Hiking in Montana: Glacier Permits, Day Hikes and Wilderness

Montana's trail network runs from boardwalk strolls at Logan Pass to week-long trips across the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and most of the best of it lies within a few hours of Kalispell, Missoula and Bozeman. Day hiking needs no permit almost anywhere. Overnight trips inside Glacier National Park do, and the park's reservation system has firm dates you need to know months ahead.

This guide covers Glacier's 2026 wilderness permit rules, the day hikes we describe in detail elsewhere on this site, the two big wilderness areas beyond the parks, trail etiquette and the short snow-free season. For trail-by-trail detail follow the links to our attraction pages.

Glacier wilderness camping permits: the 2026 rules

Every night in Glacier's backcountry needs a wilderness camping permit. In 2026 the system worked in three stages, all through Recreation.gov:

1. Large group lottery (9-12 campers): one day, March 1, 2026, for just 5 reservations.
2. Standard lottery (1-8 campers): one day, March 15, 2026, for 3,000 reservations. Winners were notified March 17 and could book from March 21 to April 30.
3. General on-sale: remaining advance sites went first come, first served from May 1, 2026 at 8 a.m. MT, for trips through September 30.

Walk-up permits are issued in person at the park's wilderness permit stations the day before or the day of your start date; the park recommends arriving early the day before. Permits not collected by 4:30 p.m. on the start date are cancelled. The Apgar Backcountry Permit Center near West Glacier is the main office; check which other stations are open, as the list has changed from year to year. The 2027 lottery dates had not been published when we checked; expect them on the park's "Backcountry Reservations" page early in the year.

Popular day hikes

No permit is needed for day hikes in Glacier or Yellowstone, only the park entrance fee. Pets are not allowed on Glacier's trails.

In 2026 there were no vehicle reservations in Glacier, but from July 1 to September 7 parking at Logan Pass was limited to three hours. Long hikes from the pass, such as the Highline Trail, were meant to be done with the ticketed Logan Pass shuttle, sold on Recreation.gov. Avalanche Lake could not be reached by park shuttle in 2026, so arrive early or late.

Beyond the parks: the Bob Marshall and the Beartooths

Bob Marshall Wilderness

Designated by Congress in 1964, the Bob Marshall covers about 1,009,352 acres. With the neighboring Great Bear and Scapegoat wildernesses it forms a complex of more than 1.5 million acres, the third-largest in the lower 48 states. Its best-known feature is the Chinese Wall, a limestone escarpment about 22 miles long and up to 1,000 feet high on the Continental Divide. Trips are long: the Wall lies deep inside the wilderness, and most visitors go on multi-day backpacking or horse-packing trips. It sits inside the Northern Continental Divide food storage order (March 1-December 31). For trailheads and current rules, contact the Flathead, Lolo or Helena-Lewis and Clark national forests.

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness

Created in 1978 north of Yellowstone, the Absaroka-Beartooth covers about 944,000 acres and holds Granite Peak, Montana's highest point at 12,807 ft. The Beartooth Plateau is high, treeless and exposed, and snowstorms can arrive in any month. Day hikes from the Beartooth Highway start above 9,000 ft in places; the highway itself closed for the 2026 season on October 9 and should reopen around late May 2027. Trailheads near Red Lodge and Cooke City are covered by the Custer Gallatin food storage order.

Trail etiquette

• Stay on the trail and on boardwalks; alpine meadows at Logan Pass take years to recover from trampling.
• Uphill hikers have the right of way. Step to the downhill side for horses and mules and talk quietly so they know you are human.
• Pack out everything, including food scraps and toilet paper.
• Keep 25 yards from goats, sheep, elk and bison, and 100 yards from bears and wolves, even when animals walk toward you.
• Don't play music on speakers; noise from talking is enough to alert bears.
• Obey closures: Glacier closes trails at short notice for bear activity, and the closures are enforced.

Seasons and snow on the trails

High trails open late and close early. At Logan Pass snow often covers parts of the Hidden Lake boardwalk into July, and Grinnell Glacier is often one of the last trails in the park to open. The Going-to-the-Sun Road usually opens fully in late June or early July (the average since 2010 is about June 26) and normally closes on the third Monday of October, which was October 19 in 2026; a storm shut the alpine section early, on October 9. Jewel Basin is usually snow-free from early June to late September.

Rough calendar for the mountains:

• May-June: low-elevation trails, high rivers, avalanche debris and snow above about 6,000 ft.
• July-mid-September: the main window for high trails and backpacking.
• Late September-October: cold nights, early snow, fewer people; services close.
• November-April: skiing and snowshoeing; Going-to-the-Sun Road is plowed only to Lake McDonald Lodge.

A rainstorm on June 29, 2026 closed the Many Glacier valley and dozens of trails for several days, so check the park's trail status page the day before any big hike.

Before you go

• Note the 2027 Glacier lottery dates as soon as they're posted, and have a Recreation.gov account ready.
• Carry bear spray, water, layers and a map you can use offline.
• Check trail status and bear closures the day before.
• Store all food as the local order requires.
• Plan big hikes for July to mid-September.
• Leave your route and return time with someone.

Details checked October 2026.