 Glacier National Park Photo Gallery
The spectacular beauty of Glacier National Park must be seen to be believed, and those who love mountains, nature and the wilderness must visit Glacier National Park at least once in their lifetimes.
This is a photo of St. Mary Lake, at the east side of the park.
Glacier National Park is perhaps the most beautiful of all our national parks. It is located in the northwest corner of Montana, and its west entrance is just 45 minutes from Kalispell. Unlike Yellowstone National Park, which everyone has heard of, very few people have heard of Glacier National Park. The Park is in the shape of a rectangle containing one million acres of pristine mountain wilderness. Its northern boudary is the Canadian border, and then it extends into Canada as Waterton Lake National Park. Approximately 2 million people visit the park each year, mostly in the summer months. There is just one road through the park, the Going-To-The-Sun Road. It is 57 miles long and is considered by many to be the most spectacular drive in the United States, rivaling the Alps for its scenic beauty. The Going-To-The-Sun Road bisects the park, running from the west entrance of the park at West Glacier to the east entrance at St. Mary.
Construction of the Going-To-The-Sun Road was an engineering feat for its time. Only a few miles of rough wagon roads existed within Glacier National Park when Congress established the park in 1910. The only way to see the park was by horseback or by foot. Glacier's first Superintendent wanted a trans-mountain road to open up the interior of the park to all visitors. In 1918 a route for the road was planned and was very similar to the current road. In the early 1920s Congress provided annual appropriations of $100,000 for construction of the road. In 1924 the appropriation was increased to $1,000,000 for a three-year construction program.
The actual survey of the road was done in the summer of 1924 with 33 men. The work was very challenging: the crews often had to climb 3000 feet each morning to get to their survey sites. They had to walk along narrow ledges and hang over cliffs by ropes to take many of the measurements. The survey crew suffered from a 300 percent labor turnover rate in the three summers it took for the survey.
Construction of the road began in 1925 on a 12 mile section on the west side, from Logan Creek up to Logan Pass, with a low bid of $869,145. it took four summer seasons to complete this part. (It is impossible to work during the winter, when the snow can pile up to over 80 feet in some places.) In 1931 construction started on ten miles of road on the east side of Logan Pass. Building the road was an extremely difficult project, but only three men werekilled during construction. When blasting away rock for the roadway, workers wore wool socks over boots to prevent sparks from accidentally setting off the dynamite.
In the late fall of 1932, after three decades of construction and more than $2,000,000, the first automobile passed over the entire 57 miles of the Going-To-The-Sun Road. The low-land setions of the road had been built before 1925 to inferior consruction standards, and until the late 1930's there was only a crushed rock surface on the road. Improving the road with asphalt paving was started in 1938, but was halted for World War II. By the end of 1952 the entire 57 miles was finally improved and paved. Now, after 50 years of service, the road needs to be completely rebuilt and the planning for this project has been going on for several years. No actual date has yet been decided upon for the rebuilding of the road, which it has been estimated will take five to eight summers. | |
From the west side of Glacier National Park, the Going-To-The-Sun Road winds its way for about 20 miles along the edge of Lake McDonald, McDonald Creek, and through lush forests of towering pines. Pull-outs along the road afford views of the mountains.
Abruptly, the Going-To-The-Sun Road begins to climb out of the forest to reach the "Loop", a hairpin turn in the road. There is a parking area at the Loop, giving visitors an opportunity to stop and enjoy the views. Heaven's Peak Mountain is at the left in this photo, taken from the Loop.
The Loop marks the beginning of the Going-To-The-Sun Road's spectaculr route across the mountains. Pull-outs are located all along the narrow road. In this photo, the Going-To-The-Sun Road in the thin line cut into the side of the mountain and running across the photo in the foreground. 
The Going-To-The-Sun Road takes you from the Loop to Logan Pass, the highest point in the road. it is 12 miles from the Loop and the road climbs gradually until it reaches the Pass at an elevation of 6,800 feet. This photo captures a typical view of the mountains from the road. Note the stone "guard rail" in the foreground. It was quarried by hand from the native rock when the Going-To-The-Sun Road was built.
Logan Pass - a place to take a rest from driving and to stretch your legs,or to park your car and do a serious hike. In the center of this photo, looking to the east, is Going-To-The-Sun Mountain.
Then turn around to the south, climb a few stairs and behold the rugged, majestic glory of Clements Mountain, bolding staring you in the face.
If you follow a trail west a short way from the Visitor Center at Logan Pass you will see a differnt type of view - distant mountains. In the background is Mt. Gould and to the right of it, Bishops Cap.
There is every sort of mountain view from Logan Pass. One just has to walk a short way down a trail to see another one.
Not far east of Logan Pass, the Going-To-The-Sun Road comes to Siyeh Bend. This is the trail head for several notable day hikes. The Going-To-The-Sun Road is in the foreground. The van in the photo, which as just a small object in the right foreground, is about at the center of the bend.
Farther east along the Going-To-The-Sun Road one comes to the Jackson Glacier overlook. This glacier,seen in the background of this photo, is one of the few left in the park, and like all of them, is rapidly shrinking from the effects of global warming. This is also the one glacer that can be seen from the Going-To-The-Sun Road. 
The Going-To-The-Sun Road ends in the east side at St. Mary. Travelers have a choice: they can turn around and head back west on the Going-To-The-Sun Road, where the views will entirely different from those seen on the eastward drive; or they can continue south for 45 minutes to East Glacier and the Glacier Park Lodge in the southeast corner of the prark. Once again, the scenery on this leg of the trip will be unique and spectacular. This photo was taken from the road about half way to East Glacier. 
Just before you get to East Glacier, there is a turn-off to the park's Two Medicine Valley and Two Medicine lake. This photo was taken from a pull-out above the lake just a short ways from the turn-off into the Two Medicine Valley.