Glacer National Park 101

Courtesy Montana Office of Tourism

Glacier's lakes and ponds

Compared to most areas in the North American West, Glacier has lots of water. There are 131 named lakes in the Park, approximately 200 lakes are over five acres. Lake McDonald is the largest (10 miles long) and deepest (464 feet) body of water in the park. Glacier's water can be considered the headwaters of the entire continent. From Triple Divide Peak, a droplet can theoretically split 3 ways and eventually make it to the Pacific, Atlantic and Hudson Bay watersheds.

A sacred place for Blackfeet Indian vision quests, Montana’s Glacier National Park can be painted in colors: green Lake MacDonald, red brick wall bordering the Going-to-the-Sun Road that bisects the park, the startling blue Birdwoman Falls plunging into the green hanging valley below, the white-capped peaks with names like Heavy Runner, Siyeh, Gunsight, and Triple Divide.

The 1,600-square mile park―dubbed by explorer George Bird Grinnell as “The Crown of the Continent” ―can also be painted by numbers. Formed more than 1.5 million years ago by an inland sea, a mountain-building event, and glaciers, Glacier National Park features 185 named mountains, 762 lakes, 25 glaciers, 68 species of mammals―including black bears and grizzly bears―277 species of birds, and 700 miles of hiking trails.

The park's history. The Glacier story is also a human story. Blackfeet, Salish, and Kootenai travelled through the area―Blackfeet and Kootenai have creation stories set here. In 1910, President Taft established the area as a national park and in the next decade, construction workers hauled in logs to build Swiss-style lodges chalets for the Great Northern Railway. American, Swedish, Austrian construction workers and “powder monkeys” as well as Russian stonemasons toiled for eleven years to complete the 48-mile Going-to-the-Sun Road in 1932. Countless visitors have arrived by stagecoach, train, wagon, bus, and finally automobile, to see the lodges, lakes, wildlife, and the grandeur of the mountains the Blackfeet called the “Backbone of the World.”

While much has changed since the first visitors came to Glacier, it is possible to relive some of Glacier’s early history. You can take a horseback ride like an early visitor. Miles of hiking trails follow routes first used by trappers in the early 1800's. Several hotels and chalets, built by the Great Northern Railway in the early 1900's, house summer guests to the park.

Getting there. Glacier lies north-central Montana. Nearest airports are at Kalispell, 25 miles west of park headquarters in West Glacier, and in Great Falls, 150 southeast of the East Glacier. Amtrak serves both East and West Glacier.

When to go. Glacier is mostly a summer park: summer highs run in the 70s. Autumns are beautiful, although park facilities begin shutting down by October. Winters are intense, with 4-feet snowfalls and temperatures in the 10s and 20s.

Visitor centers. Rangers are on hand with information, plus there are bookstores, maps, and nature programs at these visitor centers: on the west side near Lake McDonald (Apgar Visitor Center), midway on Going-to-the-Sun Road (Logan Pass Visitor Center), and on the east side off U.S. 89 (Saint Mary Visitor Center).

For more information. Contact the Glacier National Park Service: (406) 888-7800 or nps.gov/glac. Park entry is $10 per vehicle, good for seven days. The Logan Pass section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road generally opens in late May or early June.

Glacier 101

The park's history, getting there, and when to go

Glacier's lakes and ponds