tourists to Glacier NP. The lady at the Avis counter there was really helpful to help fix the problem I had with my car and found me another car to swap.

 

[woodsxc]

I think you'll find that the rental car folks in Kalispell are really nice. It's a small airport that depends a lot on tourists to Glacier NP. The lady at the Avis counter there was really helpful to help fix the problem I had with my car and found me another car to swap.

That's where we rent the vans for the running camp. Flying into Kalispell is always fun.

 

[gram]

East side of Glacier

I enjoyed the east side of Glacier NP a lot more than the west; there's more trails, more entrances, more reasonable lodging options, and it's just really a lot more interesting. I'd heard this was the case and budgeted fewer days on the west side, but if I'd known this ahead of time, I wouldn't have spent any time at all on the west side of the park.

I definitely agree with arghman on this. We stayed in the park at the Swiftcurrent Motel in Many Glacier. Sooo many trails leave right from there.

An excellent trail guide - "Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park" by Vicki Spring. Gives distances, elev gain, est times, and lots of pictures.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

To avoid confusion - the Canadian extension of what in known in the US as Glacier NP is Waterton Peace Park. Canada has its own Glacier NP, which is a portion of the Columbia Mountains. The Columbias border the Canadian Rockies, but are geologically separate. To my layman's eye, it all seems to blend together, and I have a hard time telling when I'm in the Canadian Rockies vs. the Columbias while traveling along the Trans Canada.

In any case - there are two Glacier National Parks in North America.

 

[halfmoon]

I enjoyed the east side of Glacier NP a lot more than the west; there's more trails, more entrances, more reasonable lodging options, and it's just really a lot more interesting. I'd heard this was the case and budgeted fewer days on the west side, but if I'd known this ahead of time, I wouldn't have spent any time at all on the west side of the park.

Yes, we will defintely be spending the vast majority of our time in Glacier on the east side of the range. The most probable scenario has us at Two Medicine for a day to the the Dawson-Pitamaken Pass loop, and then we will move our camp to Many Glacier for 4 to 5 days. I have been to Glacier before and was most impressed by the Many Glacier area, with Logan Pass being a close second. There are many great hike in the Many Glacier area, and alot of one way possibilities utilizing the GNP shuttle system. It should be a great time.

 

[arghman]

fyi, Siyeh Pass and Grinnell Glacier and Hidden Lake were my favorite trails in Glacier NP. Siyeh has lots of alpine time, Grinnell Glacier is just spectacular, and Hidden Lake has lots of variety in terrain & views (and frequented by mountain goats) for a not-very-difficult trail. But almost anything in the park is good