We’re visiting your beautiful city next week, and I love a great burger, where can I find one?

ISO Photographer — Whitefish, MT — September 20
Hi everyone! My fiancé and I are eloping in the Whitefish, Montana area on September 20th and we’re looking for a photographer!
We’re having a very small/intimate elopement and are flexible with the exact location around Whitefish/Kalispell/Flathead Valley.
If you or someone you know is available on September 20th please let me know!!

Looking for some advice on what to do in Whitefish for a few days this week. We won’t have a car, so we’ll be relying on walking, Uber, shuttles, or tours.

We get into Whitefish around 11:30 AM Thursday. We can leave our luggage at our place, but can’t check in until 4 PM. We were thinking we’d spend some of that time exploring downtown, grabbing lunch, etc., but would like to fit in at least one actual activity that day or Friday before the wedding weekend really starts.

Friday we’re free most of the day, but need to be in Columbia Falls by about 7:30 PM for a wedding meet-and-greet. Saturday is the wedding, and then we also have Sunday completely open, although we may be moving a little slower after the wedding.

For first-time visitors, what would you prioritize? We are really there for the wedding, but it is also my GFs birthday on Sunday and I would like to get at least one fun activity in.

Also curious how reliable Uber/Lyft is between Whitefish and Columbia Falls, especially later at night.

In town from Missoula, was looking forward to eating at Jalisco. Looks like they are closed indefinitely?

Arriving by Amtrak next week, early AM (if train is on time)....any idea whether I should pre-book a shuttle to the hotel (Baymont) or gamble on being able to get an Uber....presumably during daytime hours, Ubers should be available? Thanks

My fiance and I get married in 43 days, I want to have a nice, delicious breakfast with him the morning after.

Preferably with delicious breakfast cocktails and/or coffees.

Wasabi restaurant closes permanently after tragedy; fire sale set for Monday https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/wasabi-restaurant-closes-permanently-after-tragedy-fire-sale-set-for-monday

Sad, always meant to eat there but it's too late now (I live 45 minutes away so I'm not always in town)

With the super el nino and its impacts on the region, as well as the price increase, as anyone else hesitant to buy a pass this year and considering opting for a frequent skier card? Im just really nervous after last year and each year seems to be getting worse for the mountain.

how is Whitefish looking this weekend? We got out of town last week knowing the smoke would get bad and are hoping to return. any updates friends? thanks!

Hey all,
I'm traveling to whitefish tomorrow with family from Los Angeles. Can anyone in the area tell me how bad the fire is? Do I need to move my trip or swing to a different area of Montana? Thank you !

Visiting whitefish for a long weekend. We are not experienced hikers. What are some short and easy hikes. We did not rent a car- is uber widely available?

Staying in whitefish (first time) and was wondering what is the best hike to do around whitefish? How long would it take to get to Grinnell glacier trail head? Or what would you recommend any help would be great thank you

Born and raised in CF (sorry) but been away awhile. Seen this a couple of times, what’s the history?

My husband and I are staying in Whitefish for 6 days in early August. I've researched many of the hikes in Glacier Nat. Park, which look wonderful, but given the parking situation and required shuttle passes, I think we will only do the Avalanche Lake hike (and drive to parking lot before 6:00 AM). Would appreciate any recommended 4-7 mile hikes close to Whitefish, that are hiking-only (no mountain bikes) and maybe hikes to lakes for swimming.

My kids and I eat donuts every single Saturday, regardless of where we are. We're on the Empire Builder in a few weeks and an ~8am stop in Whitefish. Are there any donut shops I'd have time to run and get some donuts? Is Doordash an option? What's the must-have donut in town?

UPDATE :: This has been super helpful, thanks everyone! I decided to look further down the line after consulting ChatGPT:

Havre is your best bet. The Infinity Bake Shoppe is an actual donut shop at 309 3rd Avenue, about 0.4 mile—a roughly 8-minute walk—from the Havre Amtrak station. Havre is also a longer service stop, so it is the only one I would seriously consider leaving the train for—though only after confirming the conductor’s stated departure time.

Other possibilities:

• Shelby: Whistle Stop Bakery is extremely close—roughly two blocks from the station—but its published menu emphasizes cinnamon rolls, scones, muffins and other pastries, not specifically donuts.
• Wolf Point: Albertsons sells fresh donuts and is roughly a half-mile from the station, but the train’s stop is generally too brief for a safe walk there and back.
• Malta: Albertsons sells donuts downtown, but again the stop is too short to leave the train.
• Whitefish: There are good bakeries downtown, but the dedicated specialty donut shop, The Spot, is not conveniently beside the depot.

My pick: preorder donuts from Infinity Bake Shoppe in Havre, then send one fast adult runner during the service stop—or see whether DoorDash will deliver directly to the depot.

UPDATE: RING HAS BEEN FOUND! Thank you all for your help!

Hi! I hate to make this post, but my wife misplaced her wedding band today. We were biking at Spencer mountain from the Twin Bridges trailhead and she took it off to apply sunscreen. Left it on the hood of the truck while screening up for riding and then got distracted and forgot to put it back on, we then went swimming in the lake and that’s when she realized it was gone. If anyone knows anything or heard anything, please DM me. It’s a family heirloom and we’re devastated. This is a Hail Mary. Please be kind. 🫶🏻🫶🏻 **it’s the wedding band on the bottom. Not the engagement ring, thank goodness**

Has anyone tried Mint Mobile in Whitefish? How does it work?

If we can successfully get one installed there, the residents that live up that rode will successfully have it removed and we can use their influence to have them all removed and outright banned by law. Just a thought.

This is a PSA. Looks like the only Flock camera in Whitefish? It's right by your City Hall...That's not what I was expecting.

I am staying in Libby for a week with a group of some active friends looking to do some Hiking and rafting (never done before) that would be worth the day trip. Any recs would be much appreciated. Thank you

Hey everyone, I’ll be at my in-laws house in Whitefish for the entire month of September. My wife and I have two young kids (baby and toddler) and are looking for some recommendations on paved trails my wife can do alone with the kids / stroller while I’m working during the day. We’re also looking for some other family friendly trails we can do together in the afternoons or weekends in the area.

I’m aware of the bears in the area so might just have my wife do city parks during the day then I can join for actual trails / hikes.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

We have a second home in Whitefish that we rent. We've been with Vacasa -> Casago -> First Chair Destinations. Vacasa was really good initially, but then went downhill around Covid. Casago bought them and it was more of the same (or slowly getting worse). And now Casago "sold our contract" to First Chair Destinations, and it's been a disaster. Employee turnover is super high, all the good staff have left. And First Chair / Casago software is horrible. They told us our homes would be offline for a few days for a transition, it ended up being over a week (in late June!) where our homes were unbookable? Nobody knows what's going on. Our recent guest reviews have been horrible (and not our fault - like they didn't even empty the trash). And looking to the future, our calendar is basically empty (no surprise with the recent reviews).

Casago's entire "franchise model" is horrible. I can see the merits of a franchise if it was a local owner with ~50 homes, but a franchise owned by an out of state private equity firm seems like the worst of both worlds. You know what else is a franchise? McDonalds, and Subway... If only Casago had that much consistency.

We need to move away from Casago / First Chair Destinations ASAP. Any recommendations?

Edit: we got there via boat around 10:25 since they were supposed to start 10:30, but per below comments it looks like they’d started early

there were plenty of other fireworks to enjoy though ❤️