Glacier National Park Trip Day 3: Conrad Mansion and Hungry Horse Dam

September 11, 2025

After two very early morning starts and a 10 mile hike the day before my husband and I were looking for something a bit easier when we stumbled upon the Conrad Mansion Museum. We thought it sounded interesting.

It didn't open until 10 so we spent a lazy morning watching movies (my husband)/ working on the blog (me). We arrived just a few minutes after 10 and missed the first tour of the day. So we had nearly an hour wait until the next tour. Our tour ended up being HUGE and at times we all could not fit in the room! This made for limited photo opportunities but I tried my best.

The house was built in 1895 by Charles Conrad who was the founder of Kalispell and made his fortune in trade and freight on the Missouri river. Him and his wife had 3 children; only one of which lived long enough to have children of their own.

The house and grounds are beautiful! Though there was once a carriage house and a stable yard that were sold off many years ago.

Inside the house there is some real incredible craftsmanship. And lots of unique features.

Like these indoor stained glass windows!

the house was built around this bookcase

all the wood is original and with the exception of the floor has never been restored

The rosewood piano, hand painted linen walls, and priceless works of art are all original to the house.

This radiator heated warming stove was used to keep hot foods warm in the dining room

My favorite room was probably the indoor garden.

All the bedrooms were upstairs and in the open hallway space there was a game/billiard room.

This was a guest room

The older son's room; his wife eventually left to go star in silent movies.

the master bedroom

The master bedroom had a balcony overlooking the open stairs and both the master bedroom and the daughter's room had beautiful stained glass windows that opened over this same area.


We even got to tour the 3rd floor where they stored seasonal items, had the children's playroom, the father's study, and the washer/dryer.

All in all it was a very informative tour. The remaining heir and daughter that donated the house was one of the first to tour it after the house was restored and she said it looked just like it did when she was growing up. She also contributed a lot to the stories and historical accuracy of the museum.

We drove back to Hungry Horse and could see a bit of the mountains in the distance.

We ate a quick lunch at Paul Bunyan Bar and Grill that was very good; we each got sandwiches and fries. Then we went to check out the Hungry Horse Dam. My husband used to own a small hydroelectric dam so we tend to check them out whenever we can.

This dam is a U. S. Army Corp of Engineer dam and it had a mini museum/ information center we toured first. The dam is one of the largest concrete arch dams in the U. S and one of the highest dams in the world with water dropping 490 feet.

We walked out on one side of the dam and returned on the other.

We went back to our room/hotel for an hour or so before it was time to head out to Mercantile Steak for our dinner reservations.

It was delicious!. It was an a la carte steak place so we each got a steak and split a side of asparagus and a side of potatoes between the two of us.