Montana/Alberta
Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks
Program No. 19946RJ
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Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks
Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks
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Program
At a Glance
Duration
8 days
Program Begins
Whitefish, MT
Program Concludes
Whitefish, MT
Meals
18 (
7B, 5L, 6D
)
Activity Level
From
4,499Explore two jewels of the "Crown of the Continent" — Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. These magnificent parks combined in 1932 to create the world's first international peace park, bridging the United States and Canada with the beauty and serenity of the Rocky Mountains.
Best of all, you'll...
- Immerse yourself in the history, beauty and untamed wilderness of this soaring wonderland through its historic lodges, amazing geological features and diverse flora and fauna.
- Enjoy daily field trips that showcase some of the most intact wildland on the entire continent.
- Discover breathtaking views, rugged peaks, vast glacier-carved valleys and thundering cascades as you journey over the historic Going-to-the-Sun Road aboard an iconic Red Bus.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to two miles on maintained natural surface dirt trails in mountainous terrain. The ability to climb stairs and get on and off a motor coach and boat is required. Elevations of 3,000-7,200 feet.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Ellen Horowitz
Ellen Horowitz is a naturalist, writer, hiking leader, and Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide whose outdoor education career spans 40 years. Ellen teaches botany classes at Flathead Valley Community College, and she is a long-time field instructor for the Glacier Institute and Road Scholar. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors including Montana Audubon’s Educator of the Year Award, and magazine writing awards from the National Wildlife Federation. She is the author of the award-winning children’s book, “What I Saw in Glacier.”
Please Note:
This expert may not be available for every date of the program
Please Note:
These experts may not be available for every date of the program
Candi Naylor
Candi Naylor is a Montana native from Townsend. She has worked with Road Scholar in Glacier National Park since 2011. In 2010, she and her husband, Craig, built their home on 10 acres west of Kalispell on the last remnant of her great grandparents’ homestead settled in 1899.
Ellen Horowitz
Ellen Horowitz is a naturalist, writer, hiking leader, and Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide whose outdoor education career spans 40 years. Ellen teaches botany classes at Flathead Valley Community College, and she is a long-time field instructor for the Glacier Institute and Road Scholar. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors including Montana Audubon’s Educator of the Year Award, and magazine writing awards from the National Wildlife Federation. She is the author of the award-winning children’s book, “What I Saw in Glacier.”
Ashley Mason
Ashley Mason has spent over three decades as a naturalist, educator, and guide in Glacier National Park and Northwest Montana. She specializes in distilling the amazing geologic wonders of the area into captivating stories. She is a former ranger naturalist for Glacier National Park and has worked for many organizations, including The Glacier Institute, Swan Ecosystem Center, Flathead Audubon Society, Crown of the Continent Ecosystem Education Consortium, and Flathead Valley Community College. In 2012, she was voted Audubon Educator of the Year.
Leila Robinson
Leila Robinson has developed a great love of the outdoors and especially exploring it in hiking mode. Her love of travel and nature has taken her to every continent, and she is thrilled to see and experience each journey. She has been a high school and college educator in art and interdisciplinary studies and a museum program developer for over a decade. Being able to live in Glacier for over ten summers has given her an appreciation of this incredible and favorite national park.
Denny Olson
Denny Olson is an award-winning naturalist and acclaimed author. He received an M.S. in zoology and geology from the University of Minnesota and has researched beavers, hares, and loons. Using Native American and personal stories as tools, he blends science, humor, and drama. Denny has experience leading hundreds of interpretive hikes, writing the nature and science sections for the park website and an 88-activity International Peace Park K-12 curriculum, leading Road Scholar trips for over a decade, and making presentations in 44 other national parks.
Dave Streeter
Dave Streeter spent seven years traveling the world auditing computer systems, then had a flat tire in Great Falls, MT where he remains four decades later, having taught at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell and exploring Montana at every opportunity. He has been a Road Scholar instructor since 1990. He is experienced with bears, mountain goats, wolves, weather, flowers, glaciation, winter ecology, backcountry skiing, and healthy hiking with his 50 years of experience in the high country of Glacier.
Marilyn Wood
Marilyn Wood is a retired conservation biologist who has had the opportunity to work in two iconic landscapes – the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Continental Divide Ecosystem (the Crown of the Continent). Her career experience includes wildlife projects with state and federal agencies followed by leadership roles with the Nature Conservancy and the Flathead Land Trust; all focused on conservation issues across broad landscapes. She has a decade of experience as a Road Scholar presenter and field instructor.
Jack Gladstone
Jack Gladstone is a storysmith and troubadour from the Blackfeet Nation of Montana. Regarded as a cultural bridge builder, he produces programs on indigenous history and tradition. Jack has released 15 critically-acclaimed CDs, and garnered the prestigious Best Historical Recording award from the Native American Music Association. A former college instructor and Smithsonian scholar, Jack has opened shows for Rita Coolidge, Garrison Keillor, and Bonnie Raitt.
Helen Pilling
Helen has lived in Montana two-thirds of her life now and can’t imagine living anywhere else. She leads hiking, skiing, dog sledding and bicycle adventures and loves to share her knowledge and gratitude of the Northwest with others. Her entrepreneurialism keeps her exceptionally busy playing music, fighting for clean water, creating cases for musical instruments, building bicycle trails, making her special handcrafted licorice, and keeping a positive attitude. Helen’s home base is an off-the-grid cabin she and her husband built in the woods.
