Glacier National Park
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There's never been a better time Logan Pass, the highest point another boat, Morning Eagle, for a to head for Glacier National Park. accessible by car in the park. second ride across Lake Josephine While fully exploring this million-acre At Logan Pass, "purple mountain (see glacierparkboats.com for details). expanse of Northern Rockies would majesty" is on display in every From there you can either return via take a lifetime- it's the fifth largest direction. The architecturally striking the boats or join a ranger for a group national park in the Lower 48-you Logan Pass Visitor Center offers a day hike up to Grinnell Lake or even can grasp the scale of its grandeur in big warm fireplace and interpretive farther to Grinnell Glacier before just a few days. exhibits with rangers on hand to catching a later boat back. answer questions and provide advice Going-to-the-Sun Road on exploring the high country. Hikers Tvvo Medicine The main draw at Glacier National can pick up the 11.4-mile Highline At Two Medicine, you can visit Park is the 50-mile Going-to-the- Trail there, a loop that can be Running Eagle Falls, which drops Sun Road, typically accessible completed in a long day. forty feet in two passes and thunders from mid-June to mid-October. This throughout the canyon it has created. thrilling two-lane road cuts through Many Glacier The falls, named after a female the heart of the park, crossing the While traveling Going-to-the-Sun Blackfoot Indian warrior who had a Continental Divide at Logan Pass Road is a must, other sections of the vision quest there, according to native (elevation 6,646 feet). Completed in park also yield amazing scenery mythology, is accessible via an easy 1933 after 12 years of construction, with much smaller crowds. The wheelchair-friendly path from the it's a marvel of engineering, ingenuity Many Glacier area in the northeast parking lot. A ride on the Sinopah, the and persistence. Workers carved section of the park is home to the oldest and first boat in the Glacier Boat miles out of a precipitous granite historic Many Glacier Hotel, an oasis Company's fleet, is a great way to take mountainside, where today roughly of civilization tucked alongside the in the grandeur of Two Medicine Lake two million people each year visit evergreen-lined shores of turquoise and marvel at the imposing profile some of the most spectacular scenery Swiftcurrent Lake. From the hotel's of glacier-clad Sinopah Mountain in the world. wrap-around deck, the 180-degree (elevation 8,271 feet). Highlights along the route include view of Swiftcurrent Lake, surrounded viewing waterfalls and mountain by imposing mountains and glistening North Fork and goats at Oberlin Bend, drinking hot glaciers, is otherworldly. Goat Haunt chocolate at the chalet-style Lake Head for the dock behind the hotel If an experience deeper in the McDonald Lodge, taking a short hike and hop aboard the Glacier Boat backcountry is more your style, take on the old-growth Trail of the Cedars Company's historic lake cruiser, Chief time to visit the North Fork area in the loop, and, perhaps most importantly, Two Guns, to cross Swiftcurrent Lake. park's northwest corner. Accessible throwing snowballs in summer at You'll walk a quarter-mile and board only on rough dirt roads (4WD 38 I May/June 2013 I nwtravelmag.com Naturally Spectacular: Glacier National Park recommended), the North Fork is a never fails to inspire living laboratory of forest succession those who seek it out. given a spate of fires that have ravaged There's no time like the the area over the last two decades. present to plan a visit. Even more remote is Goat Haunt, which most visitors access via boat Glacier's from Waterton Lakes National Park, Changing adjacent to Glacier in Canada. The Ecosystems two national parks function as one According to the U.S. huge protected expanse from an Geologic Survey, the ecological perspective. Although the eventual loss of glaciers parks were established separately in Glacier National and are still independently managed, Park will impact not the U.S. Congress and Canadian only the "landscape Parliament officially "joined" them aesthetics valued by in 1932 as the Waterton-Glacier park visitors" but also International Peace Park. During the park's ecosystems. summer season, rangers from both Disrupted melt-out parks guide the 8.5-mile International patterns and water flows Peace Park hike along the western as well as increased shore of Waterton Lake in Canada, surface temperatures across the border and into Goat will lead to more and Haunt, with a return trip by boat wider ranging forest aboard the International, another fires, insect infestations historic wooden lake cruiser (bring and ultimately species your passport). extinctions. Researchers Long recognized as one of the predict that Glacier National Park Getting around: Once inside the park, continent's most spectacular natural will eventually be devoid of many of use the free shuttle system, which destinations, Glacier National Park the features and species that make whisks people both ways across the visiting the Crown of the Continent Going-to-the-Sun Road, with stops such a rich experience today. at 15 major points of interest. Shuttle buses run every 30 Planning to 60 minutes from Your Visit "... as one of the July 1 to September Getting there: Glacier continent's most 2. You may have to National Park is spectacular natural wait for more than at least a nine- to destinations, Glacier one shuttle (nps. 10-hour drive from National Park never govlglaclpla12Yourvisit/ Seattle, Portland shuttles.htm). You can or Boise, so many fails to inspire those also indulge in a visitors leave the car who seek it out." tour on one of the at home. You can park's historic Red fly into Glacier Park Buses, restored classic International Airport (25 miles west of touring motor coaches that run on the park, iflyglacier. com) and rent a car gasoline or cleaner-burning propane from there. Or you can take Amtrak with four rows of passenger seats (amtrak.com). a direct route from both and retractable canvas roofs. The Red Seattle and Portland, and get off at Bus tours travel the Going-to-the- the West Glacier or East Glacier depot Sun Road and other parts of the park inside the park. (glacierparkinc. com/tour_d etail.php). nwtravelmag.com I May/June 2013 I 39 Naturally Spectacular: Glacier National Park Lodging: Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier is the most famous of the park's chalet-style hotels and is celebrating its 1ooth birthday throughout 2013. Built around a three-story lobby lined with 40- foot-tall old-growth Douglas fir columns with the bark still on them, the lodge is a rustic architecture lover's dream. Even more picturesque are Lake McDonald Lodge and the Many Glacier Hotel, each perched on the shores of turquoise lakes and surrounded by peaks within the heart of Glacier National Park. Other options are The Village Inn at Apgar, Rising Sun Motor Inn and Swiftcurrent Motor Inn. Rooms fill up for RVs and tents. Most are first More information: For more about early, so make reservations through come, first served, so get there early Glacier National Park, visit nps.govlglac. For Glacier Park, Inc. (glacierparkinc.com , to snag a spot. Reservations are information about visiting western 406-892-2525). accepted for Fish Creek and St. Mary Montana, go to glaciermt.com. Camping: Glacier offers campsites campgrounds. Exploring Whitefish, Montana On your way to Glacier exercise free wrfl National Park, be sure to stop at the historic town of Whitefish, TRY SOMETHING NEW AT THE BEACH IN LINCOLN CITY MT. The town's Swiss-style train depot is a must-see for history and train buffs alike. Built in 1927, it now doubles as the Whitefish History Museum. The scenic mountain town, mostly known for its world-class winter recreation, also plays host to a vibrant summer community. Downtown's BLOW GLASS CULINARY CLASS HAVE AGAS! Central Avenue invites browsing and lingering with its shops, restaurants and busy farmers market. To assure your Whitefish visit is one to remember, check out the lodging at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake (/odgeatwhite.fishlake. com) and Whitefish Mountain Resort (skiwhite.fish. com). <f' 40 I May/Ju ne 2013 I nwtravelmag.com .