1 active Glacier alert
- ClosureTwo Medicine Campground closed for 2026 constructionTwo Medicine Campground is closed throughout 2026 because of construction in the Two Medicine developed area.Official details
Overview
About Belton Chalet
Why stop
- A working hotel and restaurant inside a genuine railway-era chalet
- The original fireplace and timber detailing make the building worth looking at
Heads up
- Compact rooms, no air conditioning, and reports of sound carrying
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Glacier Tour Guide
Your drive to Belton Chalet, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Glacier National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Glacier audio tourRecorded for this place
Belton Chalet and Historic Depot0:00 / 0:31
“You're nearing Belton Chalet in West Glacier, a good choice for a sit-down dinner in a railway-era building. Great Northern opened it in nineteen ten for visitors arriving by train at the depot across Highway Two.”
Plays as you drive up to Belton Chalet in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
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- Works offlinemaps, 157 trails, 91 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Our first time to glacier and we used the audio portion for Going to the Sun Road. Wonderful information with perfect advice of what to see and do along the road.”
Guide
More about Belton Chalet
A railway-era gatewayBelton Chalet is a historic hotel, restaurant and taproom in West Glacier, just outside Glacier…
Belton Chalet is a historic hotel, restaurant and taproom in West Glacier, just outside Glacier National Park’s west entrance. It opened in 1910 as the first Great Northern chalet built for visitors arriving by train. If you want a meal or an overnight wrapped in the park’s early travel story, this is a distinctive stop. It sits across US-2 from the historic Belton Depot, less than a mile from the park entrance.
Dinner in the original roomThe dining room has an original fireplace and an elevated deck with views toward the park.
The dining room has an original fireplace and an elevated deck with views toward the park. The taproom serves local beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, and the menu has included steelhead trout and bison dishes. Menus change, so treat a particular dish as a bonus rather than the reason to make the trip. Think of this as dinner in a historic place, not a museum visit.
The first years of park travelGreat Northern chairman Louis Hill directed the chalet complex’s construction between 1909 and…
Great Northern chairman Louis Hill directed the chalet complex’s construction between 1909 and 1913. Belton opened as the first railroad lodge for Glacier visitors and served as a seasonal headquarters for the park superintendent in the park’s early years. With the train depot directly across the road, this was a gateway where visitors could step off the train and begin their trip.
Look up at the timberworkWide eaves, gables, balconies and fretwork give the building its Swiss-chalet profile, with…
Wide eaves, gables, balconies and fretwork give the building its Swiss-chalet profile, with American Rustic details mixed in. For a photo, frame the full timber front with the forest behind it; a closer side view brings out the balconies and carved woodwork.
Staying overnightRooms and cottages have private bathrooms and fans, but no air conditioning.
Rooms and cottages have private bathrooms and fans, but no air conditioning. Guest reports describe compact rooms and sound carrying between rooms or from trains, so bring earplugs if you’re a light sleeper. Book for the history and location, with the understanding that this is an older building rather than a quiet, modern hotel.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Glacier
404 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
11 sightingsWolverineMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
1,173 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
1,000 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
395 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
506 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Glacier. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
