Glacier National Park: Going-to-the-Sun Road, Many Glacier and Waterton

Arrive in Whitefish

Glacier Park International Airport (FCA) to Whitefish

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Whitefish
• Environ 30 min de route

Soir

In the evening your guide briefs the group on the week ahead: what the Going-to-the-Sun Road is like, why tomorrow starts early, how to carry bear spray, and what you need for the day in Canada. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner in town.

Compris

• Pick-up at Glacier Park International Airport (FCA)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner in Whitefish

The Going-to-the-Sun Road to Logan Pass

Whitefish to West Glacier, along Lake McDonald and up the Going-to-the-Sun Road to Logan Pass, then back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Whitefish
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

We leave Whitefish at about 6:15 am, because the car park at Logan Pass fills early on summer mornings and the light on the Garden Wall is best before mid-morning. The Going-to-the-Sun Road, finished in 1932, runs about 80 km across the park. Today we take its western half: the length of Lake McDonald, along McDonald Creek, then the climb cut into the cliffs past the Loop and the Weeping Wall to the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, 2,026 m. Large coaches cannot drive this stretch; our van is sized for the road's limits. From the visitor centre a boardwalk and trail climb through alpine meadows to the Hidden Lake Overlook, where mountain goats and bighorn sheep often graze beside the path.

Après-midi

On the way down we stop at the Bird Woman Falls viewpoint and walk the boardwalk Trail of the Cedars at Avalanche Creek, then sit down to lunch by Lake McDonald.

Soir

We are back in Whitefish in the late afternoon, and the evening is free.

Compris

• The Going-to-the-Sun Road from West Glacier to Logan Pass, at the pass by about 8:15 am
• The Hidden Lake Overlook trail from Logan Pass
• The Weeping Wall and the Bird Woman Falls viewpoint
• Trail of the Cedars at Avalanche Creek
• Sit-down lunch by Lake McDonald

Lake McDonald and the Middle Fork

Whitefish to Apgar and Lake McDonald Lodge, then West Glacier and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, then back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Whitefish
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

From Lake McDonald Lodge we take an hour-long cruise on the lake, with the peaks of the Continental Divide at its head, then sit down to lunch in West Glacier. In the afternoon a local rafting outfitter takes us down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, which forms the park's southern boundary. Choose the scenic float, a gentle few hours on clear green water watching for ospreys and bald eagles, or the whitewater stretch through John Stevens Canyon, with Class II and III rapids. Splash gear and the river guides are included.

Soir

We are back in Whitefish by late afternoon, and the evening and dinner are yours.

Compris

• The shore at Apgar on Lake McDonald
• One-hour cruise on Lake McDonald from Lake McDonald Lodge
• Sit-down lunch in West Glacier
• Half-day raft trip on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River with a local outfitter, scenic float or whitewater

Over Marias Pass to Two Medicine and Many Glacier

Whitefish along the Middle Fork to Marias Pass and East Glacier Park, then Two Medicine and north along the mountain front to Many Glacier

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Many Glacier
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

We pack up after breakfast and leave Whitefish at about 8 am on US Highway 2, which follows the Middle Fork along the park's southern edge to Marias Pass, 1,589 m on the Continental Divide, where the Great Northern Railway crossed the mountains in the early 1890s. Beyond the pass the peaks drop away to the plains of the Blackfeet Reservation.

Après-midi

In East Glacier Park we walk into the lobby of Glacier Park Lodge, built by the railway in 1913 around huge Douglas fir columns, and sit down to lunch in the village. After lunch we turn up the valley to Two Medicine Lake, a quieter corner of the park, with a short walk to Running Eagle Falls on the way. Then it is north along the edge of the mountains to Many Glacier, where we stay two nights, arriving in the late afternoon. At about four hours this is one of the longer days on the road, but it crosses the Divide without driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road twice, and four stops break it up.

Soir

Dinner is included tonight.

