Glamping With Your Besties: How to Plan the Ultimate Girls' Weekend

We stayed at the beautiful West Glacier KOA Resort, located just three miles outside the national park entrance. While KOA campgrounds are a staple across the country, this resort takes it up a notch. You can book anything from cozy, rustic cabins to deluxe modern versions complete with a full kitchen, bath, and a private roof deck for stargazing. We happily opted for the latter (shown above).

Our journey started on a high note. The campground is a scenic, 30-minute drive from the surprisingly bougie Glacier International Airport, which felt more like a luxury mountain lodge. The resort itself perfectly balanced adventure with comfort. It had a pool, hot tubs, sauna, and showers/laundry. We had a shower in our cabin with plenty of towels and soaps/shampoos like a hotel, emphasis on the glamping part of this adventure.

First time sleeping under the stars? Check out our camping essentials checklist to figure out your absolute must-haves. Choosing a cabin means way less packing than tent camping, but you still get all that nostalgic summer-camp magic—think campfire meals, hikes right outside your door, and the perfect quiet corner to curl up with a book.

Plan Plenty of Analog Activities

The vibe at the resort was chill but also lively. Right next to the Lazy Bear Restaurant & Cafe, we found an outdoor camper bar with live music. The chef cooked up an incredible menu, featuring standout dishes like elk lasagna and huckleberry-glazed ribs. In fact, huckleberry was everywhere — there were huckleberry margaritas, huckleberry jam, huckleberry pancakes, so much huckleberry.

Leaning fully into the summer-camp nostalgia, we spent our time:

• Crafting friendship bracelets
• Joining an on-site workshop about birds of prey (rescued peregrine falcon, a screeching barn owl, and more)
• Tie-dying T-shirts
• Taking a practical and hilarious lesson in how to use bear spray (with a woman in a bear suit)

Explore Nature By Hike or E-Bike

The absolute highlight of our trip was exploring Glacier National Park on e-bikes. We booked a guided tour with Glacier Guides along the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road. Experiencing this trek in the spring is spectacular because the road is entirely open to cyclists before it opens to car traffic.

The Route: The road spans 50 miles, crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. You are surrounded by waterfalls, towering snow-capped peaks, and fields of wildflowers, including the striking white plumes of native "bear grass."

Our guides were fantastic, keeping us motivated and even providing a delicious burrito dinner when we reached the top. It was a bucket-list four-hour adventure. By the time we returned, our muscles were spent, but we still managed to toast to our success with a hot chocolate spiked with huckleberry liqueur at the outdoor bar while listening to live music.

Collect Memories

By the end of the weekend, we felt completely recharged, fully caught up on each other's lives, and deeply in love with this majestic landscape. Our national parks truly are a national treasure, and I’ll absolutely be back. I also picked up some amazing campfire recipes, including foil packets that are so easy! In the meantime, I’m already planning a trip to the local KOA in Petaluma, California, to introduce my daughter to a style of camping that I am actually game for.