Glacier National Park

Hike or Backback to see sights in Glacier NP

Leaving your car for a day hike or extended backpack gives you access to the park's extensive trail system. Trails for all ability levels and time frames exist (see Getting Around section). Investigate the park at a more leisurely place and see its stunning geologic formations, lakes, waterfalls, glaciers, and wildlife for yourself. Sights well worth the effort include:

• Sperry Glacier. Sperry Glacier Overlook can be reached by a steep climb up a trail from the Sperry Chalet (2.5 miles to Comeau Pass). The hike takes you by secluded alpine lakes and boulder-strewn meadows and up a stairway hewn into the rock, from which you emerge at Comeau Pass to be greeted by breathtaking views of the Little Matterhorn, Bearhat Mountain, and Mt. Reynolds. Another mile, marked (sometimes confusingly) by cairns, takes you to the edge of the glacier, where there is now a sign with information about the glacier's history. This trail is also one of the best places in the park to see families of mountain goats up close. The glacier itself is worth seeing, since scientists predict that it have completely disappeared between 2030 and 2050 [7]. The Sperry Chalet is also worth seeing, and has a dining hall where non-guests can purchase a hot lunch from an a la carte menu.
• Lake McDonald and St Mary Lakes. The first and second largest lakes in the park, on the west and east side of the continental divide, respectively. The lakes provide opportunities for various activities like boating (canoe and rowboats may be rented from concessions in Apgar and other locations), swimming, fishing, and some of the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises in the park. Both can be accessed by Going-to-the-Sun Road and each are home to campgrounds and historic lodges.
• Glacier Park Lodge Lobby. Built in 1913 on the eastern edge of the park, the Glacier Park Lodge was one of Great Northern's luxurious hotels that provided an entrypoint from the railroad into the park. The lobby is an impressive display of the park's early aesthetics.
• Iceberg Lake. Iceberg Lake is a beautiful and popular destination that can be reached by a 4.5 mile (7 km) hike out of a trailhead at Swiftcurrent Inn. The Lake is aquamarine with glacial silt, and surrounded by steep, glacier-carved cliff faces. On the hike you will have the opportunity to see the Ptarmigan Falls, the Ptarmigan Wall, many wildflowers, mountain goats, and perhaps even grizzly bears.

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