Whitefish

History The town grew up when the Great Northern Railway rerouted its main line in 1904 to avoid Haskell Pass, sending trains past the south end of Whitefish Lake instead of through Kalispell. Timber was cleared so fast for the railway and townsite that stumps were left standing in the downtown streets, and the settlement was known as "Stumptown". Whitefish incorporated in 1905. The Great Northern built the Tudor-style depot in 1927, designed to echo the chalets it was building in Glacier National Park. Local volunteers opened the first T-bar on Big Mountain on 14 December 1947, and the ski area took the name Whitefish Mountain Resort in June 2007.

What to See The Whitefish Depot at 500 Depot Street is still a working Amtrak station on the Empire Builder, and the Stumptown Historical Society runs the Whitefish Museum on its ground floor, with railway and town artefacts; admission is free and donations are welcome. The depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Whitefish Winter Carnival is held on the first weekend of February, with a parade, snow sculptures and a "penguin plunge" into the lake. The Whitefish Arts Festival runs over the Fourth of July weekend, and the Whitefish Trail Legacy Run, which includes a 50-kilometre ultra, is held in the first week of October.

Skiing Whitefish Mountain Resort is about 4 miles north of town in a straight line, on Big Mountain in Flathead National Forest; the drive is longer. It covers about 3,000 skiable acres, with a summit at 6,817 feet, a base at 4,464 feet and a vertical drop of 2,353 feet. Average snowfall is about 300 inches a year, and the resort is one reason the Amtrak stop at Whitefish is busy in winter as well as summer.

Outdoors Whitefish Lake covers about 5.2 square miles, is about 5.8 miles long and reaches 233 feet at its deepest. Whitefish Lake State Park is a 10-acre park with 25 campsites and a hike-and-bike site; the main BNSF line runs right beside it, so expect trains through the night. The Whitefish Trail, built and maintained by Whitefish Legacy Partners, has about 47 miles of non-motorised trail and 15 trailheads around the lake and town, used by hikers, runners and mountain bikers. This is grizzly and black bear country: carry bear spray on the trails.

Getting There Glacier Park International Airport (FCA) is about 13 miles south-east by road. Amtrak's Empire Builder stops at the depot daily in each direction between Chicago and Seattle/Portland. Kalispell is about 15 miles south on US-93. The west entrance of Glacier National Park at West Glacier is about 28 miles east via US-2; from there Going-to-the-Sun Road climbs 32 miles to Logan Pass.

When to Go July to early September is the time for Glacier National Park, when Going-to-the-Sun Road is fully open (it opened on 22 June in 2026 and usually stays open until the third Monday of October). December to March is ski season, with the Winter Carnival in early February. Late September and early October bring larch colour, the Legacy Run and fewer crowds, but some park services begin to close.