Izaak Walton Inn

The Izaak Walton Inn stands at 290 Izaak Walton Inn Road in Essex, Montana, a tiny community on the southern border of Glacier National Park. Built in 1939 to house Great Northern Railway workers maintaining the demanding Marias Pass line — the lowest rail crossing through the northern Rocky Mountains — the inn has evolved into one of Montana's most distinctive lodging experiences. The Amtrak Empire Builder stops at Essex station directly adjacent to the property, making the Izaak Walton one of the only inns in the United States where guests can step off a long-distance train and walk to their room through the snow. The inn's main building retains its 1939 character: low-ceilinged corridors, railroad memorabilia lining the walls, a dining room with original woodwork, and a saloon-style bar where Amtrak crews have gathered for decades. A separate category of accommodation — lovingly restored caboose and locomotive cabins parked on a private siding adjacent to the active main line — represents the inn's most iconic offering. Each converted rail car is furnished with period-appropriate fixtures, a kitchenette, and a private bathroom. Historic inn rooms in the main building offer a more conventional hotel experience at lower price points. Thirty-five kilometres of groomed cross-country ski trails winding through old-growth forest and along glacier-fed streams are the primary winter draw. Summer activities include guided hiking into Glacier's southern backcountry and wildlife observation on the Marias Pass corridor, where grizzly bears and moose are regularly sighted near the tracks.