Glacier National Park

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America's 390 National Parks preserve and respect our shared heritage and resources. Glacier National Park is one of our favorite parks in the United States. Glacier National Park encompasses a region of mountains in the northwest corner of Montana that abuts Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta, Canada.

The Going-to-the-Sun Hiway is truly an engineering marvel. One of the most beautiful pieces of mountain road in the world, as it meanders through the heart of the park and up the steep slopes of the Continental Divide and over 2,026 meter (6,646 foot) Logan Pass.

Construction on the road began in 1921 and continued until 1937. It is considered a National Civil Engineering Landmark and marvel of engineering. This road abandoned construction norms of the time and embraced a newly adopted NPS policy that stressed the importance of harmonizing park improvements with the landscape around it.

The high-mountain section over Logan Pass was built into the sides of near-vertical cliffs using a network of stonemasonry bridges, tunnels and arches. A series of 130 retaining walls support the roadbed along the steepest sections and more than 7 miles of guard walls and guardrails help guide motorists and keep them on the road. In many places on this hiway, there is barely room enough for two cars to pass with the sides of the mountain jutting outward over the roof of your vehicle. Thus, no motorhomes or buses are allowed on this hiway. These stone masonry guard walls give the road much of its historic character and architectural aesthetic appeal.

Seventy years of rockslides and avalanches, sever weather with up to 60 plus feet of snow per year, heavy traffic and inadequate maintenance left the road in urgent need of repair.
Without agressive action, the historic structures for which the Going-to-the-Sun Road is so admired might have been lost forever. This repair work could take another 10 years to complete as the season for repairing the roads and bridges is so short from June to September and there is much work to be done.

Thus, the road is currently under repair 24/7 while keeping one lane of the road open in places so that the tourists can still enjoy this marvelous drive. Even though we were delayed only 15 minutes in each direction of the drive, it was good to remember that we were seeing a project of unprecedented scope and magnitude and we were witnessing history remade!

This drive is not something we can actually capture on film. Even though you will see the pictures here, they do not do it justice. Even the finest cameras cannot record all that the eye can see. This is a magnificent sight to see. If you have not seen Glacier National Park and driven Going-to-the-Sun Hiway, then we highly recommend you do so. The glaciers are rapidly disappearing and are expected to be completely gone by the year 2030.

There is so much to do here in the park. Hiking trails go throughout the park and some of them are on the mountainside above the roads! Biking, rafting, fishing, boating, hunting, you name it, and if it is an outdoor sport, they have it all here.

When driving this highway, you really feel that you are truly "going to the sun" !

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Photos

The Mountain View
There are so many mountain peaks here that it is impossible to remember the names of them all. The local forest fires have left a smokey haze over this area.

West Glacier Entrance
We entered Glacier National Park through the West Glacier Entrance and drove the Going-to-the-Sun road over to St. Mary's and back. It is said that one must see the park in the morning and the afternoon sun to see the changes the light makes on the mountains.

Lake McDonald
Our first stop was Lake McDonald. The water is so clear here you can see a dollar bill and actually read the print when it is placed two feet underwater!

Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald is very clear and is approximately 1100 feet deep. George Snyder built the first hotel and hunting lodge here in 1895. It still stands today as one of the most amazing facilities in our National Park System.

The Jammers
These are guided tour buses called "Jammers" that will take you through the park. There were originally 60 of these buses made in the world and 33 of them are still here at Glacier National Park. The tops of the cars rolls back and makes a convertible so that you can look upward to view the magnitude of the high cliffs and mountains.

One of the many falls along the way
It is a must to get out of your car and see as much as you can while you are here. Everything is just a short walk from your parked vehicle, usually just a few feet.

Tunnels Carved into the Mountainside
This is one of many tunnels carved into the mountainside and supported underneath by rock walls and rebar.

The river and road below
As we climb the mountains you can look below and see the river and to the left is the road we drove. At this spot we are only about 1/4 of the way to the top.

Our two lane road up the mountain
This is as wide as it gets, and in some places, it was more narrow than this, down to one lane.

Going-to-the-Sun Highway
A little info on the highway.

The Triple Arches
This was an engineering marvel for it's time in 1921. Notice how the mountainside was blasted out and then the road and bridge reconstructed with large stones. Amazing........

Road Construction
Here is just one shot of some of the road construction along the way. From the orange barrels over to the edge of the road, the entire lane has fallen off the mountain and is currently being replaced by workmen who are working 24/7 to try and complete this work before the snow flies again in September. Only one lane is currently open and we waited about 15 minutes to go on the one lane road with a pilot car leading us all the way through.

The triple arches from another viewpoint
Notice the narrow road leading up to and away from the arched bridge. The mountain drops straight down about 3,000 feet from here.

Big Horn Sheep
We saw many animals along the way. Bears, mountain goats and big horn sheep. These animals are 3 or 4 times larger than we anticipated. Some of them are larger than a moose and they are very muscular.

Mountain Goats
Momma and baby. They were licking the pavement in the parking lot.

St. Mary's Lake
St. Mary's Lake and Goose Island

Water Falls that Need Rerouting
As you can see, this much water falling onto the hiway will eventually erode the road itself. Therefore, waterfalls must be rerouted off the highway by digging holes and laying drains into the mountainside next to the road. This is not only time consuming but also very dangerous work.

Jackson Glacier
This is one of the few remaining glaciers in the park. So when all the glaciers are gone, will they rename the park?

Patti
Patti loved this tunnel because of the spectacular view coming out the other end!

Sunrift Falls
This was Bill's favorite falls as we could climb around on the rocks and rest by the waterfall.

Sunrift Falls
What a wonderful relaxing place!

A black bear
We wanted to see a bear and on the way back, around 6 p.m. we found a bear grazing very close to the road. He doesn't look very big in this picture, but he was about 50 yards away and he was quite large. Had he stood on his hind legs, he would have been more than 6 feet tall. (We think!) We really didn't get close enough to know for sure! We do carry our bear repellent with us when fishing just in case.