Going to the Sun Road is the only road that traverses Glacier National Park from West Glacier to St. Mary, Montana. It crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass at an elevation of 6,646 feet. Construction on the road began in 1921 and it is about 50 miles long. It is one of the most scenic roads in America.
Glacier National Park, Going to the Sun Road
Unfortunately, the road was not open during most of our 2 week stay. Forty to eighty feet of snow can accumulate at Logan Pass, so it can take weeks to clear it in the spring. Because the National Park service doesn’t clear the roads throughout the year, it becomes a difficult task every spring and summer. This year was one of the latest openings in the park’s history on July 13th. Considering the road is only open to about October 1st, that makes for a very short season.
The road is narrow, has no shoulder or bike lane, is twisting and rarely straight, has hairpin turns and has severe vehicle restrictions on height, width and length.
Avalanche
We hiked the Trail of the Cedars which is about a 1-mile path that goes through some old cedar groves.
There was a nice boardwalk and a few wildflowers were in bloom.
The Upper McDonald Creek follows the Going to the Sun Road near Lake McDonald.
Near Avalanche is the Johns Lake trail, which is a 2 mile loop. It starts/ends at Upper McDonald Creek.
Near Lake McDonald there was evidence of the fire from 2018. Foxglove were in bloom and tiger swallowtails were everywhere enjoying the clover.
Logan Pass, Going to the Sun
Logan Pass still had quite a bit of snow and the glacier lilies were in full bloom.
It was nice being at timberline and seeing alpine flowers in bloom.
A herd of bighorn sheep were loving the glacier lilies. Michael was sitting on a rock when they came around some trees to graze.
West Glacier
There isn’t much of a town. Just a couple of stores, a restaurant and a gas station.
We had lunch and a good beer at Backslope Brewing in Columbia Falls.
It was time to bring our truck in for an oil change and tire rotation. Good thing we rotated the tires because the bolt that holds the axle assembly on the rear passenger side was sheared off. Service thought it was either a defective bolt or it was over torqued by the factory since there is no recall at this time. They were able to next day air a new axle and had us out of there in a few days.
The Going to the Sun Road is stunning, but when closed there is still plenty to see and do around Glacier National Park, West Glacier, Kalispell, and Whitefish.
