Glacier National Park rests along the spine of the northern Rocky Mountains in the northwest corner of Montana at the border with Canada. There are over 700 miles of trails for the active traveler to take advantage of within the park, allowing you access to dozens of day hikes or extended backpacking and camping trips farther into the wilderness. Stop by a park office for trail information, warnings and safety tips that you should be aware of prior to setting out on your hike.
Quartz Lakes Loop
Hiking the Quartz Lake Loop first requires you to venture out far to the remote area of Bowman Lake Campground. Travel to the Bowman Lake area is off the beaten path and requires driving on a potholed road after taking the North Fork Road. This part of Glacier is the only area that is gray wolf habitat. Other common wildlife you may see includes deer and elk and occasionally an elusive lynx. The Quartz Lake trail leaves from the campground and travels along the shores of Quartz and Lower Quartz lakes for nearly 13 miles before returning to the campground.
Gunsight Pass
Gunsight Pass is a hike that leaves from the Logan Pass visitor center area. Logan Pass hikes are among the best wildlife viewing regions in all of Glacier Park. You are almost guaranteed to see bighorn sheep, mountain goats, marmots and occasionally grizzly and brown bears wandering in the area. According to glacier-national-park-travel-guide.com, the Gunsight Pass hike is one of the best moderate to strenuous hikes in the national park, where you travel between 10 and 20.9 miles to several lakes and Florence Falls, depending on which routes you take.
Siyeh Pass
The Siyeh Pass is a 10.3-mile moderate hike also located within the Logan Pass wilderness area. The trail begins at Siyeh Bend and ends a few miles down from the Logan Pass visitor center on Going to the Sun Road, the main thoroughfare within the park. Along the hike you climb a little over 2,000 feet and drop another 3,440 feet before finishing.
Hidden Lake
Leaving from the Logan Pass visitor's center, take the Hidden Lake Trail for one of the shorter, easier hikes in the region--three miles. The hike concludes at an overlook above Hidden Lake after passing through meadows with wildflowers and views of Mount Clements. Hidden Lake itself is rumored to have enormous cutthroat trout.
Considerations
Though there are dozens of hikes to enjoy in Glacier National Park, there are some precautions that should be observed and seasonal weather and trail conditions to consider before heading into the wilderness. Generally by mid-June, hiking trails in lower elevations are free from snow and accessible to hikers, while the higher-elevation trails are likely not to be dry until late July. Glacier National Park is also grizzly and brown bear country, and though they are not commonly a threat, many hikers carry pepper spray just in case. Keep your distance from all wildlife and observe leave-no-trace environmental ethics while in the wilderness.
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