Glacier FAQ

Yes, at several locations in the park, including Apgar Village, Lake McDonald, Rising Sun, and Many Glacier. See the Lodging Page for more information.

Yes, there are many campgrounds in the park. See the Camping Page.

Yes, at Apgar Village, Lake McDonald, Rising Sun, and Many Glacier.

No, but it is available in West Glacier, Saint Mary, and East Glacier Park just outside park entrances.

There are three main visitor centers. They are at Apgar, Logan Pass, and Saint Mary. They are typically open from about 9AM to 6PM, with some having longer hours in the peak of summer season.

Although small parts of the park can be accessed year-round, Glacier is essentially a summer only destination. The crowds can be avoided somewhat by targetting May or September for your visit, but you run some risk of some areas being closed due to snow, depending on the year.

No. Most park roads are open from sometime in May to sometime in October. This can vary greatly year by year however. For example, the Going-to-the-Sun Road usually opens completely in May, but in 2007 it did not open fully until July 1st. This particular time was due to road damage, which is almost a yearly occurence.

A minimum of two days, and at least four are recommended if you plan to do any hiking. Just going across the Going-to-the-Sun Road and back can easily consume four hours, without stops. The Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas should not be missed, and are far removed from the main part of the park. One could easily spend a week or more, and backpackers could spend a lifetime.

A variety of large mammals inhabit the park, including black bears, grizzly bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, mule deer, moose, coyotes, and wolves. The cold climate limits reptiles and amphibians, with garter snakes, box turtles, and western toads being some of the few observed. 260 species of birds have been recorded, with birds of prey such as the bald eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, osprey and several species of hawks residing year round.

1,132 plant species (and counting) have been found in the park. The forests fall into three zones. The west and northwest of the park are dominated by spruce and fir and the southwest by red cedar and hemlock. East of the Continental Divide are a combination of mixed pine, spruce, fir and prairie zones. Above treeline is the alpine tundra, with grasses and small plants the only thing able to tolerate the three month growing season.

George Bird Grinnell came to the region in the late 1880s and spent the next two decades working to establish a national park. A forest preserve was created in 1900. In 1901, Grinnell wrote a description of the region, in which he referred to it as the "Crown of the Continent", which is still the term used for the region today. A bill was introduced into Congress which redesignated the region from a forest reserve to a national park. This bill was signed into law by President William Howard Taft on May 11, 1910.

They still exist in the park, but are disappearing at a very fast rate. Some scientists estimate that they will be completely gone by the year 2030. Jackson Glacier is probably the easiest to see from the road, viewable from an overlook along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Grinnell Glacier, in the Many Glacier area, can be hiked to on a long day hike, which rangers frequently guide.

Lake McDonald. It is about 10 miles long and reaches a depth of 472 feet.