Maximus Nostramabus
- Apr 25, 2021
- 5 min read

West Glacier

Updated: Jul 31

Protected native area and ecosystems across two countries - Waterton Glacier International Peace Park 354

What and Why

Glacier National Park is a national park located at the northern border of America renowned for its extensive ecosystems: both in terms of animal and plants and hence it is often referred to as the 'Crown of the Continent Ecosystem'. Together with the Waterton Lakes Park of Canada, it forms the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which encompasses an even larger ecosystem sanctuary.

There are three important features of the Glacier National Park. One of course refers to the region's geological formation, which is dominated by mountains carved by the huge glaciers of the last Ice Age. Secondly the park region was first inhabited by Native Americans. dominated by the Blackfoot (Blackfoot: ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, Niitsitapi) in the east and the Flathead in the western regions and the park remains their current residence. Lastly the park is divided roughly east and west by the Continental Divide, which also partitions the park into two distinctive climates: a milder-wetter climate in the west compared to a significantly drier-colder climate in the east.

Toponymy

Technically the park in the American side is named the Glacier National Park, which is roughly half of the combined. The union of the two parks across the border is the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which is the UNESCO inscription. Waterton is named after Waterton Lakes which in turn is named after Charles Waterton, the British conservationist.

See

The main thoroughfare is along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which cuts across the park along the east-west direction and hence its name.

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Going-to-the-Sun Road is the scenic central and only thoroughfare that traverses through the entire park. The main part of the road is constructed at fairly high elevation, the highest being 2 km above sea level, and hence snow-ploughing during winter is very difficult. Many parts of the roads are very narrow and winding and it can be a heart-in-the-mouth experience driving through it.

The road is seen in the famous films The Shining and Forrest Gump. The road literally connects all the important landmarks of the park together.

Creek along the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Some river-pass-bys can be quite rampant.

Lake McDonald

Lake McDonald is the largest lake in the park and is remarkable of its tranquility and bright colours, with a great glacial background. Lake McDonald is approximately long strip deep lake and fills a valley formed by a combination of erosion and glacial activity.

The lake is home to numerous native species of trout, whitefish, and sockeye salmon. However according to some of the local anglers, they said that the lake is low on nutrients and the fish is generally of low quality. The lake is surrounded by a dense coniferous forest.

Many Glacier

Another area of great scenic landscape, Many Glacier is an area slightly off the Going-to-the-Sun Road, and to drive there, one needs to exit the part and reenters from a different entrance. This hassle however, does not deter visitors, as this lake is surrounded by high glacial peaks, pristine lakes, waterfalls and dense coniferous forests. The name derives its name from the numerous glaciers that once dominated the landscape.

The alpine-styled Many Glacier Hotel forms a beautiful backdrop of the scenery and is a historic landmark on its own. Many visitors come and visit this hotel instead of the landscape.

Weeping Wall

These water are from melting snow on top of the mountains. A view from afar.

Triple Arches

One of the most unique bridges along Going-to-the-Sun Road, this three-span long bridge was designed in the 1930s CE as an alternative to a large retaining wall.

Logan Pass

Logan Pass is the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, standing at 2 km above sea-level. The pass is named after Major Willian Logan, the first superintendent of the park.

The pass is a very popular starting point for hiking trips as one of them leads to the Garden Wall, due to the proliferation of wildflowers which grow there during the summer. The pass also provides an excellent vantage point to view wildlife. Unfortunately we did not find the time to go to the Garden Wall.

Just east of the pass, an area known as Big Drift often records over extensive snowfall, much of which has been pushed over the continental divide by the prevailing westerly winds during the winter, as picture above.

Jackson Glacier

Almost picture-like, Jackson Glacier can be seen from an overlook. It is one of the biggest glaciers in the park and is frequently monitored by climatologists to assess the glacial recession due to climate change as it is easy to observe.

Saint Mary Lake

Saint Mary Lake is the second biggest lake in the park and is usually frozen, as it lies on the east of the Continental Divide. There is a much photographed small island sitting in the middle of the lake, known as the Wild Goose Island. The lake is seen in the famous film The Shining.

At the entrance of the park is another visitor centre which gives an extremely detailed narration of the Blackfoot in the region. Moreover there is a good display about the story of code-talkers during the World War II, on the use of the Navajo language (Navajo: Diné bizaad) for encrypted message transmission. Blackfoot language is not generally used during the World War II by code-talkers though.

Buy and Do

Apparently Glacier National Park is an extremely popular spot for camping and there are many provisions for either caravanning or tent-camping.

Eat and Drink

The food choice inside the park is terribly limited, and so we had all our meals outside the park in Kalispell. The area offers a good range of cowboy food, like beef or bison steak, buffalo chilli and beans.

Montana is famous for its local brand of ice-cream, Wilcoxson's. Considered a must-try in the area.

Stay

We stayed in Econo Lodge Inn & Suites in Kalispell. Nothing particular to shout about but very affordable and convenient.

Getting There and Around

As in any other national parks in America, there is no way to explore the park without a car, although we did see occasional red-coloured shuttle-bus ferrying visitors around. The entrance fee to the park is the usual USD $25 per vehicle. The park will spend you a good three days.

For the explorer-at-heart, one can actually drive all the way to Canada, following the rim of the park, but there is naturally border control across the borders, meaning one must bring a passport. The two parks are administered separately and a separate entrance fee is required, in spite of the fact that in many people's viewpoint it is a single 'unified' park.