Things To Do
Glacier National Park
This is the main reason we know of Whitefish and came to visit before moving. One of the most beautiful National Parks in the US. The park does have vehicle reservations required from 6am-3pm, please view the website on how to reserve these. You can also enter after 3pm and still see all there is to see.
Whitefish Lake
Whitefish Lake is a stunning lake with a mountain back drop close to Downtown Whitefish. Our favorite ways to spend on the lake are renting a boat, grabbing drinks at the Boat Club Bar at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, or setting up a beach chair or towel and laying in the sun at City Beach.
Flathead Lake
The largest lake West of the Mississippi. Similar to Whitefish Lake you can rent a boat, grab drinks at a restaurant on the lake, or find a beach to chill.
Whitefish
This is the town the wedding is in and the Downtown is full of shopping, eats, and drinks.
Bigfork
BigFork is another quaint town with eating and drinking. Located a little closer to Flathead Lake so making it a great stop to do both in one day, its about a 45 minute drive from Whitefish.
Columbia Falls
Smaller of the downtown areas but has a few restaurants and bars. Action Rentals offering side by side and variety of water sport rentals has an office here. More importantly we recommend you check out the Blue Moon which isn't quite as far as the downtown area. It's a fun bar with a very large glass encasing a variety of taxidermy.
Kalispell
Kalispell is the larger city where we live. You can find a few more chains here and big box stores but the downtown is cute with many shops and restaurants lining the road running through it. This town also holds the greatest bar to exist: Moose's Saloon! They got the sawdust on the floor so you can throw your peanut shells on the ground while sipping on a cold coors light.
Fly Fishing
Montana Fishing Guides is the company we have used and recommend- Ask for Austin (he's the best)! You can do partial or full day trips on the local river or go lake fishing if you prefer. There are a number of other companies you can research that offer trips too.
Glacier Raft Company
There are many companies offering rafting trips, this is only one. The various companies offer guided or unguided trips if you prefer to just rent the raft and go yourself.
Whitefish Mountain Resort
The mountain offers summer activities too: hiking, biking, zip lining to name a few.
Canada
Canada's border is about an hour from Whitefish. If you have a passport and the time go check out all that Canada has to offer. To name a few: Waterton Lakes National Park (Canadian side of Glacier) Fernie (Mountain resort town) Banff (National park and awesome downtown area)
Other Surrounding Travel Options
If you have the time and want to check out for of the NW. Here are a few thoughts: Bozeman (Montana) Yellowstone (S Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming) Idaho (many great places, Sawtooth, Sun Valley, Coeur d'Alene, etc) Washington (Leavenworth is pretty cool) and so much more depending on the time you have!