Glacier NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA
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Glacier NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA, UNITED STATES SECTION WATERTON-GLACIER INTERNATIONAL PEACE PARK Divide in northwestern Montana, contains nearly 1,600 ivy. We suggest that you pack your lunch, leave your without being burdened with camping equipment, you may square miles of some of the most spectacular scenery and automobile in a parking area, and spend a day or as much hike to either Sperry Chalets or Granite Park Chalets, primitive wilderness in the entire Rocky Mountain region. time as you can spare in the out of doors. Intimacy with where meals and overnight accommodations are available. Glacier From the park, streams flow northward to Hudson Bay, nature is one of the priceless experiences offered in this There are shelter cabins at Gunsight Lake and Gunsight eastward to the Gulf of Mexico, and westward to the Pa mountain sanctuary. Surely a hike into the wilderness will Pass, Fifty Mountain, and Stoney Indian Pass. The shelter cific. It is a land of sharp, precipitous peaks and sheer be the highlight of your visit to the park and will provide cabins are equipped with beds and cooking stoves, but you NATIONAL PARK knife-edged ridges, girdled with forests. Alpine glaciers you with many vivid memories. will have to bring your own sleeping and cooking gear. lie in the shadow of towering walls at the head of great ice- Trail trips range in length from short, 15-minute walks For back-country travel, you will need a topographic map carved valleys. along self-guiding nature trails to hikes that may extend that shows trails, streams, lakes, mountains, and glaciers. The park is a meeting place of plants that are character over a period of several days. You are invited to join You may purchase a topographic map at park headquarters, istic of the west coast, Great Plains, and Rocky Mountains. ranger-naturalists on 2-hour, half-day, all-day, and over hotels, and other places within the park, or by mail. The diversity of its terrain provides habitats for abundant night trips. And you may bring or organize your own party. Experienced hikers know and observe the following rules; CONTENTS and varied groupings of plants and animals. Conditions If you would like to take an interesting overnight hike however, not all park visitors are experienced hikers and Page range from open, grassy, parklike areas, through dense Getting to Know Your Park 3 forests, to arctic-alpine meadows above timberline. There The Seasons 10 is a noticeable difference in the composition of plant groups How the Land Was Formed and Sculptured .... 11 on the east and west sides of the Continental Divide. Grinnell Glacier. Map 14 Here deposition, faulting, and erosion are displayed on Flowers and Trees 20 a tremendous scale. The Lewis overthrust, a gigantic fault, Birds and Mammals 23 disturbed and displaced some of the oldest sedimentary The Human Story 24 rocks on earth, thrusting them as much as 35 miles over Preparing for Your Visit 26 younger deposits, so that, within the park, the normal rela How to Reach the Park 26 tion of rocks is reversed. From this upland, glaciers and Where to Stay 27 streams shaped the present peaks and valleys. In their re Services 28 treat, these rivers of ice left behind a wealth of glacial land Help Us Protect Your Park 30 forms. Administration 31 Glacier National Park is one of the outstanding wilder MISSION 66 at Glacier 31 ness areas in the National Park System and one of the few Visitor-Use Fees 32 remaining unspoiled primitive regions left in the United States. Here, in the rugged fastness, amid tranquil forests or beside lakes of almost unbelievable solitude and beauty, ELCOME TO Glacier National Park. Your visit to man can find peace and quiet to soothe jangled nerves and W this park can be a rewarding experience; the mem ease the tensions produced by the rush and stress of our ories of your visit can provide you with enduring inspiration. high-speed, mechanized civilization. We, the members of the National Park Service staff, are In 1932, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park here to help you gain these benefits. was established to commemorate the good will existing be As a citizen of the United States, you are joint owner of tween the United States and Canada. Park boundaries the lofty and serrated peaks, the foaming waterfalls, the crossing national boundaries—what better expression of gleaming lakes, and the velvety green forest carpet that common interests and parallel values? Glacier National are Glacier National Park. Please help protect your park Park forms the United States section of this international and all that it contains so that those who visit it in the years park. to come will find it as beautiful as it is today. GETTING TO KNOW YOUR PARK Glacier