On August 10, 2017, a lightning-caused wildfire – soon to be known as the Sprague Fire – ignited near Sprague Creek in western Glacier National Park. While initial growth of the fire was slow, over the next three weeks hot temperatures and strong winds pushed the flames uphill, inching closer and closer to the historic Sperry Chalet.
In the mid-1910s, shortly after the designation of Glacier as a national park, the Great Northern Railroad began construction of numerous hotels and chalets throughout the park. Tourists could ride the train to northern Montana and then travel on foot and horseback between these chalets on a grand tour of the park. While most of the chalets were eventually torn down, three remain today. One no longer operates as a chalet, but rather as the Two Medicine camp store. The other two – Granite Park and Sperry – are still fully operational. As you can imagine, the historic value of these structures is immense.
Sadly, despite intense firefighting efforts, including a system of sprinklers, hoses, and fire-resistant wrapping material, the Sprague Fire ultimately overtook the dormitory building at Sperry Chalet, burning the wooden portions of this 103-year-old structure to the ground. It was a devastating loss.
Firefighters did manage to save the remaining buildings, and the stone portions of the dormitory building survived the fire. In the aftermath, it was determined that the exterior stonework was structurally sound and would be used to rebuild Sperry Chalet. Immediate attempts were made to stabilize these walls, and reconstruction began the following summer. While certain federal building codes had to be met – such as the inclusion of an accessible room, even though the trail up to Sperry is anything but accessible – the chalet was otherwise reconstructed exactly as it was. It reopened to the public in 2020.
It just so happened that the onsite supervisor for the reconstruction was staying at the chalet while we were there, so we got some inside knowledge on the rebuilding process. For example, construction workers came across a stone that just so happened to be shaped like the state of Montana. It now sits in the center of the stone path, right at the base of the main stairway. I never would have noticed if I didn’t know to look for it, but it really does look like Montana!
Sperry Chalet operates as a full-service hotel in the backcountry. Overnight stays include a cozy room, three meals a day, and outhouse-style bathrooms with cold water sinks but no showers. There is no climate control or electricity in the rooms, but each is equipped with a lantern and plenty of blankets.
It’s a small facility, with just 17 guest rooms, and it’s only open for 10 weeks per year (roughly July 10-September 10). Obtaining a reservation is not easy. I completed the reservation request form the minute it became available, typing in all the information as quickly as I could, and promptly found myself #1100ish in the queue. I was pretty resigned to the fact that, for the second year in a row, we weren’t going to get a reservation.
So imagine my surprise when I received an email three days later confirming our stay. I gasped, scaring the bejeezus out of my husband, and then proceeded to practically shout, “we got Sperry!” I maintain that it was a perfectly appropriate level of excitement. He might disagree.
Anyway.
Sperry Chalet is located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) and 3400 feet (1035 m) from Sperry Trailhead, in the western half of Glacier National Park off Going-to-the-Sun Road. It’s far enough into the backcountry that most people don’t day hike this far (though you can, and you can even buy lunch at the chalet when you get there).
For us, though, Sperry Chalet wasn’t the ultimate destination. While we were very excited for our stay, we were equally excited for the hiking opportunities it would afford us, as we would have an entire day to spend on the trails above the chalet. Given that I’ve already written nearly 600 words and haven’t even talked about our time at Sperry yet, I’m going to save the hikes for the next post. In the remainder of this one, I’ll just focus on the chalet itself.
We departed Sperry Trailhead just before noon. The hike in was relatively uneventful, albeit hot and tiring. Due to the fire, there’s very little shade along the trail; the sun beat down on us almost the entire time.
At around the halfway point of the trip, we caught our first glimpse of Sperry Chalet off in the distance. It was very far away still. And a long way above us. We clearly had quite a lot of elevation left to gain.
After seeing it in the distance for an hour and a half, we reached the chalet just prior to 3:00pm. Signage directed us to the dining hall for check-in, where we were greeted by a friendly staff member and glasses of lemonade that very much hit the spot. We were given a rundown on chalet rules and the meal schedule, and then it was off to our room to get settled in and relax before dinner.
When you make a reservation you don’t get to pick your room; you’re simply assigned to one with the configuration of beds your party needs. We ended up in a north-facing room on the second floor, and if this doesn’t count as a “room with a view” then I don’t know what does. I had absolutely no complaints about our home away from home, and we quickly began to unpack and get settled in.
Speaking of which… packing for our stay at Sperry was tricky, because it wasn’t quite backpacking but it also wasn’t just hiking. In addition to the usual hiking gear, we needed sandals, warm pajamas (for this, we chose clothing we could also wear around the chalet), a change of clothes (since we were there for two nights/three days), and some basic toiletries. There are hand towels in each room, so though there are no showers, we were able to wash our faces and brush our teeth at the outdoor sinks. We also brought a pack of wipes to clean sunscreen, sweat, and dirt off our skin at the end of each day.
