Charging near Glacier NP?

[Kmccanta]

I am planning the first road trip this summer (if the MYLR shows up before we go) to Glacier NP. I am comfortable with the road trip part, ther are plenty of superchargers on I-90. But what about when I get to Kalispell/Columbia Falls area? I really dont have a feel for how much range we will really have driving up the Going-to-the-Sun road?

Kalispell to St. Mary is < 85 miles with a 3500ft elevation gain in the middle. Can you just drive over and back? or do you need to stop and charge for 12 hours on the slow/unavailable/broken chargers in St. Mary?

Does anyone here have experience driving their Tesla in Glacier NP area?? How was it?

 

[echen]

Stay at one of the hotels that have J1772 and destination chargers (I recently was bed-bugged at the Kalispell Hampton Inn so I'm a little wary despite the good location - right next to Mudman Burgers, which I love - and chargers). Or use one of the public J1772 charging stations around Kalispell/Whitefish.

Lake McDonald lodge also has a destination charger for when you're in the park (though it wasn't on when I was there in late April). That could be a good one to hit on the way back from GTTS road. All of the plugs I mentioned are listed on PlugShare app.

 

[CalBlue 85D]

As much as I love road trips in a Tesla, last summer we left the Tesla at home when we spent a week in Glacier. There are charging options, but none are superchargers and I didn't want to spend any extra time away from the park activities dealing with L2 charging. Last summer was quiet too, so you can expect a lot more competition for the L2 chargers this year.

Enjoy your trip however you go!

 

[spokey]

Stay at one of the hotels that have J1772 and destination chargers (I recently was bed-bugged at the Kalispell Hampton Inn so I'm a little wary despite the good location - right next to Mudman Burgers, which I love - and chargers). Or use one of the public J1772 charging stations around Kalispell/Whitefish.

Lake McDonald lodge also has a destination charger for when you're in the park (though it wasn't on when I was there in late April). That could be a good one to hit on the way back from GTTS road. All of the plugs I mentioned are listed on PlugShare app.

It's been almost 20 years since I was there but I think we stopped at McDonald lodge and had a great lunch. So if you can charge there, sounds like a good place to stop.

 

[JonB65]

Be sure and post a trip report when you get back. With pictures! Have a great time.

 

[ChadS]

5 years ago I stayed at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, which I believe had both J1772 and Tesla Destination chargers. The Lodge was nice.

I drove from there, over Going-To-The-Sun road, to St Mary and back. I don't remember if the car was at 100% when I left (it probably was, or at least close), but I think I still had 30% or so when I got back.

This was in a 2012 S with 265 miles of rated range. Sure, the elevation is a hit...but at least you come back down, so it's not so bad. And speeds are generally pretty low, which helps a lot.

 

[spokey]

5 years ago I stayed at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, which I believe had both J1772 and Tesla Destination chargers. The Lodge was nice.

I drove from there, over Going-To-The-Sun road, to St Mary and back. I don't remember if the car was at 100% when I left, but I think I still had about 30% when I got back.

This was in a 2012 S with 265 miles of rated range. Sure, the elevation is a hit...but at least you come back down, so it's not so bad. And speeds are generally pretty low, which helps a lot.

Go slow on Going-To-The-Sun? I wouldn't even do the drive. I left my fate in the hands of someone else and took one of those '34(?) red busses.

 

[ChadS]

Yeah, going faster would have made Going-To-The-Sun much more enjoyable. At least on the way back around 11am when there was a ton of traffic...on my trip out at 6:30am, I did get some a few nice lonely stretches in. Worth it.

Glacier Point Road in Yosemite is another fun road to take in a Tesla if you can find a time when it's not crowded (I lucked out late in the day in Oct 2011 with my Roadster). Another good one is Bear Tooth Highway (212 between Yellowstone and Red Lodge MT - I did that one 3 years ago in my P90DL Model S, but it would probably have been even more fun in a Roadster or P3D).

 

[andaconda]

Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell has a destination charger, and a j1777 L2. There's also a coule of Tesla charger at a couple of places in Whitefish (Plug Share is your friend.) Better make reservations well in advance. This is shaping up to be a record year. You also have to have reservations to get into Glacier Park -- so check on that too. If you fully charge in Kalispell or Whitefish, you should have no problem with a round trip. I live in SW Montana - lots of elevation changes, so I'm used to the hit on range (but coming down the passes you do gain a couple of percentages on range.)

 

[saltsman]

There are also J1772 and Tesla Destination chargers in the Marina Parking Lot in Wharton Lakes if the border ever reopens.

 

[fakebeave]

I'll be in Glacier 7/28-7/31 with one of our Teslas. Currently have a Model 3 RWD LR. Hoping that our Model Y AWD LR gets delivered before we leave New Jersey on 7/22.
We also have a new Model S LR on order, but it doesn't look like we will have that in time.