Al Koss
Al Koss has lived and worked in the Glacier Park area for over 30 years. His love for the out-of-doors and passion for hiking was well represented in his career with the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. Al taught environmental education and is a Master Trainer for the Leave No Trace Program. His experience as a Park Naturalist has given him extensive experience and knowledge of the flora and fauna of the park. He enjoys sharing his passion for natural areas with others.
Elise Van Valkenburg
Elise grew up in Spokane, Washington and enjoyed camping and fishing with her family. It was not until college that Elise fell in love with the Rocky Mountains and began hiking and backpacking with her husband and their goldendoodles. She is currently a middle school science teacher in Bigfork, Montana and recently earned an MS in science education. When she is not teaching, you will find her exploring the trails of Glacier National Park, the Flathead National Forest and the Bob Marshall Wilderness!
Susan Atkinson
Susan Atkinson is an award-winning architect and professor of environmental design at Colorado State University. She has traveled the world researching how people design and build in response to culture and climate. Susan grew up in the Flathead Valley, learning about wildflowers and spotting grizzlies in Glacier National Park every summer since 1980. She is an avid trail runner who loves fly fishing, watercolor painting, and reading about wolverines. Susan is certified as a backcountry first responder.
Pat Van Eimeren
Pat Van Eimeren, originally a “cheesehead” from Wisconsin, has been in Montana for more than 30 years. He recently retired as a Fisheries Biologist for the Flathead National Forest. Pat has a passion for wild places and wild creatures. In the winter, he works atop Whitefish Mountain Resort as a Mountain Ambassador, and in the summer he will be deep in the solitude of the Bob Marshall Wilderness with a fly rod in hand. He enjoys all the recreational venues that Montana has to offer.
Deb Burfeind
Deb Burfeind has lived in the Flathead Valley, Montana for over two decades. She recently retired after twenty years as a school counselor. Deb is married with three children and three grandchildren. Deb is known as a “Glacier snob” and gets up into “The Park” any season to hike, backpack, ski, snowshoe, and volunteer. She also enjoys travel, reading, knitting, and quilting.
Richard Moore
Rick Moore is a forester with a distinct interest in forest ecology, wild and prescribed fire effects, and plant identification. He has much experience in the Rocky Mountain West, having lived and practiced forestry in five different states. He has also hiked in many of the national parks and Forest Service wilderness areas, preferring those located in the higher elevations. Rick has degrees in forestry and outdoor recreation. His interests include hiking, rafting, fishing, exploring, and photography.
Chris Crane
Chris Crane began his outdoor education journey in North Carolina. He followed his passion to Montana, where he spent years exploring and teaching in and around Glacier National Park. By assisting in multiple research projects with bears and bull trout, he grew his understanding and respect for wild things and habitats. He spent the next 21 years as a Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Game Warden. He retired as a Sergeant in 2025, in which capacity he protected the wildlife, places, and people of Montana. His years of patrolling the outdoor spaces of Montana enables Chris to bring a game warden’s experience, a tracker’s eye, a naturalist’s curiosity and a deep respect for Glacier’s rugged beauty to every hike.
Melissa Jenkins
Melissa Jenkins worked as a silviculturist (tree specialist) for the Forest Service for 40 years, retiring from the national forest adjacent to Glacier National Park in 2020. Her expertise is in whitebark pine, a “threatened” species that only grows at high elevations. Since retiring, she has focused her time on hiking in Glacier and the surrounding area, along with volunteering at the Glacier Native Plant Nursery, the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, and a local foodbank. She is a Master Gardener; at home, she can often be found in her vegetable and flower gardens with her golden retriever, Reya.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to two miles on maintained natural surface dirt trails in mountainous terrain. The ability to climb stairs and get on and off a motor coach and boat is required. Elevations of 3,000-7,200 feet.
Suggested Books and Resources
View Full List
You can also find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
We can help. Give us a call, and we can answer all of your questions!
Call
800-454-5768
Helpful Links
Enroll with Confidence
Peace of Mind
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. That’s why we go to the ends of the earth to give you peace of mind, from the moment you enroll until the day you return home.
Assurance Plan
Road Scholar is committed to the well-being of every participant, whether on a program in the United States or abroad. That’s why all participants are covered under our Road Scholar Assurance Plan, which provides 24-hour assistance in the event of an emergency during your program, as well as insurance for emergency medical evacuation.
Want to Protect Your Investment?
Road Scholar is pleased to offer its Trip Protection Plan as a way to protect your program investment. You may purchase this optional trip protection plan when enrolling in your program.
Sustainable Travel
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Read about our commitment to a more sustainable planet.
- Peace of Mind
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. That’s why we go to the ends of the earth to give you peace of mind, from the moment you enroll until the day you return home.
- Assurance Plan
Road Scholar is committed to the well-being of every participant, whether on a program in the United States or abroad. That’s why all participants are covered under our Road Scholar Assurance Plan, which provides 24-hour assistance in the event of an emergency during your program, as well as insurance for emergency medical evacuation.
- Want to Protect Your Investment?
Road Scholar is pleased to offer its Trip Protection Plan as a way to protect your program investment. You may purchase this optional trip protection plan when enrolling in your program.
- Sustainable Travel
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Read about our commitment to a more sustainable planet.
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