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David and Shannon Biegel, Founders of EnjoyYourParks.com
David Biegel and Shannon Biegel are sixth generation Montanans who have spent their entire lives exploring Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. As children, their parents would vacation in these parks on a regular basis, and this is where their love for these incredible parks began. Since then, they have hiked thousands of miles throughout these amazing parks, climbed well over a hundred summits, and have taken well over a million digital images along the way.

While spending time in Glacier Park, Yellowstone Park and Grand Teton Park, they began to realize that a large number of visitors really didn’t know where to go to see the top attractions and hikes, so in the fall of 2008, David and Shannon Biegel decided to create a national park vacation website that showed visitors exactly where to go, what to do and where to see animals. They named their website EnjoyYourParks.com, and have devoted all of their time and effort ever since perfecting and adding to this helpful website.

EnjoyYourParks.com has become one of the most utilized vacation websites for Glacier Park, Yellowstone Park and Grand Teton National Park in the world, and the number of people utilizing this helpful website keeps increasing each and every day. David and Shannon attribute their success to the fact that this is a “labor of love”. They have a deep passion for showing visitors just how incredible these parks truly are, and by showing them where to go and what to do, these visitors will discover the “magic” of these parks, just as David and Shannon did many years ago with their parents, brothers and sisters. They truly feel that when people discover the “magic” of these national treasures, this will in turn change their lives forever for the better.

Therefore, this website was created with extreme care, knowledge and experience, rather than something that was thrown together with regurgitated information off the internet by someone who has only spent 2 weeks in the parks, if that. This care, knowledge and experience is reflected in every page of this 300+ page website, and the visitors of this website are rewarded by knowing exactly where to go, what to do and where to see animals in each of the three parks.

To give you an idea of how much effort and care is involved in building this website, even though they’ve already hiked all of the trails of Glacier National Park throughout the years, David and Shannon re-hiked all 734 miles of the maintained Glacier Park trail system, and photo-documented every step of the way using digital technology. They also photo-documented many miles of un-maintained trails and seldom used “climber’s trails” during this immense project. And while hiking all of these trails, they also managed to climb over 100 summits in Glacier National Park, and photographed Glacier Park from a “bird’s eye” view. The result was that every single trail in Glacier Park, including all of the Glacier Park day hikes and multi-day hikes, are now available at EnjoyYourParks.com.

Click Here for all of the Glacier Park Hikes.

And you will notice as you look through these pages on Glacier Park Hikes that the weather is always nice, with blue skies and good lighting. That wasn’t just by accident or luck. If David and Shannon had a cloudy day on either a trail or a summit, they would do it again on a clear day. And they also determined how to get to certain key points along the trails at the right time of day for the best possible lighting. This wasn’t easy, and it took many years to accomplish, but the result was very much worth the effort. And keep in mind that this is just one example of the level of care that David and Shannon Biegel took to create one of the most utilized national park vacation websites in the world for Glacier Park, Yellowstone Park and Grand Teton National Park.

So where do they go from here? David and Shannon feel that they have just begun their pursuit of helping visitors discover these national treasures. They are constantly adding more helpful pages, and as they are averaging well over 200 days a year in these parks, they are also continuing to photograph these parks in places and ways most people never have the opportunity to pursue.

And since they have spent many years exploring Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, which is located just north of Glacier National Park, and since Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park are so interconnected, David and Shannon have built an entire section on EnjoyYourParks.com devoted to Waterton Lakes National Park.

David Biegel is a semi-retired Doctor of Optometry, who along with Shannon is completely devoted to spending as much time in these parks as possible, and taking the rest of their time putting it all together on their website EnjoyYourParks.com. Both David and Shannon have always had the strong desire to change people’s lives and to make a difference on this earth. And they strongly feel that by sharing these parks with the world, and by helping people discover the “magic” that awaits them, they are helping change these people’s lives forever for the better. This is how David and Shannon Biegel are making a difference, and once you visit their website, you’ll agree that their efforts are definitely achieving this goal.

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Hiking In Glacier Park: When Is The Best Time?
Glacier National Park is without question a “hiker’s paradise”, but visitors need to remember that just because the weather may be nice in late spring and early summer, that doesn’t necessarily mean the trails are ready for hiking in Glacier Park. When is the best time for hiking in Glacier National Park? Below is our answer to this frequently asked question…

Definitely Not May or June!
Glacier National Park gets a ton of snow each year, and it takes a long time for it to melt. Of course the amount of snow that Glacier Park receives varies year to year, but we’d have to say that 90% of the time, nearly all of the popular Glacier Park Hikes are still snow covered, and most are still closed. The Highline Trail, Swiftcurrent Pass Trail, Grinnell Glacier Trail, Siyeh Pass Trail, Piegan Pass Trail and the Pitamakan Dawson Loop are all closed in June due to snow hazards.

