Glacier National Park Attractions and Activities

Glacier National Park on the Montana-Canada border is a moveable feast for wilderness lovers; the delightful scenery and abundant wildlife is all the more satisfying because Glacier is a relatively underappreciated (and undervisited) park. Guests won’t find an abundance of glaciers, though. Global warming is quickly shrinking these icy remnants from the last Ice Age.

Don’t let this dissuade you from visiting: Glacier actually got its name because millions of years ago ancient glaciers carved the peaks and valleys of this magnificent landscape, leaving in their wake hanging valleys with ethereal waterfalls; powder-blue lakes cloudy with “glacier flour” (suspended particles deposited by glaciers that give the water a milky quality); and dramatic peaks that are perpetually topped with snow.

Glacier National Park is open year-round, but summer is the only truly accessible season. Facilities and roads are generally open from late May through early September. Plowing the poetically named Going-to-the-Sun Road, the mountain pass that cuts through the heart of the park, begins in April and isn’t done until mid-June.

Despite the harsh, snowy conditions that prevail most of the year, summertime ushers in the most impressive showing of wildflowers in this country; there are more than 1,000 species of flowers in the park. This is also one of the best wildlife-spotting areas: An hour’s hike away from the main roads all but ensures that visitors will encounter wild mountain goats, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and even grizzly bears (close encounters with the latter can be a real danger; look for signs along established trails warning of recent bear activity—and if you come across such a notice, make a U-turn).

From wildflowers to wildlife, here are some must-see Glacier National Park attractions:

 

• Bighorn sheep are a common sight along Going-to-the-Sun Road.

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Going-to-the-Sun Road

A drive along this 50-mile stretch of road—a curvy mountain pass straddling precipitous drops—is the highlight of any visit to the park. Along this roadway, expect to see dozens of waterfalls, impossibly blue lakes, lovely mountaintop meadows and thanks to plentiful rain, nearly ubiquitous rainbows arching up from the valleys far below. White-knuckle drivers will want to check out the Red Bus Tours. Climb aboard one of the restored 1930s fleet of red buses and let someone else deal with the gear jamming. Highlights along the Going-to-the-Sun Road include:

• Bird Woman Falls is a ribbon-like fall that stretches nearly 500 feet and is visible from several miles of the road. The falls are fed by snowfall and can dry up in late summer, but in the heyday of late June and early July the falls tumble down in flowing veils of white froth.

• Garden Wall is a knife-edged slice of cliff that was honed by two glaciers that ground down both sides. The ridge is part of the Continental Divide—a geological division where waters on the west flow into the Pacific Ocean and waters on the east flow to the Atlantic Ocean.

• Jackson Glacier, one of the easiest glaciers to view in the park, is visible from the road about four miles beyond Logan Pass.

 

• Logan Pass provides an expansive view of St. Mary Valley.

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• Logan Pass, the highest point on the road, falls along the Continental Divide. Park here and catch the Highline Trail (a scenic path along the cliffs that overlooks frightening drops) or the easier Hidden Lake Nature Trail, a three-mile roundtrip that begins modestly on a boardwalk and increases in difficulty before it culminates in a stunning view of Hidden Lake. Look for mountain goats traipsing through the wildflowers and patches of snow (often piled up just off the pathway well into July).

• Weeping Wall is a whimsical waterfall that seems to seep out of the pores of a cliff that is only feet from the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Depending on temperatures and snowmelt, the wall alternately sobs gently or wails wildly (folks traveling in convertibles should plan to get wet).
  

Next: Many Glacier Region, St. Mary Valley and Lake McDonald