Events & What’s Happening
A four-day mountain biking festival centered around the Whitefish Trail system, featuring guided rides, clinics for all skill levels, live music, and a vendor expo in downtown Whitefish.
💡Kids' clinics fill up fast — register online in advance, and the beginner trail demos are great for families with young riders.
A scenic running festival through the forests and lakeside trails around Whitefish offering full marathon, half marathon, 10K, and a fun kid's dash, with post-race festivities in downtown Whitefish.
💡Sign the kids up for the Kid's Dash — it's a short, low-key race that gets little ones excited and earns them their own finisher medal.
A regional celebration of the famous Flathead Lake sweet cherries featuring u-pick opportunities, roadside stands, cherry-themed foods, and local vendor markets across the Flathead Valley.
💡Drive the scenic loop around Flathead Lake to hit multiple u-pick stands — kids love picking their own cherries straight from the trees.
An outdoor juried arts festival held in Depot Park featuring over 100 local and regional artists displaying paintings, sculpture, jewelry, photography, and handcrafted goods alongside live music and food vendors.
💡The festival is free to browse and Depot Park has open lawn space where kids can roam while adults explore the artist booths.
The region's largest county fair held in Kalispeth (30 minutes from Whitefish), featuring livestock shows, carnival rides, a professional PRCA rodeo, 4-H exhibits, live entertainment, and classic fair food.
💡Purchase ride wristbands early in the day for the best value, and catch the rodeo in the evening for a true Montana experience.
A festive downtown holiday event featuring horse-drawn carriage rides, visits with Santa, live carolers, shop specials, hot cocoa, and the lighting of the downtown Christmas tree in a picture-perfect mountain town setting.
💡Arrive by 4pm to get in line for Santa and snag a carriage ride before the wait gets long — the whole downtown glows after the tree lighting.
A beloved multi-day winter celebration featuring a torchlight parade down Whitefish Mountain, ski races, live music, a grand parade through downtown, and family-friendly snow activities.
💡The torchlight parade on the mountain is magical after dark — bundle up and arrive early to grab a viewing spot along the base area.
Free weekly story time for young children at the Whitefish Community Library featuring read-alouds, songs, rhymes, and a craft activity led by library staff, designed for toddlers and preschoolers.
💡A perfect low-key morning activity on rainy or cold days — check the library website for any theme weeks or special guest readers.
Community-organized Sunday morning hikes on the Whitefish Trail system, a 55-mile non-motorized trail network surrounding the city with options ranging from easy lakeside loops to moderate forest climbs.
💡The Smith Lake and Lion Mountain loops are family favorites — flat enough for young kids but rewarding with great views and wildlife spotting opportunities.
A lively weekly farmers market in Depot Park featuring local produce, baked goods, Montana-made crafts, artisan vendors, and food trucks with live music in the background.
💡The early evening timing works well for families — grab dinner from the food trucks and let kids play on the park lawn while you shop.
Whitefish Mountain Resort offers structured group ski and snowboard lessons for children on weekends and holidays throughout the winter season, with age-appropriate programs for kids ages 3 and up.
💡Book lessons at least a week ahead during peak holiday weeks — the Ski Cubs program for ages 3–5 is especially popular and fills quickly.
Planning Your Visit
Neighborhoods & Areas
Local Tips for Families
- 💡The SNOW Bus runs free between downtown Whitefish (picking up near the Amtrak depot on Central Avenue) and the Whitefish Mountain Resort base village during ski season — it saves families the stressful drive up Big Mountain Road in icy conditions and eliminates parking fees at the resort.
- 💡Whitefish City Beach fills its small parking lot by 9:30am on summer Saturdays — locals park one block up at Depot Park near the Amtrak station and walk the short flat path to the beach to avoid circling for spots.
- 💡The Whitefish Mountain Resort offers a 'Kids Ski Free' program for children 12 and under when a parent purchases a qualifying lift ticket — confirm the current terms on the resort website before buying tickets, as this program has run for multiple seasons and can save $50-80 per child per day.
- 💡The Tuesday evening Whitefish Farmer's Market runs from 5pm to 7:30pm at Depot Park from late June through September and is one of the best free family activities in town — kids can grab huckleberry lemonade from local vendors while parents browse Montana-made goods without the weekend rush.
- 💡For a dramatically cheaper family breakfast than Central Avenue restaurants, locals head to Buffalo Café on Third Street — it opens at 7am, consistently has shorter waits than downtown spots on weekends, and is famous for its huckleberry pancakes at a fraction of resort-area prices.
- 💡If you're driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park (about 30 miles from Whitefish), the vehicle reservation system typically requires timed-entry permits from late May through mid-September — buy them on recreation.gov weeks in advance, as same-day permits are nearly impossible to get in July and August.
- 💡The Whitefish Trail's Lions Mountain loop trailhead on East Seventh Street has a small free parking pullout and connects to an easy 2-mile forested loop that works well for kids ages 3-7 — it's rarely crowded on weekday mornings and gives families a genuine Montana forest experience without driving to Glacier.
- 💡Huckleberries are a Whitefish-region specialty — pick up fresh or frozen huckleberries and huckleberry jam at Rosauers on US-93 for significantly less than the tourist-priced versions sold in downtown gift shops, and the quality is identical.