The Backbone of the World is the perfect summer outdoor adventure for gay couples

Glacier National Park, located in northwestern Montana, is one of the true gems of the country’s national parks. I’ve visited 26 of the 62 parks in the system so far, and for me, Glacier is right there at the top, next to Yosemite. The native Blackfeet tribe (Niisitapi) called this part of the Rocky Mountains “the backbone of the world.”

The park will spoil visitors with seemingly endless vista points, jewel-colored lakes, excellent hiking options, wildlife, and, of course, the namesake glaciers. We discovered five great outdoor adventures on our recent trip to Kalispell, the cool and funky gateway city to Glacier, located about 30 miles southwest of the park’s western entrance.

As a town of about 30,000, Kalispell doesn’t have the queer scene that bigger urban areas do. But on a few trips to Montana, I’ve always found the people incredibly welcoming and open-minded. For a unique couple’s outdoor adventure, it’s the perfect spot to be together without worry.

Pack your bags, we’re going on an adventure

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1. Check out the national park

Glacier is bisected from east to west by its famed Going to the Sun Road, a 50-mile route that will tease you with views of hanging valleys, dramatic passes, glacial lakes, and dramatic cliffs. The road is open seasonally and sometimes doesn’t fully open until mid-June or later—it all depends on the snowpack around Logan Pass and how long it takes the park to clear a path. Because the park has become so popular, from June 13 through September 28, timed entry vehicle reservations are required from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can also take free shuttles within the park or ride the iconic Red Jammers, vintage buses serving the park since 1936.

The Glacier Park Boat Company also runs boat trips on several of the park’s lakes: McDonald, St. Mary, Two Medicine, and Many Glaciers. We took the one-hour Lake McDonald cruise, which contained interesting commentary on the region’s geology, the park’s history, and details on past wildfires.

2. Jump on a bicycle

Kalispell and the surrounding area have an excellent mix of paved bike paths and mountain bike options. You can even ride bikes on Going to the Sun Road in Glacier, a popular route in the summer, and before the road is entirely open to cars in the shoulder seasons. We stopped at Wheaton’s Cycle, which has been in the valley for over a century. Wheaton’s rents bikes and e-bikes, and we took a half-day tour along the Rails to Trails path, enjoying the diverse scenery.

3. Get on the water

Just south of Kalispell is the expansive Flathead Lake, the largest lake in the western U.S. (it beats Tahoe by a few square miles). Kayaking is an ideal way to experience the lake, which is ringed by hills and mountain ranges and contains about a dozen small islands and a few larger ones. Sea Me Paddle in Lakeside rents kayaks and conducts tours in Flathead Lake and several others.

On the western part of the lake, the most popular tour is out of Dayton, over to Wild Horse Island, Flathead’s largest island and a Montana state park. We paddled the two-mile route in about an hour, which proved peaceful and magical. We saw a bald eagle along the way, and once on the island, we spotted all five of the wild horses that reside there (the herd’s numbers ebb and flow a bit over the years). The kayak tour provides visitors with a couple of hours on the island and a packed lunch. There are several trails on Wild Horse, plenty of wildflowers, and some big horn sheep.

4. Try some regional cuisine featuring huckleberries

Kalispell has a thriving food scene, and we ate well while visiting! Huckleberries, a regional berry difficult to cultivate, are everywhere. They are very versatile in different dishes, and we tried them everywhere we could — on scones and Brussels sprouts, in milkshakes and margaritas. I’m a bit addicted now.

Favorite spots here include Moose’s Saloon, with great pizza and actual sawdust on the floor; Big Mountain Ciderworks for their flights and scrumptious Thai Fries; DeSoto Grill for down-home food including the amazing Pork Belly PBJ Bites; and Mercantile Steak for the serious red meat eaters out there.

5. Lavender and cherries, oh my!

For some more relaxed outdoor options, check out a local farm. Two favorites here were Farmers O’Dell and Longview Lavender Farm. Run by a sweet married couple, Farmers O’Dell is an organic cherry farm perched on the edge of Flathead Lake. You can wander through the blossoms in spring or pick cherries later in summer. And at Longview, learning about growing lavender was a surprise for me, given what I thought would be a challenging climate. Their gift shop is fantastic, too, and I splurged on some lavender honey.

If the above options aren’t outdoors enough for you, try a stay at Sherman Lodge, a luxury five-room property right downtown. The owners also run the attached True Water Fly Shop, which carries all sorts of fishing gear and runs guided full- and half-day fishing trips — so you can make your Brad Pitt-inspired A River Runs Through It fantasy a reality!

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