The entrance into the park was easier than I expected. Having heard many comments about the reservation system and problems getting into the Park, it was really a breeze. I spent many hours looking into this and the East entrance doesn’t require the time slot reservation that the West entrance requires. That is because most of the population center that access the park are west of the park. There is not much around the East entrance. I showed my McDonald Lodge reservation and my veterans/senior citizen parks card and we went right in. The information center had a movie on the park every hour and people there were very helpful addressing our questions.
We were off! And it was a shocking display of nature.
It just took our breath away! We were very lucky since 7 days before they had 2’ of snow. Our temperatures were mid-70’s and light wind. The park was crowded but not to the point of being painful. We could pull over at most turn-outs where we wanted to stop. Some of them I wouldn’t stop at because they were loose gravel and very tight parking areas. If you are afraid of heights just keep your eyes on the road. There are not any confidence inducing barriers that protect you from going over the edge, a rock here or there and a short guardrail.
I think it took us 2 hours to get to McDonald Lodge so we had a nice lunch at this beautiful 100+ year old log lodge and waited for our cabin.
These 1930’s touring cars were beautiful. There is plenty to do around the lodge, swimming, rentals of canoe’s, kayaks, wind surfing and we decided to do the boat tour of the lake before dinner. You could easily be busy for 5 days doing everything plus the hikes. It was beautiful but the cabin was not so. It was tiny and 100+ years old with barely enough room for our stuff. The bathroom was the smallest I have ever seen. We had fun anyway. I wish I had booked 2-3 days. Maybe we go back by train from MN that stops at the park.
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