Whitefish Bike Retreat — Hotel in Whitefish

I brought my family to the WBR while in town for a wedding. We stayed for four nights in a camping spot, but other family members stayed a night in the lodge. After seeing firsthand the amenities that they received, I was almost disappointed that I didn't spend the extra cash to stay there instead. But, $40 for a camping spot with clean facilities and showers can't be beat, especially given the proximity to trails.

Contrary to what others have said in reviews, I found the trails to be quite beginner friendly. The trail ratings being relative to other area trails, I would say the double black diamonds were intermediate trails. I didn't find a single expert-only trail on or off the grounds. But, that was perfectly fine with me, as I had two daughters in tow; 8 and 10 years of age. They were both able to handle every trail on the WBR grounds, including the double black diamond (with a bit of hesitation).

Also contrary to what others have said, we had a negative experience with neighboring campers who were loud and obnoxious well past the posted quiet hours. This does not reflect negatively on WBR, though, and is something that can be found in any close quartered camping site.

Speaking of close quarters, don't expect much privacy from the camping spots, especially if you plan on tent camping. Your neighbors are mere feet away, with little to no tree cover.

Another negative in my mind was the extremely loose regulations on dogs. Several dogs roam the grounds unleashed. I have nothing against dogs as long as they're well behaved (although my cousin who stayed in the lodge is highly allergic), but there was one dog in particular that was constantly stealing our food. He even nipped at the hand of my young niece as she held a hot dog. This is probably a regular occurrence, since the dog belonged to someone who worked at or owns the retreat.

But, besides the privacy concerns and the troublesome dogs, I have no other complaints. We had a blast while staying here, and the price will bring us back again if we're ever in the area. The goods definitely outweigh the bads. Oh, and the folf course was a...

If you are heading to the Flathead National Forest or Glacier National Park for some biking or bike-packing adventures, make Whitefish Bike Retreat your basecamp! The Dean family and staff will provide a first-class destination for your biking needs. We spent nine days bike-packing at Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park. While there, we used the bike retreat's shuttle service and bike lodge as base camp. The lodge accommodation includes a fully equipped kitchen that you can use to whip up some local Montana cuisine, a bike shop with tools and stands for assembling/disassembling your bike for shipping (we also stored our boxes and other bike-packing gear that we didn't need during our biking in the shop), a bike wash station cleaning up the bike before packing it up for shipping, clothes washer/dryer for your clothes cleaning needs, grill and fire pit on the back deck, and last but not least outdoor firewood fueled sauna for easing those sore muscles after a long day of biking. Is all of this included in the nightly lodging rate? Absolutely! Just down the hill from the lodge, the office sells basic camping needs (freeze-dried meals, camp stove fuel, locally brewed beers, etc.) The retreat also offers some challenging mountain bike single-track trails on the property and camp sites you can use if you like roughing it (although I highly recommend you spend one night at the lodge) Thanks to the Dean family, Nicole, Lucy, Phil, and Lynn, for taking care of us and providing us with the latest local knowledge on the bike packing trails we were taking on. If we are ever back in the area, we will definitely be staying...

Stayed at the Retreat for the first time with my wife and three boys (6,4, and 1). We had a blast. Family friendly. Dog friendly! It is a small campground that was quiet (no generators or loud partying at night). The sites are nicely spaced apart and have sufficient room to use a camper/rv. We have a pop up tent trailer that is about 20' long when opened and fit just fine. I had a lot of fun playing on the trails and for my wife and oldest son they it was a great learning experience (which they very much enjoyed). My son headed off to ride the loops on the close in trails and skills area time and time again. The cost isn't bad ($40) when considering that use of the trails is $10/day/person - basically we paid to use the trails and stayed for free (or vice versa)! Very nice bath house - great to be able to take a hot shower after a day of riding. The only drawbacks were; no cooking grates on the firepits, if we were using a tent our site would have been very uncomfortable (not level and rocky), and no hot tea/coffee options at the office (although this would really be quite a luxury). We will be back again! Thanks Whitefish...