Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park is one of our favorites. With over 700 miles of hiking
trails there’s never a lack of new places to go and the sights are absolutely spectacular. Wildlife is abundant as well with bears (grizzly and black), bighorn sheep and mountain goats among the more common sightings. The Going to the Sun Road can get kind of crazy busy, but if you get started on it early in the morning (be sure to get a vehicle reservation at recreation.gov before you go) you can get into the popular stopping points without too much trouble. We’ve particularly enjoyed camping at Two Medicine Lake and Many Glacier campgrounds. Both of them have numerous hiking trails accessible right from the campground.
Overview of Glacier
Referred to as “The Crown of the Continent,” Glacier National Park was created to protect and showcase the mountains and glaciers of northwestern Montana.Originally developed as a tourist destination for the Great Northern Railway the park encompasses 1 million acres along the Continental Divide south of the Canadian border and Canada’s Warterton Lakes
National Park, which along with Glacier forms the world’s first
International Peace Park. Geologic forces have shaped the mountains with glaciers carving valleys and feeding rivers and streams that boast dozens of waterfalls.
There are about 2 dozen named glaciers in the park along with a number of snowfields. The number of glaciers has been falling and all of the glaciers have shrunk as our climate has warmed over the past hundred and fifty years. Most of the glaciers in the park are tucked along the Continental Divide, making them difficult to see without hiking. A few glaciers are visible from the road.
Glacier is a hiker’s park with over 730 miles of trails ranging from short strolls to strenous backpacking expeditions. It also boasts a wide variety of wildlife including grizzly and black bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, beavers, elk, wolverines, pikas and wolves.
Click here to access our Glacier National Park photo gallery.
The Basics
The Going to the Sun Road is the only road that traverses the park from east to west. This historic road crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (6,646 feet) and took over ten years to complete. Dedicated in 1933 it’s an engineering marvel and was the first National Park Service project specifically intended to accommodate the automobile-borne
tourist. The road is extremely busy from mid-June through
mid-September to the point where the Park Service has instituted a ticketed reservation system to manage the number of cars.
There are three main gateway communities near the park, St. Mary and West Glacier at the east and west ends of Going to the Sun Road and East Glacier which is located near the Two Medicine entrance to the park. All have gas stations, restaurants and shopping.
Camping in Glacier
Glacier has a thirteen campgrounds within the park ranging in size from as few as 7 campsites to several with nearly 200 sites. Most have water (sometimes hand-pumped) and at least vault toilets. Many have restrooms with flush toilets, and several have shower facilities. None of the campgrounds has sites with water, electric or sewer hookups. All are run by the National Park Service and reservations when available are at
www.recreation.gov. .
COVID and the weather have caused campground opening and closing dates to fluctuate quite a bit. For the most up-to-date information check the National Park Service web site.
