Vacation / Travel Supplement

Glacier National Park: Rugged, mountainous country and starry skies grace Montana

Running Eagle Falls, also called the “Trick Falls,” is a popular hiking destination for tourists at the wild and rugged Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. The park preserves more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows, lakes, rugged peaks and glacial-carved valleys in the Northern Rocky Mountains. More than 750 miles of hiking trails traverse the national park. (Submitted photo by Ed and Cynthia Dewes)

By Cynthia Dewes (Special to The Criterion)

NORTHWESTERN MONTANA—With the high price of gasoline these days, a long trip out West by car may not seem like the best way to vacation. But it’s still less expensive than air travel, and a lot less aggravating to my way of thinking.

There’s so much to see in that part of our country that traveling by car is the best way to do it.

Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Yosemite National Park in California are just two of the many popular western vacation destinations.

But my favorite is Glacier National Park and the Northern Rocky Mountains in northwestern Montana.

This is wild, rugged and mountainous country that is glorious in its natural beauty, historical significance and opportunities for spiritual respite. In short, it’s God’s country.

Glacier Park was established in 1910. Its land was obtained by the federal government from the Blackfeet Indian Nation, which hunted bison in the area and closely guarded the secrets of its mountain passes.

The Blackfeet had dominated the entire region from before the arrival of Europeans to North America, and today their large reservation lies just east of the national park.

Much of the park’s development before automobile travel became common was due to the efforts of James J. Hill, the founder of the Great Northern Railway.

Hill envisioned the park as an attractive destination to increase tourist business along the route of his railway, which became a reality in 1891. This occurred after the discovery of Marias Pass made it possible to cross the mountains by rail.

With prospective tourists in mind, Hill built the Glacier Park Lodge as well as the smaller Izaac Walton Inn nearby to house his employees.

The 161-room lodge was also known as “The Big Tree Lodge” because of the gigantic Douglas fir trees which line the lobby.

Today, the Glacier Park Lodge, the Izaac Walton Inn and other inns welcome tourists from May to September.

The lodging idea was further developed by Hill’s son, Louis Warren Hill, who built a series of rustic tourist lodges that were one day’s horseback ride apart throughout the park.

Today, only one lodge survives as the camp store at Two Medicine Campground.

Among other things, the park offers the usual outdoor opportunities for its visitors, such as hiking, camping, fishing, horseback riding and boating.

It also provides unique vintage motor coaches called Red Buses, which are bright red, to shuttle people around to the major sights. They’re a welcome service for the older or less-mobile traveler. The buses stop at good viewing or photography locations, and also wait while tourists explore the nearby area during short excursions on foot.

One popular walk is to see the Running Eagle Falls near Two Medicine Lake. These are also called the “Trick Falls” because one waterfall rushes over a cliff and another comes out of a hole in the cliff wall. Later in the summer, the upper falls dry up and the lower falls appear to be springing from solid rock—thus, the “trick.”

You can see much wildlife in Glacier National Park, including 70 species of mammals that range from grizzly bears, lynx and gray wolf to elk, marmots, wolverines, moose, mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

Of most concern are the grizzly bears, which look fuzzily cute but are called wild animals for a reason.

To avoid meeting a grizzly bear, you should make noise as you walk along in the forest. Bears have very poor eyesight so if you encounter one you should stand stock still. You mustn’t run because the bear will charge you. If he turns away, you can back up slowly and take a deep breath.

Another favorite activity in Glacier Park is to take the Going-to-the-Sun Highway by Red Bus or in your own car.

This 50-mile-long, two-lane road is a designated National Historic Landmark because it was an engineering feat when it was built and remains so today.

I think it’s the scariest when you’re riding on the passenger side of your vehicle. The road covers every kind of terrain in the park, including pretty lakes, valleys of wildflowers, steep mountains and sharp curves along cliff faces.

Logan Pass marks the scenic Continental Divide, where the waterways on the east side flow to the Mississippi River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. The waterways on the west side of the pass flow to the Columbia River and then on to the Pacific Ocean. There’s a hiking trail to the summit of the pass, and an interesting visitors’ center.

The Blackfeet are not the only rugged individualists living in the area since the weather and the terrain can be too severe for many people to tolerate every day.

But in and out of the park are shops, restaurants, laundromats and other establishments catering to tourists, which usually are handicap-accessible.

There is wonderful pottery, clothing and other products for sale, which were made by area artisans from local materials.

One especially delicious example is the huckleberry, which is available in the form of jam, pancake syrup, salad dressing and even wine.

Although the season for tourists to visit Glacier Park is relatively short, it’s certainly worth the effort.

Save up for gas, pile the kids in the car and make some great memories while traveling through one of the last truly wild and natural places to see in our country.

(Cynthia Dewes is a regular columnist for The Criterion.) †