Glacier National Park is where everything bright and strong and never tamed comes together on high: wolves, white-tailed ptarmigan, storms that hit the Great Divide like tsunamis with golden eagles surfing the wind waves, twisted trees 200 years old but scarcely tall enough to hide a bighorn sheep, impatient wildflowers shoving through snow to unfurl their colors, alpenglow on ancient ice, and great silver-tipped bears.
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The Montana refuge is part of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park—1,800 square miles (4,662 square kilometers) of what naturalist John Muir called "the best care-killing scenery on the continent." Multihued summits—whittled by ancient glaciers into walls and horns—rise abruptly from gently rolling plains. Some 762 lakes, dozens of glaciers, and innumerable waterfalls glisten in forested valleys. A scenic highway crosses the park, making much of its beauty accessible to the casual visitor. More than 700 miles (1,125 kilometers) of trails await hikers and horseback riders.
In 1932 Canada and the United States declared Waterton Lakes National Park (founded in 1895) and neighboring Glacier National Park (founded in 1910) the world's first International Peace Park. While administered separately, the park's two sections cooperate in wildlife management, scientific research, and some visitor services.
The tremendous range of topography in Waterton-Glacier supports a rich variety of plants and wildlife. Almost 2,000 plant species provide food and haven for more than 60 native species of mammals and 260 species of birds. In the 1980s the gray wolf settled into Glacier for the first time since the 1950s.
But now strip-mining and oil, gas, housing, and logging projects proposed or under way near the park's respective borders endanger the habitats of both water and land animals, including elk, bighorn sheep, and the threatened grizzly. Park officials and conservation groups are working with the U.S. Forest Service, the Canadian government, the Blackfeet Tribe, and private companies to try to protect critical habitats.
Sheltered valleys and bountiful food have lured people here for nearly 10,000 years. Ancient cultures tracked bison across the plains, fished the lakes, and traversed the mountain passes. The Blackfeet controlled this land during the 18th and much of the 19th centuries.
How to Get There
Approach West Glacier (from Kalispell, Montana, about 35 miles) and East Glacier Park from US 2. US 89 leads to Many Glacier and St. Mary in the east; US 89 and Mont. 17 (Chief Mountain International Hwy.) form the shortest connection between Glacier and Waterton Lakes. Coming from Canada, follow Alberta 2, 5, or 6. Amtrak trains from Chicago and Seattle stop year-round just outside the park at West Glacier (Belton), Essex, Browning, and East Glacier Park; by prior arrangement, buses take travelers into the park. Nearest airports: Kalispell and Great Falls, Montana; and Lethbridge, Alberta.
When to Go
Summer. Road rehabilitation occurring on portions of the Going-to-the- Sun Road before and after the core summer season with possible closures. (Mid-June—mid-Sept. delays will be limited to a maximum of 30 minutes during a one-way trip across Logan Pass.) All of Going-to-the-Sun Road is open about mid-June to mid-September; Chief Mountain International Highway, mid-May to late September. Trails at lower elevations are usually clear of snow by mid-June; higher trails can remain snowed-in until mid-July. Cross-country skiing is popular from December to April in many areas of the park.
How to Visit
Spend your first day on and around the Going-to-the-Sun Road, considered by many one of the world's most spectacular highways. On a second day, travel the Chief Mountain International Highway north to Waterton Lakes, enjoying the contrast of peak and prairie. Drive Waterton's Akamina Parkway and Red Rock Parkway. Stay at least another day to visit Glacier's Many Glacier. For a longer visit, drive to Two Medicine for a boat ride and walk to an exquisite lake, then continue on to the Walton Goat Lick Overlook, both also in Glacier. If you have the stamina and overnight reservations, hike or ride horseback to one of the two remaining chalets built in Glacier early in the 20th century by the Great Northern Railway.
