Immerse yourself in the turquoise glacial water lakes, hike the gorgeous alpine forests, discover seasonal wildflowers and spot the grizzly or black bears in their natural habitat; only at Montana’s Glacier National Park (GNP).
It is open for a short season from July through October (weather dependent). Just like most others, I thought that this national park only belonged to Canada. However, there is a huge part of this national park which belongs to the United States and is accessible from the state of Montana. It does share its beauty with Canada and is known as Watertown National Park.
After visiting New Zealand in the same year as Glacier National Park (GNP), many hikes are very comparable and as beautiful as the ones in southern NZ and offers the visitors a view of a lifetime. Many scientists (src: Apgar Visitor Centre) are predicting that glaciers in this national park will be gone by 2030. What are you waiting for?
This was not quite a planned trip and hence I had to make a few last-minute reservations. I decided to fly into Kalispell Glacier National International Airport which is closest to GNP. I used my Marriott points (25k) for the first night at Springhill Suites Kalispell. Second night was a campsite reservation at St. Marys Campground as shown in the pic above. A friend of mine had recommended spending enough nights on east and west end of the glacier to avoid driving much. Third night was not reserved and I had decided to spot a walk-in campground (Many Glacier Campground) on the east glacier end. If you decide on not staying in cabins/hotels and rather experiencing the national campgrounds and forests, below are the must things to carry:
Bear Spray (Buy from a local store in Kalispell) -MUST
Insect Repellant
Tent/camping gears
Sunscreen/Hat/Sunglasses
All weather jacket/hiking shoes
Enough dry snacks/fruits and water for 3 days (GNP has very minimal grocery and food available in the park)
Download offline maps
In my opinion, even a week is a less to explore these not-so-explored regions of Glacier National Park. We decided to spend 3 days to cover the major regions of the park including the following:
Going-to-the-Sun-Road
Many Glacier
Logan Pass
Spotting Grizzly and Black bears
Going-to-the-Sun-Road
Starting from Kalispell, I entered the west end of the GNP in about 35 minutes. There is a seven day entry pass ($35) which can be avoided if you buy a national park pass ($80 annual). The scenic drive called 'Going to the Sun Road' starts from the Apgar Village junction and runs all the way to the east glacier.
This over 50 mile drive is a beautiful historic scenic drive starting with the largest glacial lake of the park, Lake Mcdonalds. For guided audio tour, you can download the Itunes file from here. There are various glacial gorges and waterfalls alongside the majestic mountains and prairies. The lush green valleys surrounded by majestic mountains sprinkled with glaciers and shining sunlight truly makes one feel like going to the sun as the name suggests.
Lake Mcdonald: This is the largest of the glacially carved lakes in the park, about 10 mile long and 500 feet deep. This is the only lake in the park where one can ride their own kayaks (launch from apgar picnic area). I did spend few hours at the picnic area ashore the lake Mcdonald which is accessible via the Apgar Picnic area.
Mcdonald Gorge: This is a few steps to the viewing area of the beautiful turquoise glacial gorge running through the colorful rocks.
Avalanche Lake: This is a popular glacial water lake, accessible only via a hike (5 miles roundtrip). It starts at the ’Trail of the Cedars’ which is a 0.8 mile roundtrip.
Midway on the trail of the cedars, you will find the trail head of the avalanche lake. It is a moderate hike. You can get lucky to watch perfect reflections of the surrounding waterfalls and mountains during sunrise or sunset. We started around 11 am and reached the lake at 1 pm to see the below sight of the lake. The beauty of the lake is to see many waterfalls running through the prairies and mountains, flowing into the lake.
Haystack falls:
Loop Trail View point: This is a short paved walk (0.1 mile) providing gorgeous views of the surrounding lush green mountains and glaciers. We saw the first sight of the grizzly bears walking on the glacier.
East Side Tunnel: On your way from the west to the east, the east tunnel is an architect marvel and the most challenging construction of its date Below is a picturesque overlook point of the tunnel and the pass.
St Mary Valley: The overlook point is towards the eastern entrance of the glacier park. The moose island in the center and the mountains, prairies and forests converging into the lake offers a spectacular view. How did the moose island survive the glacial erosion and still holds a strong hold amidst the waters is a marvel till today!
