Glacier National Park

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Quiz: How many glaciers are there in Glacier National Park?

Answer: About 24, down from somewhere around 80 during the Little Ice Age a few hundred years ago. And those that remain will likely be gone by the end of this century, leaving us with Used to Have Glaciers National Park.


During our travels, this park is probably the most asked about. "Have you been to Glacier yet?" We didn't know why, but we knew it would be special just due to the sheer amount of chatter.

We were fortunate to visit during a time of low smoke. That's becoming increasingly hard to do if you visit in the fall, which is wildfire season. Glacier picks up smoke from fires in Oregon and Washington. We had talked to numerous people over the past year that were smoked out. It was hazy on our first day in Montana, but the smoke had largely cleared by the day we visited the park.

Other than hiking (which is phenomenal here), the main attraction is the road through the park: The Going-to-the-Sun Road. And yes, the hyphens are part of the name. The road is named after the Going-to-the-Sun Mountain in the park.

The road was designed as a tourist road from day 1, and it was designed to fit into the landscape. That means there were no large vehicles (some parks have commercial traffic through them), and it means that the road took a meandering route where it could have been more direct had the goal simply been to get from point A to point B.

The kids loved playing at Red Rock Point; notice Jordan's attire compared to Julie's

We entered at the eastern (St. Mary) end of the park. We stopped at the requisite tourist stops along the road. We spotted a few bears, or more accurately, we spotted groups of people that had already spotted a few bears, and we joined them.

This is what happens when someone spots a bear

Upon reaching the western terminus (West Glacier), we grabbed some ice cream and turned around.


We stopped at Logan Pass (the highest point on the road) on the way back to do a hike. It wasn't terribly long (3 miles roundtrip), but it was cold at the altitude, so it felt long.

Naturally, the kids wore shorts

After braving the cold, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Hidden Lake at the end. We also got to see multiple mountain goats, which are now my favorite non-canine animals.


There is a lesser traveled section of the park that we visited on a separate day. Upon the recommendation of my brother-in-law, we did a hike to Ptarmigan Tunnel. This was a beautiful hike, and it was just the right level of difficulty for the family.

If you look closely, you can make out the switchbacks up to the tunnel on the far side of the lake

See that little spot of snow closest to me? See the trail on the right side that is definitely not by the snow? Jordan made a point to get from the latter to the former so she could play for 10 minutes.

Ptarmigan Tunnel


The rumors were true: Glacier is truly a spectacular park. It's a great balance of hiking coupled with magnificent views from the road for those that aren't willing (or able) to do a hike. For hikers, it would be easy to spend weeks (maybe months) hiking here and not cover the same ground twice. For non-hikers, the views from the road are amazing. You can't go wrong either way.
Location: Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

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