Glacier Park Lodge lies in an area where freezing temperatures and snow can happen year-round. It’s just outside the southeast corner of Montana’s Glacier National Park. The historic accommodations are just inside the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, about 10 miles from a tiny town called Bison, Montana.
Most visitors to Glacier Park Lodge come to visit Glacier National Park. There are no main highways anywhere around this area of Montana—close to the Canadian border. The nearest towns are Whitefish, Montana, population a little over 9,000, or Kalispell, population around 28,000. Both are over 90 minutes to the west.
My family members flew to Kalispell in July to take a Cessna bush plane into a wilderness area near Glacier National Park. There, they rode horses, camped out, and fished for bull and cutthroat trout for four days. After emerging from the wilderness, they drove toward the country’s 10th national park and were pleasantly surprised to discover the significant history and architecture of Glacier Park Lodge.
A Marvel of Construction
Until the early 1900s, most people—except Native American tribes like the Blackfeet—had no access to this northwestern spot featuring around 80 glaciers. It was extremely difficult to reach until the establishment of the Great Northern Railway. Glacier Park Lodge was built in 1912–13, just a few years after.Tim Sadlon visited Glacier Park Lodge in July 2024. As a builder of large wood and log homes in Cashiers and Highlands, North Carolina, he was impressed with architect Samuel Bartlett’s design of the lodge. The the lobby was astonishing. At 200 feet long by 100 feet wide, the Romanesque-style lobby features massive Douglas fir timbers felled in Oregon; each is at least 3 feet around and 40 feet tall. Some are upwards of 800 years old.
Atop timbers are logs cut and positioned to resemble rustic Ionic capital elements resting on a Corinthian column. These vertical timbers support horizontal timbers, and the four-story vaulted ceiling is all timbers. Some imitate a classical pediment with sunburst design, called a king post truss.
“It was fascinating that they could raze timbers this tall and heavy without damaging the bark,” Sadlon said. “It truly looks like the trees are still alive. Even getting them out of the mountains of Oregon 100-plus years ago to the location had to be a feat. ... It required mules and trains and handsaws—no chainsaws. Another mystery to me is the joinery used to connect such large timbers in that period, as well as how straight and true everything remains, even though so much time has gone by. This lodge is a fascinating accomplishment especially when you consider the time period, the remote location, and the extreme weather conditions in the area.”
Glacier Park Lodge looks as if it was dropped in front of a snow-covered mountain range. It was the brainchild of Louis Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway in the early 1900s. Another important figure the lodge spotlights is Two Guns White Calf, memorialized in the lobby with a 1936-carved statue by Hans Reiss. According to a historical handbook for employees at Glacier Park Lodge, the American Indian was “an ambassador for the Blackfeet, for the Great Northern, and for the park” until his death in 1934,
There’s more to see besides the awe-inspiring lobby. The hotel was built in two phases, and it’s easy to spot the differences. Phase One of the century-plus-year-old lodge was built in 1913. It included a dining hall and 61 guest rooms, some of which have log balconies. Phase Two was constructed in 1914 and is an annex of the original building with an additional 111 guest rooms.
These other parts of the hotel are stunning. However, it’s the lobby’s cathedral-like wonder conveyed through countless trees that offers an experience truly unique and worth the effort it takes to reach Glacier Park Lodge.