A General Rule of Thumb is This:
Any trail along the Continental Divide, or any trail that involves a pass, will more than likely be closed due to snow the entire month of June, into the first part of July, and probably into the second or third week of July. And keep in mind, the Going To The Sun Road usually does not open until the third week of June, which gives you an idea of just how much snow Glacier Park receives each winter and spring.

July Is A Great Month For Most Day Hikes in Glacier Park
We love the month of July for hiking in Glacier National Park because the sky is crystal clear because there are usually no fires burning yet in the neighboring areas or neighboring states. Also, there is still a lot of snow in the high country which makes for incredibly gorgeous scenery.

But keep in mind that the Glacier Park Hikes that involve the Continental Divide such as the Highline Trail, Swiftcurrent Pass Trail and Pitamakan-Dawson Loop, and the Glacier Park Hikes that involve passes, will more than likely be closed until possibly the third week of July. Again, this all depends on the amount of snow Glacier Park received the previous winter and spring. We’ve waited until the second week of August for the Highline Trail to open on certain heavy snow years.

Lingering Snow Hazards
And keep in mind that just because sometimes it may seem like there is not a lot of snow, there are traditional “snow hazards” that always take longer to melt off, such as the annoying Ahern Drift along the Northern Highline Trail. But all in all, you can get a lot of fantastic day hiking in Glacier National Park during the month of July.

River and Stream Fording
There are several trails that require a river or multiple stream fords, such as the Nyack-Coal Creek Loop, Harrison Lake Trail, etc. When the water is high due to snow melting, these fords can be extremely dangerous if not impossible. July is a really tough month for stream and river fording in Glacier National Park. Always ask a ranger at a backcountry office, ranger station or visitor center the stream and river conditions before attemping any of these fords… and often times these rivers and streams are not ready until mid-August!

August Marks the Beginning of the Backcountry Multi-Day Hikes in Glacier Park
Much of the backcountry of Glacier National Park, such as the Boulder Pass Area, Brown Pass Area, Hole In The Wall, Gunsight Pass Area, Stoney Indian Pass Area and Northern Highline Trail that includes the Fifty Mountain Area. These areas seem to take the longest to open up simply because these areas receive a tremendous amount of snow earlier in the year. And the NPS does not open the backcountry campsites until they are somewhat dried out, which takes time as well.

So if you’re planning a multi-day backpacking adventure in Glacier National Park, consider planning it no earlier than the early part of August, and even better mid August. Now we know several of you who are reading this won’t believe us, but in time you will find out for yourself.

What About September Hiking In Glacier Park?
September is another great month for hiking in Glacier National Park, especially early September. One thing that you will have to deal with is the occasional snow storms, especially the third and fourth weeks of September. Also the nights begin to get really, really cold, so to all you multi-day backpackers, be prepared for cold nights and snow storms, especially beyond mid-September.

How About October?
October is a gorgeous month in Glacier National Park because the aspen turn bright gold, and the forest undergrowth turns amazing fall colors as well. Later in the month the larch (tamarack) trees turn bright yellow.

But of course the downside of hiking in Glacier Park in October is that snow storms are frequent, and the night-time temperature can get really, really cold. Also, the days are getting quite short, which makes it difficult to do any long day hikes over 22 miles or so because you’ll be in the dark getting back. And anyone planning on multi-day backpacking in October really needs to pay attention to the weather reports, and always be prepared for cold weather and snow storms.

Another downside to hiking in Glacier Park during the month of October is that the lodges are pretty much closed up by then, so there are very few visitor services available.

Glacier National Park is a “hiker’s paradise”, and knowing the best time to plan your Glacier Park hikes is really important. We’ve talked to many a visitor who came to Glacier Park in June and were all excited to hike a ton of trails, only to find that 90% were still closed due to snow. Snow is a reality of Glacier National Park, and it takes quite awhile for it to melt each year.

And when you arrive in Glacier National Park, make sure you ask a ranger at any visitor center, ranger station or backcountry office about the status of the trails you’re interested in so you know what the situation is for each of these Glacier Park Hikes.

Click Here for details on all the Glacier Park day hikes.
Click Here for details on all the Glacier Park multi-day hikes.

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