At the top of Montana -- hard against the
Canadian border -- sits what pioneer conservationist
George Grinnell called "The Crown of the Continent." Two
national parks form this crown, Glacier in Montana and
Waterton Lakes in Alberta, Canada. Together, they form
the Waterton/Glacier Peace Park. Glacier Park itself was
created by an act of Congress in 1910. 4,000 visitors
came to the park in 1911. In recent years, visits have
been at the 2 million mark.
This is a region of such beauty that it is hard to
describe. Superb and magnificent are only two of the
possible adjectives for this corner of the world. There
are high mountains, many active glaciers, clear lakes,
rushing mountain streams, waterfalls and abundant
wildlife.
The Park
Glacier National Park covers more than three million
acres of mountainous country. It has 700 miles of walking
and hiking trails, 11 campgrounds which are used by car
travelers (only one is not suitable for trailers) and six
hotels and lodges within the park. There is also a hotel
at Waterton, on the Canadian side. A long-standing
tradition in Glacier Park is the scenic tour using red
1936 coaches with roll-back tops.
As you might imagine, the landscape of Glacier
National Park has been much affected by the action of
glaciers over several million years. The most spectacular
of the mountain peaks have been exposed by continual
glacial action and erosion. In many places along the
Going to the Sun Road, you can see exposed layers
of sedimentary rock. Volcanic action deposited lava
fields to form a black band atop the limestone layers
which were then covered with thin layers of more
limestone and siltstone. The final adjustment to the
topography came several thousand years ago when huge
slabs of earth moved as much as 30 miles eastward.
Most of the glaciers in the park are shrinking,
causing meltwater to run down the mountain slopes,
depositing silt in the lakes, giving them a blue/green
color. Glacial erratics, the large rocks carried along by
advancing glaciers, have created several hanging valleys
in the park which appear as large terraces in the
mountains, some of them connected by waterfalls. The
Glacier Natural History Association has published a
series of books which not only tell the geological story
of the park but provide detailed field guides to the
interior of the park, the trails and plant life. These
books, along with detailed topographical maps and other
booklets, are available in the main information centers.
Leading through the middle of Glacier National Park,
Going To the Sun Road provides a spectacular route by
which to begin to explore the park. Completed in the
1930s, this road has opened the wilderness to everyone,
at least during summer months, and provides 50 miles of
non-stop spectacle as you cross the park from west to
east, or vice-versa. There are vehicle restrictions on
this road. Vehicles longer than 21 feet or wider than
eight feet -- including mirrors -- are not permitted past
Avalanche Peak (on the west side), and Sun Point (on the
east side).
The park opens its entrance stations at St.
Marys and West Glacier around May 20th with
the Many Glacier Station opening a week later. Here are a
few of the highlights:
Wildlife
Walking through wildflower meadows brings visitors
close to many species of alpine and sub-alpine plants.
The east side of the park has plants which thrive in the
prairie landscape, including geraniums (red and white)
asters, Indian paintbrush and gaillardia. The more
mountainous western side has hardier species such as
heather, gentian, beargrass and glacier lily.
The animals of the park include mountain goats,
bighorn sheep, elk, wolves, whitetail and mule deer and
black bears. There is a bison herd on display in a
paddock in Waterton Lakes National Park. You may
see beaver in Waterton Park and, on the high rocky
slopes, there are marmots and pikas sunning themselves on
warm summer days. The bald eagle lives in both parks,
along with ptarmigan, osprey and the golden eagle.
Park Trails
There are 114 miles of backcountry trails leading
through the park interior. All backcountry hikers must
register with the park information center at St. Mary or
with the park headquarters. There are, however, more than
70 trails suitable for day-hiking and they are located
throughout the more accessible areas of the park,
particularly along the Going To The Sun Road. The St.
Mary Area on the eastern side of the park has a
number of trails which lead along St. Mary Lake, to St.
Mary Falls and Florence Falls and up the mountain on a
trail which leads past Siyeh Pass to Piegan Pass.
Two of these hikes, the Red Eagle Lake Trail
(7.5 mi.) and the Beaver Pond Trail (1.2 mi.), begin at
the 1913 Ranger Station, near the St. Mary entrance
station. The Piegan Pass/Siyeh Pass trailhead is
on the Going to the Sun Road, 15 miles (24 KM) west of
St. Mary. The trailhead is signed and there is a pullout.
The trail passes through three different ecological zones
along sub-alpine meadows with views of several glaciers.
Siyeh Pass has an elevation of 8,240 feet (2,512 meters).
The Many Glacier area in the northeast corner of
Glacier Park has several interesting day-hikes including
the self-guided Swiftcurrent Lake Trail which
leads 2.4 MI (4 KM) from the south end of the Many
Glacier Hotel. The same trailhead also has a lake trail
leading to Grinnell Lake and the Grinnell
Glacier. This trail passes Josephine Lake and then
climbs 200 feet to Feather Plume Falls. The Glacier
Trail also uses the Josephine Lake Trail and then
branches off to the glacier. The hike is 5.4 miles (8.7
KM).
The Lake McDonald area at the western end of
the park features a trail along the northwest side of the
lake, from Lake McDonald Lodge to the Fish Creek
and the North Fork Road. This walk is 6.7 miles (11 KM).
The Trail of the Cedars provides a shorter walk
(.8 mi., 1.3 KM) through a forest with trees more than
500 years old. It is a boardwalk trail which also gives
the option of continuing on another trail to Avalanche
Lake (another 2 miles, 3.3 KM). This trail winds
through Avalanche Gorge and climbs 500 feet (152 meters)
to the lake.