Our route take us from Big Timber, MT to the Great Falls Supercharger. Then we stay at the West Glacier RV Park. Hoping to find a good Nema plug there or at the very least trickle charge on a 120v outlet overnight. Our next 2 nights are at Motel Lake Macdonald and there is a Tesla Destination charger located across the street from the parking lot.

We plan on not driving at all once we are in the park. I have a Red Bus tour booked and have shuttle tickets for our other day. We should have a full charge by the time we need to leave the park and get to the Missoula Supercharger.

Use Plugshare to see all of the chargers in the area.

 

[Tokodave]

Good luck up there. I haven't ventured much north of Helena but it gets slender after Great Falls. I 90 and I 15 are pretty solid and there's going to be SC in Shelby which will help the trio to Canada, eh? If the border ever opens! Folks have highlighted all the Plugshare sites!

 

[jwuwu]

Oh dang just saw this post. We just got back from Glacier. We camped and charge in Moose Creek RV camp, it’s 5 minutes from the West gate, to 100% each night. That’s with the middle of the Going to the Sun road closed most of our trip and we had to go around the park some days. On the east side there’s KOA campsite. Make sure to bring your mobile connector and nema 14-50 adapter and you should be set. I just wrote a post about it earlier today.

The Going to the Sun road is open now so you can actually go in and out of the park with one charge, no issues. You can also ask to charge at Many Glacier, they were nice enough to let us charge while we went hiking. Such an awesome trip! Hope you have a good time when you go. The Going to the Sun road and the views are something else. Can’t wait to go back again.

 

[paulmstevens17]

Oh dang just saw this post. We just got back from Glacier. We camped and charge in Moose Creek RV camp, it’s 5 minutes from the West gate, to 100% each night. That’s with the middle of the Going to the Sun road closed most of our trip and we had to go around the park some days. On the east side there’s KOA campsite. Make sure to bring your mobile connector and nema 14-50 adapter and you should be set. I just wrote a post about it earlier today.

The Going to the Sun road is open now so you can actually go in and out of the park with one charge, no issues. You can also ask to charge at Many Glacier, they were nice enough to let us charge while we went hiking. Such an awesome trip! Hope you have a good time when you go. The Going to the Sun road and the views are something else. Can’t wait to go back again.

hi!! I am going to Many Glacier next week for 3 nights (M3LR AWD) and and am stressing on where to charge up. Do you remember where you went to charge while you were in Many Glacier? thank you!

 

[jwuwu]

hi!! I am going to Many Glacier next week for 3 nights (M3LR AWD) and and am stressing on where to charge up. Do you remember where you went to charge while you were in Many Glacier? thank you!

Hello, I suggest reserving a RV site to charge your car like the KOA St. Mary's- St Mary, Montana Campground | St. Mary / East Glacier KOA Holiday

A closer RV and campground site that's near the Many Glacier entrance is the Leaning Tree Campground. Leaning Tree Campground

You can also ask Many Glacier hotel to see if they can let you charge your car from their maintenance shed.

 

[reddy]

I can highly recommend the Sky Eco cabins in Coram, WY. We stayed here 4 days, and it was in a perfect location 5 miles from the parks west entrance. They have 2 Tesla chargers that put out 48 amps at 230v. Every morning I had a full charge to begin looking at more of the park. The cabins look primitive, but have microwave, range, full bathroom, 50 inch TV , high speed wifi, and comfortable beds. Their general store with snacks, drinks, and a few food items was next door. Great for a couple on a long road trip. Here's a fisheye view of the Going To The Sun road going toward Logan Pass and looking at Heavenly Mt.

Sky Eco does a bit of business with people reserving charging times during the day. I'm not sure what the cost is there, as my charging was included in the room rate.

 

[skyeco]

Thanks for the recommendation, Reddy. It's CORAM, MT, about 6 miles outside the west entrance of Glacier National Park.

 

[skyecorentals]

I am planning the first road trip this summer (if the MYLR shows up before we go) to Glacier NP. I am comfortable with the road trip part, ther are plenty of superchargers on I-90. But what about when I get to Kalispell/Columbia Falls area? I really dont have a feel for how much range we will really have driving up the Going-to-the-Sun road?

Kalispell to St. Mary is < 85 miles with a 3500ft elevation gain in the middle. Can you just drive over and back? or do you need to stop and charge for 12 hours on the slow/unavailable/broken chargers in St. Mary?

Does anyone here have experience driving their Tesla in Glacier NP area?? How was it?

For 2022 - book a stay at Sky Eco. They have destination chargers free for guests.

 

[Dennisis]

To reiterate for those who don’t know, use PlugShare to find chargers! Great aide, use regularly when planning trips especially National Parks.

 

[totoro722]

I have looked at this trip multiple times, wanting to drive through rather than up and back. A supercharger in Kalispell would certainly make Glacier National park a much more accessible trip. Doesn’t seem to be on the list of sites in the future though. Seems like a major park to be kept so isolated from fast charging.