Glacier Natl Park

[Crocodile Ryan]

Well, Im planning my trip to Montana for this summer and it looks like there is some room for extra people to tag along

The trip will be from 8/10-8/16, in Glacier Natl Park

Day 1
Cobalt Lake Trail to Upper Park Creek Campground - 12.7m

Day 2
Upper Park Creek Campground to Lower Park Creek - 7.4m

Day 3
Fielding-Coal Creek Trail to Coal Creek Campground - 8.8m

Day 4
Coal Creek Campground to Beaver Woman Lake - 11m

Day 5
Medicine Woman to Undesignated Campsite near Cut Bank Pass trail - 6.8m

Day 6
Cut Bank Pass to No Name Lake Campground - 10.9m

Day 7
No Name Lake Out ~5m

Its a long trip ~ 60miles, and you cross the continental divide twice, but if Im gonna drive pretty much all the way to canada Im gonna make the most of it

Not expecting much interest, but hey I thought Id ask before I submit the application

If your interested I can send you more info on trail specifics

[Grasshopper]

Crocodile,

Just the guy I have been looking for!?... Are you one of our resident experts on "day hiking" in Glacier NP?

Three of us never having been to Glacier before, but always wanting to go, have rented a house outside of East Glacier Park, MT from 6/28 to 7/7 (9nts/10days). All we want to do, every day we are there are "day hike" the very best trails! Can/will you offer us some suggestions on "must do" day hike options for this time period? We have all purchased the Natl. Geographic- Glacier/Waterton Lakes Map, but as of now we are totally unfamiliar with it for selecting day hike options. Any and all suggestions and additional reference info would be much appreciated! Also, feel free to PM me if you prefer.

T-hank-S

[Crocodile Ryan]

Well I know a few trails for day hikes, mostly I go for extended backcountry trips up there though

If your on the east side, staying on the blackfoot reservation?, you cant go wrong with trails from two medicine, absolutely amazing, but then again to me, the whole park is

if possible (quite a bit longer), beaver woman lake is a must see, beautiful, and from talking with the rangers the nyack trail burned, and has opened up sweeping views of Mt Stimson and Pinchot to name a few

cobalt lake is a great hike, gets pretty steep towards the lake though, as your climbing to two medicine pass

You might check out the polebridge area, i hear its really amazing, and far fewer crowds, might be a bit too far from east glacier though

St Marys Lake is a really nice area to explore

Pitamakan Pass trail is amazing, and its very near to where you are staying, and if you split off where cut bank pass trail comes in and hike it for awhile theres some vertigo inducing sections :GB:

[erussell]

Went to Glacier 2 summers ago...it is absolutely phenomenal! Didn't get to backpack...it was more of a family vacation. Took a few day hikes though. Avalanche Creek trail to Avalanche Lake is very nice. Hidden Lake is gorgeous though there will be quite a few folks up there and....mountain goats. Anything around St Mary Lake is awesome. Personally, if your anywhere in this park, you can't go wrong.

Crocodile,

Just the guy I have been looking for!?... Are you one of our resident experts on "day hiking" in Glacier NP?

Three of us never having been to Glacier before, but always wanting to go, have rented a house outside of East Glacier Park, MT from 6/28 to 7/7 (9nts/10days). All we want to do, every day we are there are "day hike" the very best trails! Can/will you offer us some suggestions on "must do" day hike options for this time period? We have all purchased the Natl. Geographic- Glacier/Waterton Lakes Map, but as of now we are totally unfamiliar with it for selecting day hike options. Any and all suggestions and additional reference info would be much appreciated! Also, feel free to PM me if you prefer.

T-hank-S

[tibber]

I am also going up to Glacier Park for a couple days in mid-July. I go every 2 or 3 years. I was raised in eastern MT but we just didn't do hiking back then. Now that I'm in AZ, I love this hiking thing. We'll be staying on the east side as well.

Anyway, a great day trip is to take the St Mary's Lake 10 AM boat ride and go with the naturalist to St Mary Falls (it is small, but wide and thunderous with beautiful turquoise water). But instead of going back with the naturalist, hike on further back to Virginia Falls (don't be fooled by the smaller water falls and keep going) to the 100ft Virginia Falls. Once at Virginia Falls there are a couple more trails that spring off of that as well. St. Mary Falls Trailhead.Just west of Sunrift Gorge. St. Mary Falls and Virginia Falls are two of the premiere attractions in the St. Mary area. It is 0.8 mile (one way) to St. Mary Falls with a 260 foot elevation drop. It is an additional 0.7 miles to Virginia Falls with a 285 foot elevation gain.

And then there is the marvelous Grinell Glacier hike. I did it with a naturalist (Ranger Rick's specialty was geology). You take out of Many Glacier Lodge about 8AM with a boat ride across Swiftcurrent Lake to Josephine Lake. You get out and do a quick walk to the other boat at Josephine Lake that takes you to the closer trailhead. You then hike up to Grinell Glacier where the ranger takes you out on the Glacier (there was a tricky creek to cross getting to the glacier but you used stepping stones large and small (although I'm sure that changes depending on the snow melt). Before arriving at the Overlook, you have lunch in a nicely shaded area and there is actually an outhouse there. You hike down on your own around 12:30-1:00.
One of the most scenic and popular park attractions is the Grinnell Glacier and (lower) Grinnell Lake below the glacier. The beautiful lake has a turquoise color resulting from the glacier's meltwater. You can hike to Grninnell Lake from the trailhead near Many Glacier Hotel in 3.4 miles (one way) with a 60' elevation gain. It takes 5.5 miles and a 1,600' gain to reach the Grinnell Glacier Overlook. You can combine the hikes with a scenic boat tour which reduces the hiking distance substantially (lake hike becomes 0.9 mile one way, glacier hike, 3.4 miles one way). The tour includes a cruise across Swiftcurrent Lake, a 400 yard walk to Josephine Lake, and a cruise across that lake to the point where you pick up the trails.

