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hostel, which offers comfortable rooms at extremely affordable prices. Dorm and family rooms are on the second floor of a rustic, older log building with several common rooms for guests to share, including a porch, kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry. Family rooms sleep two to six. A bakery and deli (with Internet access) are in the grocery; there's a restaurant next door.

Jacobson's Cottages

120 Mont. 49 (P.O. Box 454), East Glacier, MT 59434. ☎ 888/226-4422 or 406/226-4422. Fax 406/226-4425. 12 cottages. TV. $55–$80 double. AE, DISC, MC, V. Closed Nov–Apr.

Located in a nicely wooded area, these quaint cottages are small but comfortable. All have cable TV, and one has a kitchen. Entertainment and good food are nearby, with the Restaurant Thimbleberry a half block down the street and Two Medicine a 12-mile drive. Reservations are recommended.

Mountain Pine Motel

Mont. 49, East Glacier, MT 59434. ☎ 406/ 226-4403. 25 units, 2 houses. TV TEL. $58–$64 double. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V.

This property is a one-story, 1950s-type remodeled motel that provides well-furnished rooms in a shaded, timbered area just off the main highway. Most standard rooms have two queen-size beds, reading chairs and table, and bathrooms with tub/shower combinations. Considering that rooms here are about a third as expensive as those at the park hotels, this is an excellent alternative.

IN ESSEX

Izaak Walton Inn

290 Izaak Walton Inn Rd., Essex, MT 59916. ☎ 406/888-5700. Fax 406/888-5200. www.izaakwaltoninn.com. 33 units, 4 caboose cottages. $107–$148 double, $222–$242 suite, $675 caboose. 3-night minimum stay in cabooses. MC, V.

Built in 1939 by the Great Northern Railway, this historic Tudor lodge once served as living quarters for rail crews who serviced the railroad. Located just off U.S. 2 on the southern boundary of Glacier Park, the Izaak Walton is extremely popular with tourists and locals alike, many of whom choose to travel by Amtrak train, which stops a mere 100 yards from the front door of the lodge. Both lodge rooms and the converted cabooses offer comfortable and attractive lodging, with wood-paneled walls and various Western touches. And who can pass up the opportunity to sleep in a caboose? During the winter, this inn is a popular jumping-off spot for cross-country skiers.

IN POLEBRIDGE

North Fork Hostel and

Square Peg Ranch

80 Beaver Dr., Polebridge, MT 59928. ☎ 406/ 888-5241 or 406/253-4321. www.nfhostel.com. 12 bunks, 2 cabins, 2 log homes. $15 bunk, $35 cabin, $70 log home. AE. Closed mid-Oct to Apr.

Formerly called the Quarter Circle MC Ranch and located inside the park, this lodge was moved to its present location near Polebridge in the late 1960s, and it is ideal for the back-to-nature traveler. It sits within a stone's throw of the North Fork of the Flathead River, right across the river from Glacier National Park. Accommodations are rustic, with a mountain-cabin feel—there's no electricity in Polebridge, so lighting is powered by kerosene and propane, and heat is from an old-fashioned wood stove. There are separate facilities for men and women, as well as couples' accommodations, washrooms with hot showers, and clean outhouses. There are also several small cabins suitable for families. Hostel guests should bring linens or sleeping bags (sheets are available for rent) and flashlights. The Square Peg Ranch offers two rustic log homes, with decor similar to the hostel's, and a few bare-bones tepees and campsites for $10 a night. The log homes have solar-heated showers, or guests can use the hostel showers, and a wood-fired hot tub is outside. The hostel and cabins have complete kitchen facilities, and the former has a relaxing 6-foot-long claw-foot bathtub. Equipment rentals and Internet access are also available.

Polebridge Mercantile and Cabins

P.O. Box 280042, Polebridge, MT 59928. ☎ 406/888-5105. www.members.tripod. com/polebridge. 4 cabins. $35–$45 cabin. MC, V.

If you can make the trek up the gravelly North Fork Road, then give these bare-bones cabins