2 Best Sights in Kalispell, Missoula, and Northwest Montana, Montana

Enter Glacier National Park through the back door by driving the North Fork Road. It's a rutted, bumpy, dusty gravel road that's teeming with wildlife along the North Fork of the Flathead River. The 40 miles to the Polebridge entrance station passes through thick forests, some of which burned during fires of 2001 and 2003. As a result, many of these areas become seas of purple fireweed in early summer. You can opt out early and enter Glacier at the Camas Creek entrance gate and avoid rough roads. If you make it all the way to Polebridge, stop at the Mercantile for lunch or one of their famous huckleberry bear claws.

Three miles south of Hamilton, turn east onto Route 38, also known as the Skalkaho Highway, and you'll find yourself on a beautiful route leading into the Sapphire Mountains and on to Philipsburg and the Georgetown Lake area. This fair-weather road is best traveled in summer, since 20 miles of it are gravel. Mountain bikers tour here, and there are plenty of hiking trails through the 23,000-acre Skalkaho Wildlife Preserve. Note that trailers are not recommended. Forest Road 1352 into the preserve is closed October 15 to December 1, making that a fine time for nonmotorized travel. Only 10 miles of the Skalkaho Highway are plowed in winter, which means the area is excellent for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.