National Park, lying astride of the Continental On Foot This is one of the greatest trail parks in the United States, with more than 1,000 miles of wilderness trails inviting The National Park System, of which this park is a unit, your exploration. Most of the park is accessible to hikers is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and his toric heritage of the United States for the benefit and from all campgrounds, chalets, and hotels. The trails are enjoyment of its people. well marked, and you need not worry about venomous snakes or such unpleasant plants as poison-oak or poison- 2 3 By Automobile park from approximately June 15 to September 10. These services are free except for the boat rides and lodging in The Going-to-the-Sun Road, a renowned engineering connection with the overnight Sperry Glacier trip. Program accomplishment, links the east and west sides of the park, schedule leaflets are available at entrance stations, informa crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (elev. 6,664 tion offices, hotels, and cabin-camp offices. The program feet). From your automobile as you gently but steadily includes the following activities: climb above timberline, or from one of the many overlooks along the road, you can see magnificent scenery, ranging Area Activity from sparkling glacier-fed lakes, swift tree-lined streams, Headquarters; Apgar .... Naturalist laboratory and workshop deeply shaded cedar forests carpeted with ferns, and lofty at park headquarters. waterfalls, to broad meadows of alpine flowers at Logan Evening program at amphitheater, Pass. The pass is usually closed by snow from mid-October Apgar Campground. Lake McDonald; Avalanche . Nature walk to Avalanche Lake. until early June. Going-to-the-Sun Road, about 50 miles in Naturalist-accompanied boat trips length, connects with U.S. 89 at St. Mary and with U.S. 2 from Lake McDonald Hotel and at West Glacier. A narrow dirt road from headquarters Apgar. follows the North Fork of the Flathead River to Bowman Evening programs, Lake McDonald and Kintla Lakes. Hotel and Avalanche Campground. Self-guiding nature trail, Avalanche U.S. 89, the Blackfeet Highway, along the east side of the Campground. park, is an all-weather road leading from Browning and the Sperry Glacier Naturalist-conducted overnight trip village of East Glacier Park to the international boundary. from Lake McDonald Hotel to Sperry Chalets and Sperry Glacier. The picturesque Chief Mountain International Road Logan Pass Information service daily. branches from U.S. 89 at Kennedy Creek, leading around Orientation path. the base of Chief Mountain and across the international Free telescope during open hours for viewing mountain goats and boundary to Waterton Lakes National Park. Hard-surfaced The trail on the north side of Ptarmigan Tunnel. Ever try to hike with a wiggly pack? Courtesy, Great branch roads lead from U.S. 89 into the Two Medicine and scenery. Northern Railway. Many Glacier Valleys. A narrow dirt road provides access Nature walks to Hidden Lake Over look. All-day hikes along Gar to Cut Bank Valley. den Wall to Granite Park Chalets. Area Activity St. Mary; Rising Sun; Sun Sun Point information station; photo- U.S. 2 follows the southern boundary of the park between Throughout the park .... Look for roadside and trailside ex Point, graphic point, wildflower display, woodsmen, and so here are a few words of caution. Register the villages of East Glacier Park and West Glacier, a dis hibits describing points of interest. your biking plans at the nearest ranger station, and let the tance of 57 miles. maps, viewfinder, and exhibits. Naturalist-accompanied boat and You are invited to make full use of these services. If you have park rangers know when you have reached your final des combination boat and trail trip, any questions, ask the man in uniform. Members of the staff of tination. Stay on the trails. St. Mary Lake. Glacier National Park are here to help you and to make your visit For further information on hiking, see chapters 6 and 7 Photography Evening programs, St. Mary Dormi enjoyable, safe, and comfortable. of Ruhle's Guide to Glacier National Park. tory and Rising Sun Campground. You will want to get out your camera the minute you set Self-guiding nature trail to Baring Fishes and Fishing foot in Glacier, for the amazing procession of wildlife, Falls. By Horseback Many Glacier Nature walks to Grinnell Glacier and Among the 22 kinds of fishes found in the park's clear wildflowers, and superb mountain scenery will present more Iceberg Lake. waters, the pygmy whitefish is probably the most unique, for It is to the leisurely traveler, the hiker, and the horse subjects than you can possibly take during a summer's visit Naturalist-accompanied boat and it has been discovered in only a few widely separated locali back rider, that the park bestows its greatest gifts.