when Old Faithful goes off. Simply step out on the porch and there it is! Make your dinner res- ervations when you reserve your room if you want to eat before 9 p.m. For those looking for a room to soothe the
soul removed from the action around Old Faithful, the butter-yellow and white Colonial Revival façade of Lake Yellowstone Hotel beck- ons an attitude adjustment. Lake Yellowstone Hotel stands along the
northern shore of what was once a meeting place for Indians, trappers, and mountain men. It served stagecoach guests brought to Yellowstone by the Northern Pacifi c Railroad. Robert Reamer, architect of the Old Faithful Inn, added colonial touches, such as false balconies and imposing Ionic columns, and in a later renovation, a dining room, an extended porte- cochere, and a sunroom. Visitors this summer are in for a treat. In
addition to structural and seismic upgrades, the dining and sunroom along with 43 of the guest rooms have been renovated to the hotel’s origi- nal Colonial Revival style. Either exit Yellowstone at the West Entrance
via U.S. 191 and head north, or if you have not seen Mammoth Hot Springs (a must stop), exit at Gardiner via U.S. 89. Both routes will hook up to I-90 as you head to Missoula, Mont., for another
very long day’s drive to Glacier National Park. Past Missoula, catch U.S. 93 north to
Kalispell. The drive along Flathead Lake offers a nice introduction to the glories of forthcoming Glacier. If it’s cherry season, stop at one of the dozens of roadside stands and load up on pit fruit. Heading west from Kalispell, take MT-40 then U.S. 2 to West Glacier. This, for all practical purposes, is where the story of Glacier National Park began. Great Northern Railway baron James J.
Hill and his son Louis quietly lobbied for the creation of Montana’s Glacier National Park. Naturalists, writers, and conservationists ral- lied for a park, and when it was established in 1910 as America’s fourth national park, it was the fi nancial backing of the Great Northern that helped create the infrastructure. With their rail line running through the majes-
tic mountain landscape, Louis Hill bet on poten- tial passenger travel to make the construction of a series of lodges and chalets pay off. The intimate Belton Chalet near the West
Glacier park entrance, and the vast Glacier Park Lodge at the East Glacier Park entrance, book- end the southern portion of the park. Louis Hill, a student of Swiss architecture,
wanted to recreate the look of a lodge in the Swiss Alps. Built in 1910, the property fell into
The lobby of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park.
36 EnCompass May/June 2013
AAA.com
© Danita Delimont/Alamy
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60