Date Visited: August 25th-31st 2020

Glacier National Park is located along the Canadian border in Northwestern Montana. In recognition that nature and the local wildlife recognize no political boundaries, the park cooperates with it’s Canadian sister park (Waterton National Park) to form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. This ongoing joint effort between the US and our Northern neighbors in Canada began in 1932 and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Through skilled planning from Kristy, we were lucky to snag a campground spot just a few miles from the Glacier West Entrance. This was especially important since the East entrance, and most of the East side of the park were closed due to COVID-19.

After a few months of travel we are beginning to learn more about our personal travel style, and our planning preferences. While digital planning resources are in plentiful supply, we found that we prefer an old fashioned printed map to get our bearings when arriving at a National Park. So our first order of business was a quick pop-in just inside the park boundary to grab a map and a copy of the printed guide to the park.

Glacier is a pretty large park (1,583 Sq Miles), but it turns out there are really only a few roads. Going-to-the-Sun road is the main thoroughfare and one of the highlights of the park.

Going-To-The-Sun Road

Let me start by saying this road is a marvel of historic engineering. Construction on it started in the 1920’s and completed in the 1930’s. After driving on it, it’s hard to imagine the difficulty of building Going-to-the-Sun road with 1920’s technology, and it’s amazing that it is still drivable nearly 100 years later.

The road traverses the park from the West entrance near Apgar Visitor Center to the East Entrance at the Saint Mary Visitor center. However, the road was closed East of Rising Sun due to Covid-19. From West to East it meanders around scenic Lake McDonald, then follows snowmelt fed McDonald creek through the forest, until starting it’s climb up to Logan Pass.

Going-to-the-Sun is considered one of the most scenic, as well as one of the more scary, drives in all of America. It is quite narrow, and cut directly into the side of the steep glacially carved mountains. There are no shoulders on the road, but there are small barriers that separate you from the steep cliffs just a couple feet from where your tires are rolling along. Due to the narrow width, and the presence of low, rocky overhangs, vehicles over 10 feet tall, 8 feet wide, or 21 feet long are not permitted. Our Dodge Ram 2500 truck is 8 feet wide at the mirrors and 20 feet long with the tow hitch ball removed…so I was a little worried.

Well, we survived to write this article! While the drive did require strict concentration and attention, traversing the road in our truck was not a problem. The worst it got was when we decided to fold in the passenger side mirror because we were close to the rock face on one side with oncoming traffic a few inches away on the other. Aside from that, we just took it slow enough to feel comfortable, and it was fine. I’m glad Kristy took a lot of pictures, because my memory of the drive is mainly about the surface of the road and the placement and size of the barriers that separated us from the cliffs.

TIP: Going To The Sun can be scary, especially if you or any of your passengers are generally anxious or nervous people. Make sure your driver is well rested and prepared for the drive. If you have kids, plan some activities to keep them quiet, or practice “quiet time so the driver can focus” ahead of time. If you are feeling pressure from those behind you, pull off at one of the many slow vehicle pull-off’s and let folks pass by. If you have a large vehicle (dually truck, RV, etc), consider renting a smaller one outside the park for the day or taking one of the tours, if they are operating.

Despite the anxiety inducing drive, this trek lived up to the hype. The views along the way, and up top at Logan pass were spectacular. The mountains here are glacier carved Arêtes, which is to say, they are exceptionally steep walled, and in my opinion especially scenic.

When the whole road is open, it can take 2 to 2.5 hours to drive it one way, without stopping. Be sure to check on road status in advance, because the road is prone to closures, and is only open a few months of the year due to huge amounts of snow that fall in the area. If you are at Glacier, I highly recommend this drive, so plan accordingly :)

Logan Pass

At 6,646 feet, Logan Pass is the highest vehicle accessible point in the park. There are spectacular views from the visitor center here, but it’s worth taking some time to do one of the various hikes that kick off from this area. We chose the 2.9 mile out-and-back “Hidden Lake Overlook” trail. This was a bit longer than we usually do with Owen, not to mention it was at elevation which made it more difficult, but it was worth it. The weather in this area can be wildly different than down at Apgar, and it was downright chilly until we got into some direct sunlight. The trail winds up through subalpine meadows, crosses several snowmelt-fed brooks, and offers views of not only the steep mountains, but also wildlife like mountain goats and bighorn sheep. The trail is popular, but since parking at Logan Pass is limited, there is sort of an upper limit on how many people can be in the area at any given time, which keeps the crowds small.

TIP: The parking lot at logan pass fills up EARLY. We arrived at the visitor center at 7:30am the first day and it was already full. On our next attempt, we got there around 6:15am and found a parking space without trouble, but we were far from the first ones there. While this area is slightly more scenic in the morning, it tends to be less busy in the evenings. To avoid the crowds (but risk a dark drive down Going-to-the-Sun road) pack yourself a picnic dinner and enjoy an evening hike.

Lake McDonald

Lake McDonald is set just inside the West Entrance at Apgar Village. This beautiful, glacier fed lake was probably Owen’s favorite spot in the park. The “beach” is composed of multi-colored river rocks. If you enjoy the very serious sport of skipping rocks, as Owen does, you are sure to enjoy this area. The Lake is perpetually cold, but don’t let that stop you from taking a dip or kayaking around it. Within five minutes of arriving at the beach Owen was in up to his knees, and then we saw a brave soul walk out on a dock, strip off his shirt and do a cannonball into the water. Frankly, I think that move was more bold than some of the folks we saw riding bikes up the Going-to-the-Sun road.

While Apgar Village is the easiest access point for Lake McDonald, there are many others. We took some additional time to explore the lakeshore from the Fish Creek campground and picnic area on the west side of the lake where we were rewarded with a totally empty beach, along with a fresh perspective on the mountain peaks.

Glacier’s Glaciers

At this point in its history, Glacier is named more for how it was created, rather than what it is now, or what it will be. There are roughly 25 glaciers of various sizes still active in the park, but the current trend indicates that all of them are receding. It’s possible that there will not be any active glaciers in Glacier National Park within our lifetime. We are glad we were able to experience this park and view some of the remaining glaciers first hand. It’s a good reminder that while geology and climate epochs work on timescales that we have a tough time conceptualizing, neither stands still. It’s important to appreciate our current moment in history, and do what we can to reduce our impact on these ecosystems.