Compris

• US Highway 2 along the Middle Fork to Marias Pass on the Continental Divide
• The lobby of Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier Park
• Sit-down lunch in East Glacier Park
• Running Eagle Falls and Two Medicine Lake
• Dinner in Many Glacier

A full day in Many Glacier

Many Glacier: Swiftcurrent Lake, Lake Josephine and Grinnell Lake

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Many Glacier
• En bateau

Soir

Many Glacier is the valley most visitors see for a few hours on a day trip; we have it from dawn to dusk. If you want it, your guide walks down to Swiftcurrent Lake for sunrise, when the peaks often reflect in still water and moose sometimes feed along the edges. After breakfast we board the tour boat across Swiftcurrent Lake, walk a short portage and take a second boat across Lake Josephine. From the far landing a gentle trail of about 3 km return leads to Grinnell Lake, milky turquoise with glacier flour, under a cliff streaked with waterfalls. The easy group rides the boats back for a sit-down lunch and a free afternoon by the lake. Hikers carry a packed lunch on up the Grinnell Glacier trail. Late in the day we scan the slopes above the valley with binoculars: grizzly and black bears, bighorn sheep and mountain goats are often seen from the road and the lake shore, at a safe distance. Dinner is included again tonight.

Compris

• Optional sunrise walk at Swiftcurrent Lake with your guide
• Tour boats across Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine
• Guided walk to Grinnell Lake
• Sit-down lunch, or a packed lunch for the hikers
• Evening wildlife watching with binoculars
• Dinner in Many Glacier

St. Mary Lake and over the border to Waterton

Many Glacier to St. Mary Lake and Sun Point, then north over the Chief Mountain border crossing to Waterton Lakes National Park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Waterton Park
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive down the valley and a short way up the east side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road to St. Mary Lake, for the view this side of the road is known for: Wild Goose Island, a small pine-topped rock in the middle of the lake, with the peaks rising behind. From Sun Point a walk of about 2 km return leads down to Baring Falls. Then we head north through Blackfeet country to the Chief Mountain crossing, open only in summer, and into Alberta with passports in hand. Waterton Lakes and Glacier together form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, created in 1932 and listed by UNESCO in 1995.

Après-midi

After lunch in the townsite we take the cruise down Upper Waterton Lake, which crosses the international border between steep mountain walls. Later, walk to Cameron Falls at the edge of town and watch for the mule deer that wander the streets. Many slopes are still recovering from the 2017 Kenow wildfire, green again with young pines and fireweed.

Soir

We end the day on the bluff by the Prince of Wales Hotel, high above the lake, before a farewell dinner.

Compris

• Sun Point, Wild Goose Island and the walk to Baring Falls on St. Mary Lake
• The Chief Mountain border crossing into Canada
• Entry to Waterton Lakes National Park
• Sit-down lunch in Waterton
• Cruise on Upper Waterton Lake
• Cameron Falls and the Prince of Wales Hotel bluff
• Farewell dinner in Waterton

East Glacier and home

Waterton over the border to St. Mary, south to East Glacier Park, then west over Marias Pass to Glacier Park International Airport (FCA)

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Environ 5 h de route

Après-midi

We lunch in West Glacier and reach Glacier Park International Airport (FCA) by about 3 pm. Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm. At about 290 km and four and three-quarter hours at the wheel, this is the longest day of the trip and over our usual four-hour limit: Waterton lies north of the border, and the only way back to the airport that avoids re-crossing Logan Pass on a flight day runs round the south end of the park. The border, coffee, the Goat Lick and lunch split it into short legs. If you are staying on, we drop you in Whitefish instead.

Compris

• The Chief Mountain border crossing back into the US
• Coffee stop in East Glacier Park
• The Goat Lick overlook on the Middle Fork
• Sit-down lunch in West Glacier
• Drop-off at Glacier Park International Airport (FCA), or in Whitefish