Along the drive, we rested at Lake Mcdonalds lodge (Jammer Joes) for late lunch/early dinner post the avalanche lake hike. They offered a variety of Pizzas and sandwiches (vegetable eggplant parmesan sandwich is recommended) We reached the St Mary’s campground at 7 pm. This campground offers free warm water bathrooms and scenic campsites for sunsets.
Many Glacier
Although this region of the GNP doesn’t fall on the scenic driveway, it is a must visit on a trip to GNP. From the St. Mary’s campground, this was a 30 min drive to the Many Glacier Hotel. This Swiss hotel surrounded by the many glaciers and bordering the swift current lake is a sight you would have never dreamt of! It is known as the Switzerland of North America. The reflection of the surrounding in the lake was magical. This postcard picture (often seen at all souvenir shop) can be photographed from the entry road that leads to the Many Glacier Hotel.
Post a good coffee from the many glacier hotel, we decided to trek the Grinnell Glacier Hike. We were contemplating between the Cracker Lake and Grinner Glacier Hike. We asked a few locals (our campground host Rich recommended his favorite - Grinnell Glacier Hike as it had sweeping views throughout the path compared to Cracker lake, which had views only at the very end).
Grinnell Lake is 1.8 miles from the trail-head which further leads to Grinnell Glacier route which is 3.8 miles one way (total 9.7 miles round trip) considered as one of the challenging and strenuous hikes in GNP. It gains an elevation of nearly 2000ft. The first mile of the trail is walking through beautiful alpine forests, although very different from the avalanche lake trail as seen in the photo below.
In just about no time, one will witness the first lake on the trail - Lake Swiftcurrent. The elevation gain begins beyond this point. Next on the trail are sweeping views of the Lake Josephine. We did see many hikers joining directly from Lake Josephine, as there were boat services from Many Glacier Hotel that would cut down the hike by few miles.
Beyond Lake Josephine, the trail got much steeper with maximum two people walking next to each other. But the views got better as we climbed higher and higher. The season of wildflowers on the mountains made a perfect backdrop for Insta pictures. After roughly 3 miles, we first spotted a glance of Lake Grinnell. Pristine, turquoise glacial water lake was situated as a jewel in the paradise.
We skipped the last 0.5 miles of the hike (due to extreme steepness and expected similar views) and rather headed back to the trail head. The return hike was much easier as it was downward hill. We walked around a mile extra to return to St Mary campground where we were camping for that night. Due to no parking availability, we had parked the car in the campground itself and decided to walk to the trailhead. That night, we explored the swiss Many Glacier Hotel for dinner which had good vegetarian options. Due to extreme bear activity in the vicinity, the Many Glacier campground had strict 'no tent’ restriction, which turned into a fun car camping experience.
Logan Pass:
The highest point while heading to the sun road is the Logan Pass point at 6,000 ft. There are many historic trail heads at this junction, famous ones being high line day hike loop and hidden lake trail. We decided to walk the easy hidden lake trail of 3.6 miles round trip. The walk starts right next to the information center and is a must walk when visiting GNP as it offers stunning views of the park throughout the walk. It is an easy walk,a good mix of well paved trails and staircases. The lookout is quite noticeable and highly crowded with visitors. Parking at the Logan pass information center might be a challenge but if you wait around for 10 mins or so, you should be able to find a spot.
Spotting grizzly and Black Bears: Montana is home to the grizzly bears. The bears are in their natural habitat and we are considered guests in their homeland. Over the span of three days, we got lucky to spot grizzly, black and brown bears everyday. While it is entertaining to watch them play, walk, sit, lounge in the mountains, it is extremely dangerous to get closer to capture photos. Everyone is mandated to follow the bear rules and regulations while in the park. Following are few glimpses of the bear spotting in GNP.
State of Montana is beautiful, holding the crown of the continent. It just didn’t let me experience the beauty in the purest form but forced to disconnect from the world while grasping everything nature had to offer and surviving with the minimal utilities available at hand. This was a nomadic experience, never had before!
~Nomadic Traveler~
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