Yellowstone will always be my park ... but Glacier stole my heart

Even before I made Wyoming my home, I’d been to Yellowstone National Park four or five times as a kid. Since then, there has rarely been a summer or fall when I haven’t found an excuse to head into what I simply call “The Park.” Even after nearly eighty visits, there’s always another trail, hidden waterfall or spectacular view I’ve somehow never seen.

Of course, familiarity has a downside. Sometimes I’ve become that guy grumbling about the line of cars stopped to watch a bison a hundred yards off the road or wishing we could drive 65 instead of 45.

During all those years, I’d heard people rave about Glacier National Park, just on the other side of Montana. For as long as I can remember, it had been on my bucket list. No matter who I talked to, they all used the same word: magical.

Last week, my wife and I finally spent three nights there, and within an hour I understood exactly what they meant.

The mountains don’t just rise from the valleys. They explode out of them. Waterfalls tumble from cliffs, turquoise lakes look almost fake and every bend in the road seems to reveal another postcard. More than once I caught myself saying, “Well, this has to be the best view in the park,” only to round the next corner and immediately change my mind.

Driving the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road is an experience all by itself. It twists through mountain passes, hugs cliffs that seem impossible to build a road on, and offers views that make it almost impossible to keep your eyes on the pavement. Thankfully, there are plenty of pullouts because you’ll find yourself stopping every few miles anyway.

The wildlife is different, too. Mountain goats perch on ledges that seem to defy gravity. Bighorn sheep wander the rocky slopes. Every trailhead sign reminds you that bears are not only present, but very much at home. Glacier still feels wild in a way that’s becoming harder to find.

But Glacier’s real magic isn’t just the scenery. It slows you down. You pull over one more time, hike one more trail or sit beside a lake longer than you planned. Somewhere along the way, you quit worrying about getting somewhere and just enjoy where you are.

Don’t get me wrong. Yellowstone will always be my park. It’s America’s first national park, and no place will ever replace it in my heart. I know its geysers, valleys, rivers and wildlife well enough that they almost feel like old friends.

But here’s my advice: for every eighty trips you make to Yellowstone, make sure one is to Glacier. It’s a little farther north, but it’s a completely different kind of beautiful. Yellowstone and Glacier aren’t competitors. They’re the perfect pair. One amazes you with geothermal wonders and wildlife roaming wide-open valleys. The other overwhelms you with towering peaks, crystal-clear lakes and scenery that hardly seems real.

If you’ve spent a lifetime loving Yellowstone without making the drive to Glacier, you’re missing one of America’s greatest treasures. I know, because I waited far too long myself.