Although reservations are not required, we highly recommend them to guarantee seating for the tour that best fits your schedule. We accept reservations for all of our tour locations via our website or by contacting the reservation office. Reservations must be made by 5pm the day before your desired tour. Walk-up tickets are only available for same-day purchase at the ticket office of your selected tour location, however, walk-up ticket availability is extremely limited and typically on a waitlist basis.

Reservations are available for a limited number of rental watercraft at each of our rental locations. Reservations require a 2 hour minimum rental and are only available at the specified morning time, remaining rentals will be available on a first come first serve basis for the remainder of the day. Please see individual location pages for ticket office hours and reservation times.

Yes, to rent watercraft you must be 18 years of age. Children 13 or under must be accompanied by an adult (over 18), in the same watercraft. Children must be 14+ to operate their own craft with adult supervision.

We now have our t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and more available for purchase! Please follow this link for your Boat Co. Gear purchase. We will not have any products available for purchase at our ticket office locations.

https://shop.game-one.com/montana/columbia-falls/glacier-park-boat-company

Reservations for boat tours, one-way return tickets, or watercraft rentals at the Lake McDonald and Many Glacier locations include all day vehicle access on the day of your reservation to the reserved location only. Boat tour & Rental locations with corresponding Vehicle Reservation access as follows:

*Lake McDonald - GTSR, West Glacier Entrance (Not Many Glacier)
*Many Glacier - Many Glacier Valley (Not GTSR)

Vehicle reservations will be emailed from Glacier Park Boat Company 2 days prior to your scheduled reservation. The Vehicle Reservation is good for all vehicles in your party, each vehicle must be prepared to present a screenshot of the Vehicle Reservation at park entrances. Park entry fees still apply. Reservations at Apgar, Two Medicine & St Mary do not include Vehicle Reservations.

For more information on the vehicle reservation system at Glacier National Park, and road/trail status please visit their website with the following links:

https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/vehicle-reservations.htm
https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/road-trail-campground-status.htm

We recommend arriving at the tour location 1 hour before your tour, this should allow time to find parking. Please arrive at the ticket office 30 minutes prior to departure to pick up your tickets. Boarding will begin 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, seats will be forfeited 10 minutes prior to departure, the boat will depart at your reserved tour time.

Only service animals are permitted on Glacier Park Boat Company tour and rental boats. Service Animals are defined by the ADA as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Animals that are not trained to perform tasks that mitigate the effects of a disability, including dogs that are used purely to provide comfort or emotional support (also known as therapy animals) are considered pets.

While firearms are permitted in Glacier National Park, they are not allowed on any Glacier Park Boat Company tour boats or rental watercraft. This policy also applies to those individuals with a conceal carry permit. Firearms should be secured in the individual’s vehicle prior to boarding or renting our boats.

Food and beverages are permitted on tour boats, but are not available for purchase on board. We ask that all trash is disposed of properly in keeping with Glacier National Park’s Leave No Trace principles.

Tours, Rentals and Return Trip tickets must be cancelled or changed at least 3-days prior to the scheduled activity, tour cancellations will be assessed a $5.00 per seat cancellation fee, rental cancellations will be assessed a $10 cancellation fee per watercraft and one-way return trip ticket cancellations will be assessed a $2.00 per seat cancellation fee. Reservations made within 3-days of the scheduled activity are non-refundable.

Tours will operate in all weather conditions, including rain, snow, wind and smoke, as the boats are enclosed. Tours will only be cancelled in the event of extreme weather events. In the unlikely event this happens, full refunds will be issued at the ticket office when the cancellation is announced.

There are no restrooms available on the boats. There are restrooms available near each of the ticket offices and Park Service outhouses available on some trails. Please reference the individual location pages on our website for additional restroom information.

Watercraft rented from the Many Glacier area must stay on Swiftcurrent Lake & are not permitted on Lake Josephine. Watercraft cannot be left unattended to go hiking. Watercraft may not be transported from the location you have rented from.

If you are running late continue on to your tour location, check in with the ticket office on arrival and they will do their best to get you onto the next available tour that day only. Tickets are not transferrable to a different day.

Keep checking the website as cancellations can be processed up to three days before a tour. Alternatively you can put your name on a waitlist, day of, at the ticket office of the desired tour. You must be there in person to get on the waitlist.

