Glacier: Going to the Sun

The continental divide — we all learned about it in grade school.  Precipitation falling to the east strives to reach the Atlantic Ocean; to the west, it wends its way to the Pacific.  Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Parks also straddle the divide, but Glacier National Park shelters some of the most sublime and spectacular reaches along this hydrological boundary.  The Going-to-the-Sun Road takes you there.

Going-to-the-Sun Road

The Going-to-the-Sun Road runs about 50 miles from the west park boundary at West Glacier, MT, to the east park boundary at St. Mary, MT.  The first twenty miles or so are relatively flat, with ten miles following the shore of Lake McDonald.  The trails described in Glacier: Lake McDonald are along this first stretch.

Heading northeast from Lake McDonald, the road follows McDonald Creek and eventually begins to gain elevation. Just a few miles further along you reach the West Side Tunnel.  It’s quite short and has a sidewalk and “windows” in it.  If you’re so inclined, you can pull off the road and walk through it.  We had to do that, of course.  In another mile or so you reach the “Loop.”  The name derives from the fact that the road makes an almost 180 degree turn here before beginning its ascent along the face of the Garden Wall.  You can get a nice view of 8987′ Heaven’s Peak from this location.

Between the Loop and Logan Pass is, I think, one of the most beautiful stretches of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.  Here the mountains rise sharply up on the left side of the road and drop off steeply on the right.  In the distance you can see the roadbed turn to the right and pass in front of 492 ft. Bird Woman Falls.  Although water levels are low this late in the summer, the falls provide a delicate ribbon of lace as a backdrop for the road.  If you’re still looking for more cascading streams, the next one, Haystack Creek, is only one more mile up the road.

Further along we passed the Weeping Wall, where water flows — sometimes gushes — onto the road from the rock face.  It wasn’t shedding many tears so we didn’t bother to stop.  We did, however, stop at the Big Bend.  The road makes a big turn here offering a sweeping view of the mountains.  The opening photo at the top of this page was taken from the Big Bend.  The road is visible on each end of this panoramic image.

After one final turn to the left and one more waterfall on the right, you finally reach Logan Pass.  This is a very popular stop so we had to circle the lot quite a few times before finding a place to park.  I imagine this is what Black Friday is like at the mall.  There are several great trails at Logan Pass such as the Highline Trail (closed due to a carcass on the trail), the Iceberg and Ptarmigan trails (closed due to frequent bear sightings), and the Hidden Lake Trail (only open for 3/4 mile due to a bear on the trail).

After carefully discussing our one option, we decided to take a short hike on the Hidden Lake Trail.  We had supposedly missed the peak season for wild flowers but you wouldn’t know it from scanning the rocky meadows along the boardwalk trail.  There were still plenty of paintbrushes, gentians, asters, and many others that I was unable to name.  And, as if to compete with the flowers, the rocks offered their own multicolored beauty.  Due to the trail closure, Hidden Lake remained hidden to us.  However, for your viewing pleasure I have included a photo I took of Hidden Lake in 1978.

Leaving Logan Pass behind, the road heads down towards St. Mary.  It probably won’t surprise you to learn that you only have to drive a mile before you cross another stream cascading down on the left.  This is Lunch Creek.  The name is appropriate since there’s a picnic area here.  In another two miles the road makes a fairly sharp turn to the right at the Siyeh Bend, where the waters of Siyeh Creek flow down the hillside and pass under the road.  You can catch the Siyeh Pass and the Piegan Pass Trails from this location.  Even if you don’t want to hike, you might enjoy walking along the creek for a couple hundred yards.  The water bubbles and churns as it heads south striving to carve out the western bank of the tilted and fractured stream bed.  Once again the rocks offer interesting colors and patterns.

This is Glacier National Park, so you might be wondering where the glaciers are located.  Most of them aren’t visible from the road.  One exception is Jackson Glacier, which sits on the shoulder of 10,052′ Mount Jackson, the fourth-highest peak in the park.  You can get a good look at it from the Jackson Glacier Overlook.  You’d better look soon, however, because scientists estimate that no glaciers will remain after 2030.  All that will remain then will be snowfields.

Further down the road you catch a glimpse of St. Mary Lake.  A very popular trail here provides a short hike to Baring Falls, Virginia Falls, and Saint Mary Falls.  I know I’ve said this twice before, but again the rocks in the stream created a very colorful tableau.  The remains of a 2015 forest fire then comes into view, providing a fire-blackened screen through which the lake and mountains can be seen.  Golden grass and the pink blossoms of the aptly-named fireweed grow between the charred trunks.  As the road passes close to the shore, you get to one of the final viewpoints along the route, Wild Goose Island.  This tiny island stands alone in the lake with a beautiful backdrop of sharp snow-capped peaks.  When the road finally reaches the St. Mary Visitor Center you can see the flags of three nations, the United States of America, the Blackfeet Nation, and Canada.

You wouldn’t think a person would be happy when it takes the better part of a day to travel just 50 miles.  But, the more time you spend on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, the better.

Close Menu
error: Content is protected !!