Please remember to take plenty of water and know that the sun can get hot. I ran out of water and got sun burned pretty good. Also, don't forget it is grizzly country, we saw a mama and her two cubs at quite a distance, so when you're hiking back, do make a little noise as there have been incidents on that trail. Be sure to reward yourself with a huckleberry yogurt at the store on the lower level of the Many Glacier Lodge. Also, if you're going to do a 2 hr horseback ride out of Many Glacier, the Josephine Lake one is not at good as the Cracker Flats.

Also on the east side, the Iceberg Lake hike is quite beautiful with a great reward that befits its name; though I've not done this hike. Another popular attraction is the hike to Iceberg Lake. The beautiful lake sits in a basin (Iceberg Cirque) with a sheer 3,000 foot wall as a backdrop! Its glacier has long since melted but the lake holds a flotilla of icebergs well into the summer. The trail starts near the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, and is 4.8 miles one way, with a 1,000 foot elevation gain. Along the way you will pass beautiful Ptarmigan Falls. Ranger-led hikes to Iceberg Lake are available.


Another hike would be on the west side. You could combine it before or after a horseback ride out of the McDonald Lake corrals for a couple hours and then do the Avalanche Lake hike; it is truly incredible. When you get to the lake, you are on the opposite side of Reynolds Mtn (didn't know that til reading something this year) which is on the south side of the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Anyway, it is a pretty quick hike. The Avalanche Creek Trail reaches Avalanche Lake in two miles with a 500 foot elevation gain. The lake has a spectacular mountain backdrop. A ranger-led hike to Avalanche Lake is available in season. The trailhead parking lot has very few spaces. It is recommended that you take the free park shuttle bus from Lake Mcdonald Lodge or Apgar Village where there is more parking available.

There are a couple different hikes you could do at Logan Pass including Hidden Lake and you can do a partial hike along the Highline Trail and come back. Starting in 2007, the park service is offering a free shuttle bus service along the entire length of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, from Apgar Village to St. Mary. The buses will run frequently from early in the morning until late evening and stop at all important destinations. The shuttle system should tremendously improve visitors' experience by reducing mid-summer traffic and congestion. The Logan Pass Visitor Center's parking lot is often jammed full during mid-summer. Also, many of the roads best scenic pulloffs west of the Divide have room for only a few cars causing major disappointment to those who can't stop at the best places. We strongly urge park visitors to use the shuttle bus system!


You can find all sorts of information about Glacier National Park hikes online. Also, when you enter the Park and pay your fee, they give you a newspaper-like item that lists all of the various hikes with the amount of miles and degree of difficulty. The west side is more of the forested side so it gets a lot more rain and can be more rainy than the east side. However, you can always go to the east side if it's rainy on the west side as many times, it rains on the west side, not the east side.

You may want to do some additional reading about the area before you go as it makes your hikes that much more enjoyable. I actually did a google earth of Virginia Falls and St Mary Falls to see where I was. You can probably do that with any of these hikes. It would be great if they had a hikeglacierpark site but I can't find one.

I hope this helps and enjoy.

[tibber]

Google "philarmitage glacier_hikes" for day hikes.

Oh and Waterton has a couple good day and/or low distance hikes including around Cameron Lake and there is also a hike not too far from the Prince of Wales hotel. I think it was the Lower Bertha Falls. On this trail I ran into sheep and there was a major bear alert. On the Cameron Lake Trail we ran into a 5 point (I think as it was in 2001 so I can't remember -- maybe it was 3 points) stag deer who was actually more frightened of my dad and went into the water to get around him. I found that very amusing. Google "watertonpark hiking_trail"

Oh, remember, you will be at a higher elevation so you won't be getting as much oxygen as we do here in the desert.

If you want any other opinions or have questions, I will be happy to assist. I LOVE Glacier Park.

[Grasshopper]

T-hank-S for ALL the great advise from your postings and PMs! I really do appreciate it!

[cerebellum]

Crocodile,

Just the guy I have been looking for!?... Are you one of our resident experts on "day hiking" in Glacier NP?

Three of us never having been to Glacier before, but always wanting to go, have rented a house outside of East Glacier Park, MT from 6/28 to 7/7 (9nts/10days). All we want to do, every day we are there are "day hike" the very best trails! Can/will you offer us some suggestions on "must do" day hike options for this time period? We have all purchased the Natl. Geographic- Glacier/Waterton Lakes Map, but as of now we are totally unfamiliar with it for selecting day hike options. Any and all suggestions and additional reference info would be much appreciated! Also, feel free to PM me if you prefer.

T-hank-S

We camped at Red Eagle Campground (close to East Glacier Park), next to Two Medicine Lake and we did couple of day hikes in the area.
Look at:
Autumn Creek Trail - The total one way trip is about 12 miles but you can go out and back, set up a shuttle or even take a feeder trail in or out from Marias Pass.
Pitamakan Pass to Dawson Pass - 17-mile loop that visits sparkling lakes and makes a timberline traverse of the Continental Divide. Begin at the Two Medicine Campground trailhead
Dry Fork Trail - 7 miles - begins near the end of East Boulder Road 205 and parallels the Dry Fork to Dry Fork Pass. The first 4 miles of the trail follow a dirt road and traverse some private land. Nice view from the Pass
Medicine Grizzly Lake Trail - climbs along the North Fork of Cutbank Creek.
Cut Bank Pass Trail - 6 miles - ascends, following the North Fork of Cut Bank Creek
Mount Henry Trail - 10 miles begins at Two Medicine Road and ends: Midvale Creek Road
...