In May of 2025, I accepted a job as a Retail Associate at the Rising Sun Campstore in Glacier National Park. I was hired through Xanterra, a company I knew nothing about, to work not only in a park I had never been to, but at a location I could not find any information about online. I was terrified!
I had been debating for several hours what to have my first, non-introductory post on here should be about when it occurred to me how much I, and many of my friends I met over the summer, had wished I could’ve found a page like this, giving me a rundown of what to expect as a seasonal worker at Rising Sun. You can find an occasional YouTube video where someone drives through the property and maybe leaves a comment about St. Mary Lake but very little that really goes over what it’s like to work and live there for 4 months.
When I originally arrived at Rising sun, I was assigned to live in Xanterra’s off-site housing called “Beargrass”, which is a small village of cabins located about 20 minutes from Rising just outside the park in Babb. Driving from Columbia Falls on orientation day, I remember playing music as loud as I could, windows down, being in complete awe of the crystal blue rivers, picturesque mountains, and my heart pumping in excitement to finally see where I would be living and working. One aspect of living in such a remote area is that there is not much service… especially when you need it most. I could not, for the life of me, find Beargrass (or any sign of it). At this point, I figured I must have misunderstood, so I headed into the park to Rising Sun. I was met with several very confused employees, a very confused location manager, my very confused general and assistant manager, but most importantly, the most beautiful view I’d ever seen in my life. Despite the general overall confusion, I knew I had made the right choice. I was pointed in the right direction for Beargrass (back out of the park!!!) and eventually made my way to “The Big House” which is where I was supposed to live for the entire summer.
The Big House was exactly how it sounds. A big house, with about 9 girls living in it. I only had one other roommate in my actual room, the kitchen was spacious and clean, there was a large wrap-around porch, three bathrooms, and washing and drying in the house. It was probably the best-case scenario for employee housing a person could ask for. The only downside, which ended up being why I moved, is it was Isolated. Beargrass, while only 20 minutes from Rising, was truly in the middle of nowhere. The night security guard (no shade to her- a lovely lady) was very, very good at her job, in the sense that curfew being “10pm” meant curfew WAS 10PM. And if the speed limit is 10, you best not be going 11. Beargrass was great if you were looking for a quieter experience. But that was definitely not my goal.
On June 11th I moved into Upper Dorm #10, one of the three dorm buildings on property at Rising, and this is when I feel the summer truly began. Rising Sun is the smallest property in glacier, with the employee housing being Upper Dorm- a mixed dorm with about 10 rooms, Girls Dorm- an all-female dorm with about 10 rooms, and Colony- an all-boys dorm with 8 beds. Upper dorm was truly nasty- but it was exactly what I was hoping for. Our room was tiny, with 4 beds crammed in, a questionable sink, one shared toilet for the whole floor, and suspicious communal showers. The walls were so thin you could hear old men snoring from three rooms down. There was also no service or wifi in the building, so my friends and I would knock on doors and leave notes when we wanted to hangout, instead of texting or calling each other. I had the absolute time of my life in this dorm, I would wake up 5 minutes before work since I lived directly behind the campstore, roll out of bed, get paid to essentially just talk to my friends, clock out, then either hike or hammock by the lake.
Once it hit around 8 and everyone was off work, if it was a Wednesday night we would all get ready together in the communal bathroom, then pregame going out to Kips in our room. Kips is the one and only bar in the area, being just outside the park in St. Mary, Montana. Kips was the perfect dive bar, with Karaoke every Monday and Wednesday night, the perfect mix of characters from different jobs in the park, $2 beer, and always a good time. My closest friends and I all had Thursdays and Fridays off for the majority of the summer, so Wednesday nights we would go out to Kips, get a little too drunk and sing karaoke, then wake up and hike 10-15 miles hungover in the morning. It was incredible.
My goal on here is to have posts telling stories from each of my Thursday-Friday weekends while living in the park, and also about the different people I encountered. It was almost like everyone was a character in a TV show- many had some sort of gimmick that made them that much more interesting. I think that seasonal work, especially in national parks, tends to attract people with big personalities, which I LOVED so much. I laughed so hard I cried more times than I can count this summer.
As far as my job went, working in retail at Rising was probably the easiest job in the park. It was always fairly slow, people were usually in a good mood, and our actual tasks were repetitive, not difficult. That being said, If I were to return to Glacier next summer, I wouldn’t do retail again as I didn’t find it very rewarding. There were also many shifts where almost no one would come into the store for the whole 8 hours. These were always the longest days. However, I was lucky enough to have an incredible group of coworkers, especially as we all grew closer throughout the summer, time would fly by while at work. I will always be grateful for them!
While Rising Sun may be the smallest location, that does not mean it is lesser! Rising is full of heart, in a great location for accessing some of the most famous hikes in the park (Highline Trail, anything in Many Glacier), exceptionally beautiful, and has great opportunities for seeing wildlife since it’s in a much quieter area than Lake McDonald. I could go on and on about all the little details of my summer, but I will leave it here… if I haven’t made it clear, I love this place and miss it so so much already.
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