And, most importantly, we brought beer! Sperry doesn’t serve alcohol, but you can bring your own and consume it in your room. So that morning, as we loaded up our backpacks, we took the remaining ice from our now-empty cooler and dumped it into my water bladder. I grabbed our last two cans of beer and slid them into my pack on either side, and we enjoyed two cold beers in our room that afternoon.
(One thing we forgot, we realized upon finishing our beers, was a trash bag; Sperry is a pack-it-in, pack-it-out kind of place. Luckily, we were able to repurpose a ziploc bag for this.)
Check-in time at Sperry is whenever you arrive, which ideally should be before 6:00pm because that’s when dinner is served. We all converged on the dining room promptly, where we found name placards on the tables to denote seating assignments. Large groups got a table to themselves while small groups shared tables.
We were placed with another couple on the first night and with two women on the second. It’s a fun way to get to know each other and it really builds camaraderie amongst the guests. Each night at 9:00pm they also host a coffee hour, where you can enjoy a hot beverage (the hot chocolate is so good, oh my gosh) while mingling with the other guests and watching the mountain goats and the sunset.
But back to dinner, which is a multi-course meal. Upon taking our seats, we were served a small salad and a basket of bread. They mix up the menu so you don’t eat the same thing two days in a row; night one was buttermilk bread and night two was onion bread, and the salad dressing was different each day as well. The next course was soup; creamy lentil on night one and tomato basil on night two. Our entrée the first night was Thanksgiving-style dinner, with turkey and gravy, stuffing, green beans, and cranberries. Night two was a delicious chicken curry with rice and roasted vegetables. And lastly, dessert was a slice of cake – chocolate one night and yellow the other.
Breakfast is more casual. You choose your own seat and circle what you want on a little slip of paper, and they bring it out to you. Options include eggs, bacon or ham, pancakes, toast, and oatmeal, along with orange juice, tea, and coffee. It was tasty, though I discovered the first morning that eggs + bacon + pancakes is too heavy of a pre-hike breakfast for me.
An overnight stay includes lunch as well, though not in the dining room. Our sack lunch was waiting for us at breakfast so we could take it with us on the trail. The bag contained a meat and cheese sandwich, a fruit bar, a candy bar, a cookie, and a juice box. We were well-fed the entire time.
(By the way, they can accommodate food allergies if you let them know in advance.)
One thing that definitely fascinated me was the logistics of running a chalet that’s way in the backcountry. I was so curious that I ended up asking some of the staff some questions about how it all worked. Here’s what I learned:
- A park ranger stays in the employee housing for a week at a time and takes care of cleaning the bathrooms and any maintenance issues that arise.
- On-site staff includes a manager, a baker, a cook, two kitchen staff, two waitresses, and two housekeepers. They live in the employee housing all summer and keep the chalet and kitchen running.
- The chalet staff work for ten weeks straight with no days off.
- There is a shower for the staff, and they send their laundry down the mountain to be cleaned and returned to them.
- Dirty linens, garbage, and recycling also get sent down the mountain to be dealt with.
- Food is brought in twice per week, so they have to plan menus and place orders well in advance. Some of the foods in our lunch were from Costco and the nearest one is at least an hour from the trailhead, so this is a big undertaking.
How do these things get transported up and down the mountain, you ask?
I have to give a huge shoutout to the Sperry staff, because they work so hard and they’re amazing! Bread, cookies, and other desserts are all baked from scratch, and the meals are prepared fresh. Breakfast opens at 7:00am and dinner doesn’t finish until 7:30pm… and then 1-2 staff members are present for the evening coffee hour. The days are so long. I can’t even imagine how exhausted they must be by the end of the summer. But they clearly love it because most of them come back year after year.
Sperry Chalet itself is a place with so much history, and the location can’t be beat, but it was the staff and the other guests who made our stay so special. This was an amazing way to end our vacation, and we will absolutely return to Sperry on future trips to Glacier!
Up next: The best views in Glacier: Sperry Glacier and Lincoln Peak
Hike stats: 6.3 miles (10.1 km) one-way, with 3400 feet (1035 m) of elevation gain.
Here is a trail map of the Lake McDonald area, including the Sperry Trail. I also recommend downloading the NPS app and saving Glacier National Park for offline use. You will be able to use the map in the app to track your location.
For more information on visiting Glacier National Park and how to access the park and this trail, please see this post.
For information on Sperry Chalet reservations and an FAQ, visit their website.
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