Instead of making a new reservation, you can change your existing reservation. Click on the Tours menu and select Change or Cancel Reservation, here you can change the reservation and add the additional person, you will be charged for the additional ticket. You can also remove someone from your reservation here and we will refund you the tour price less a $5 fee. You can also call our office to change your reservation.

To avoid being charged cancellation fees, you can move your reservation to a different location from our website or by calling the reservations office. From our website select the Tours or Rentals menu depending on what you have reserved, then change or cancel reservation. Here you can change the reservation to the desired location based on availability.

The system will display the number of seats available, if you see a 0 there are no seats available. There will be a message displayed suggesting alternate tour times that have availability.

Our system does not store your credit card information for security reasons, you can cancel your reservation online by clicking the Tours or Rentals menu, depending on what you have reserved, and choose Change or Cancel Reservation. You can also call us and we can help you cancel over the phone.

There is no additional cost for the guided hikes associated with our boat tours. Guided hikes to Twin Falls are available from our Two Medicine tour at 1pm & 3pm daily starting July 1st. Boats at Two Medicine and Many Glacier will dock at the head of the lake to allow for unguided hiking at all tour times, if water levels and weather allow.

The trail between the two lakes is 0.2 miles one way and is equivalent to climbing up and down 5 flights of stairs. It can be considered a strenuous walk between the two lakes. All passengers are required to disembark and hike to Lake Josephine, passengers cannot stay aboard the boat at the head of Swiftcurrent Lake.

At any time, you can choose to hike on your own, please make sure to let your guide know and check the boat return times on the back of your return ticket. For safety reasons, we do not recommend hiking alone.

When you disembark your boat captain will provide you with a return trip ticket, with the return boat schedule. All return boat seating is first come first serve. Passengers may have up to a one-hour wait for a return boat during the late afternoon return times. Please keep in mind that if you miss the last return time at your location, there will not be another boat coming back. See our Hiking Information page for more information on return boats.

At Two Medicine and Many Glacier One-way return trip tickets are available for purchase on our website or by contacting the reservations office. One-way return tickets are available for return boat trips only from the head of the lake, not up-lake travel to the main dock. A printed/screenshot copy of your confirmation will serve as your ticket to board the boat at the head of the lake.

You can see Sexton Glacier from our tour at St. Mary Lake at Rising Sun. On our Many Glacier boat tour you will get glimpses of Gem and Salamander Glacier.

The weather in Glacier National Park can change quickly. We suggest dressing in layers and be ready for any type of weather. Hiking boots are not required, but we do suggest sturdy footwear while hiking. We also recommend bringing plenty of water and snacks on your hike to stay hydrated and energized while hiking. The National Park Service recommends at minimum hikers should drink 1/2 liter of water for every hour hiking, you will need at least 3 liters of water, per person, to hike to Grinnell Glacier. There is no potable water available beyond the Many Glacier Hotel. Bear spray is suggested, but must be stowed in a backpack or bag while onboard the boat.

All Many Glacier boat tours stop at the head of Lake Josephine to allow passengers to disembark for hiking, if water levels and weather allow. We do not suggest taking a boat later than 11am if you would like to hike to Grinnell Glacier, and make the last return boat back to the Many Glacier Hotel. Please keep in mind that our last pick-up time is 5:45 pm, if you are not at the dock at 5:45 pm there will not be a boat returning and you would have to hike the additional 2 miles back to the Many Glacier Hotel.

We are no longer offering hiking to St Mary Falls from our boat tours at St. Mary Lake.

The Grinnell Glacier trail is located in the Many Glacier Valley, you would book the Many Glacier Scenic Tour Round Trip. This tour will take you across Swiftcurrent Lake & Lake Josephine and also includes a return trip.

Generally, cell service is not available within the Park. There may be areas where service will be spotty at best, plan to be free of cell service while enjoying Glacier National Park. This will also apply to the use of GPS Navigation devices.

There is no fishing license required within Glacier National Park. You will need to follow the Park’s fishing regulations. These are available at each of the ranger stations, as well as the Glacier National Park website. Regulations will be varying based upon season and body of water.

In order to utilize personal watercraft on the lakes of GNP, AIS inspections are required. Please see the Glacier National Park website for more information and to check which lakes are open for boating.