Location
Glacier National Park, Montana

The first hotel built by the Great Northern Railway, Glacier Park Lodge was constructed in 1913 to attract visitors to the park's wonders, part of the railway's wider mission to open up the mountain grandeur of the American West to travelers. Located just outside the southeast corner of Glacier National Park, the hotel is a masterpiece of early 20th-century rustic-style architecture featuring log post-and-beam construction, shingled dormers and mullioned windows. Its soaring lobby features massive bark-covered log pillars 40 feet high and 40 inches in diameter, crafted from Douglas fir trees hundreds of years old. The Blackfeet Indians, awed by the size of the timbers, called it Omahkoyis, or "Big Tree Lodge." Extensive balconies and decks overlook sprawling lawns and elaborate gardens that date back more than a century, while the park's mountain range provides a dramatic backdrop to the west. While guest rooms are small and simple with basic amenities, they are clean and comfortable, and all have private bathrooms. In keeping with the lodge's historic character, rooms do not have air conditioning, televisions or elevators.