St. Mary Lake at Glacer National Park. Credit: Wikipedia
Since I had such great feedback on yesterday’s post about Grand Teton National Park, I figured why not add some links for Glacier as well:
- A Slow Hiker’s Guide to Glacier National Park
- North Circle, which Best Hikes calls one of the 10 best in the world.
- National Park Service’s hiking page.
- Glacier Association Bookstore
- Glacier N.P. hiking page.
- Backpacker Magazine’s recommended Glacier National Park hikes.
- EveryTrail destination page
- Highway to the Sun page.
- Blog post: Grizzly encounter at Glacier.
What I’d want to know before going to Glacier:
- Which areas are losing the most ice from global warming?
- What’s the best thing to do if you spot a bear on the trail?
- How much of the park is accessible by season? Is it all inaccessible in winter?
- What’s the best moderate day hike for somebody touring the Northern Rockies?
Please chime in with your Glacier experiences.
Glacier has great through hikes, but it’s under-rated for camping with kids and doing day hikes. You can find some great views and alpine lakes after a relatively quick walk – I’ve done it with a 5 year old hiker and baby in the Kelty on my back.
Glacier is probably #1 on my list of National Parks I want/need to visit. The pictures look stunning. I’ve been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton but somehow feel Glacier would be better. Maybe couple it with a drive up to Banff for a few days.
GNP is definitely one of the best places I’ve ever hiked! July & August are the times to visit it’s short season when the weather is best and wildflowers are in full bloom. I did day hikes for 4 days, and all were fantastic and not too difficult (however there are so many trail at all levels; get a good trail book). I enjoyed Hidden Lake and the Highline Trail from the Logan Pass visitor center; Grinnel Glacier (free ranger-led hike); Avalanche Gorge & Lake (easy, but worthwhile for it’s unusual and *specacular* beauty!). St. Mary & Virginia falls is another easy, but worthwhile hike. For the easier hikes we would do two in a day; one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. For the bear spray, make sure you know which way the wind is blowing before you spray it otherwise it will end up in your eyes ~ OUCH!!!
Glacier is wonderful. We went there 4 years ago for our honeymoon. We camped at Two Medicine campground. We hiked for 11 days. We liked the hiking and the scenery better on the east side of the park. Many glacier area is awesome, with iceberg lake being our favorite. You can’t go wrong anywhere in the park though. Most people that go there stay in their cars, or don’t venture far from the road. So it’s easy to hike and not see many people.
One wild place you will not regret wandering in Tom. It is really something and has hikes that are so memorable…
DSD
I am currently sitting in Glacier Nat’l Park right now! We’re camping in our Casita at Fish Creek Pond on the west side of the park, but spent the first half of our trip at the Many Glacier campground. While there, my dad and I did the Iceberg Lake Trail as well as the Ptarmigan Lake/Tunnel in one day. We are novice bikers but we thoroughly enjoyed both parts of the trail. The climb to Ptarmigan Tunnel was quite strenuous for us amateurs, but definitely well worth it. Iceberg Lake was also beautiful. We even saw a black bear on our way back! It didn’t seem to care as 15 nervous hikers shuffled past and was too busy enjoying dinner in the meadow beside the trail. Glacier is indescribable in it’s beauty. It’s quieter than Yellowstone and Yosemite and is truly magnificent. Put it on the top of your list for places to hike.