Glacier: the Crown of the Continent, before its glaciers disappear

Glacier is in the far north of Montana, against the Canadian border. It’s a high-mountain park: U-shaped valleys, saw-toothed ridges, more than 700 lakes and meadows full of flowers in July. A road crosses it from one side to the other, and it’s one of the most beautiful in America.

History and origins

The name doesn’t come from today’s glaciers, which are fairly small, but from yesterday’s: enormous tongues of ice sculpted these valleys over millennia. Around 1850 the park had about 80 glaciers. About 25 remain, and they are shrinking year by year.

These mountains are the territory of the Blackfeet, to the east, and of the Salish and Kootenai, to the west. The park was created in 1910. In 1932 it was twinned with its Canadian neighbour, Waterton, to form the first “international peace park”.

What to do there

• The Going-to-the-Sun Road: 80 km cut into the cliff, from one lake to another, over Logan Pass. It was completed in 1932. Allow two hours without stops, and you’ll make plenty.
• Logan Pass: the highest point on the road, at 2,026 metres, on the Continental Divide. You almost always see mountain goats there. It’s the start of the Hidden Lake trail.
• Lake McDonald: the largest in the park, at the west entrance, with its pebbles of every colour beneath transparent water.
• Avalanche Lake: a forest walk to a lake at the foot of cliffs with several waterfalls tumbling down them.
• Many Glacier: a valley of its own, on the east side, which many consider the heart of the park. It’s the starting point for the finest hikes, including Grinnell Glacier.
• The Highline Trail: a balcony trail that starts at Logan Pass and follows the ridge for kilometres.
• The red buses: restored open-top coaches from the 1930s, which tour the road with a driver-guide.

Stories and good to know

• At Triple Divide Peak, a drop of water can end up in the Pacific, the Atlantic or Hudson Bay.
• The Logan Pass road is so hard to clear of snow that the machines work on it for two months, under drifts 20 metres deep. It only opens fully in late June or July.
• The Blackfeet call these mountains “the backbone of the world”.

Practical information for your road trip

• Pass: with the surcharge for non-residents, the America the Beautiful pass pays for itself with this park alone. Everything is explained in our guide to the national parks pass.
• Getting there: the west entrance is 45 minutes from Kalispell airport. The Amtrak train linking Chicago and Seattle stops at both entrances to the park. Yellowstone is about 6 hrs’ drive away.
• Large vehicles: vehicles more than 6.40 m long or 2.40 m wide are banned on the upper part of the road.
• Where to stay: in the park’s old lodges, to be booked a year ahead, or in West Glacier, Whitefish and St. Mary.
• Combine it with: Yellowstone and Grand Teton, for a grand tour of the Rockies.