Glacier National Park’s Overlooked But Beautiful Lake McDonald Road

 

Glacier National Park’s overlooked but beautiful Lake McDonald Road has outstanding views that shouldn’t be missed.

When you hear about Glacier National Park chances are Going-To-The-Sun Road comes up first. This awe-inspiring road seems to be the most talked-about attraction of the park. After all, it is one of America’s most scenic drives and the highlight of your trip. However, we show you places on roads less traveled that allow anyone to get out and experience the natural beauty of Montana in Glacier National Park.

 

But Glacier National Park has so much more to offer when you take a closer look. Like historic ranger stations, lodges, outstanding Lake McDonald views, wildlife, and easy hiking trails. Not to mention plenty of creeks, rivers, and waterfalls to explore.

 

Furthermore, let curiosity enhance your experience by exploring lesser-known segments. With this in mind, you will find the short North Lake McDonald Road one of those less-traveled roads.

 

Our Early Start

 

Since parts of Glacier National Park closed for weather or bears, we looked for options to explore, mostly lesser-known roads. We would come across a small road and turn on it to see where it goes. This explains a lot about how we travel. Usually, not much of a plan but exploring with curiosity and seeing where each road leads.

 

Unfortunately, heavy grizzly bear activity closed Going-To-The-Sun Road at Avalanche Campground so we drove as far as we could then turned around at the gate. Avalanche Campground is just past the park’s most popular section of Lake McDonald on the park’s west side. Luckily, we were the first people to drive on the road that morning. How do we know this? Because we made the first tracks on the snow-covered road.

 

We always get a really early start in the mornings to see wildlife. Especially in National Parks! So we arrived at the Apgar entrance of Glacier National Park during darkness this morning. Another bonus of an early start is you can take your time while looking for wildlife and scenery when all alone.

 

We wanted to see grizzlies in particular, but none today! Even though we have seen them several times before in Glacier our hopes remained high.

 

Does lunch all alone with a herd of elk in Glacier National Park sound interesting? See how it happened in this overlooked section of Glacier National Park. You can check it out here.

 

Although we didn’t see any wildlife this morning, we did find some interesting things. Such as beautiful McDonald Creek with clear blue water that screams ice cold. Further south, closer to Lake McDonald, is Sacred Dancing Cascade and then McDonald Falls. A pull-off leads to stairs and an observation deck and it is right along Going-To-The-Sun Road.

 

A New Road To Explore

 

Just before we made it back to Lake McDonald we noticed a small road. So, we decided to see where it went since it didn’t have any private drive markings.

 

Just around the corner, we came to a small bridge that had an amazing view of Lake McDonald on the left, while on the right is the bottom of McDonald Falls. Surely, everyone who crosses must stop for a short time to enjoy the view.

 

 

Next, are a few private residences until the Upper Lake McDonald Ranger Station comes up.

 

The Upper Lake McDonald Ranger Station

 

We pulled into the ranger station hoping to find a restroom. With this in mind, we followed the main entrance a short distance to the lake and found a pit restroom. Wow, who would have ever thought looking for a restroom would have been so beautiful? Even though this ranger station is primitive, we are envious of these rangers!

 

Beside the driveway, a deer was sleeping next to the road. She kept a close eye on us and eventually calmly left even though she didn’t seem scared.

 

Next to the restroom, we saw the curved shoreline covered by colorful stones which glaciers smoothed over the years. Large trees and driftwood sit on top of the rocks as a display pushed onshore by waves. Green pine trees hover next to the shoreline, as well as yellow larch mixed in. These trees lead your eyes down the shoreline to the opposite end of the lake then connect to a spectacular mountain view. Indeed, this view is what dreams are made of. Given the empty park, we stood all alone without a soul around.

 

This is why you should go on Glacier National Park’s overlooked but beautiful Lake McDonald Road.

 

The ranger station has several primitive log buildings and beautiful property for summer staff. Funny, this primitive ranger cabin might have been built around 1920 but it was weird seeing a modem flashing in the window.

 

We looked around here for a few minutes then left to explore more of North McDonald Lake Road.

A Primitive Road Begins

 

Shortly after the ranger station the road turns into one lane and is more primitive. It has some potholes but we came across a Toyota Camry and they made it without any problems. We had fun on this road because it has some dips, curves and is narrow in some places.

 

Even though you are driving through a forest in this section you can only see charred trees from the Howe Ridge forest fire in 2018. But still, the mountain and lake views are stunning.

 

We stopped for breakfast at the end of the road where a turnaround leads into the Kelly Camp Trailhead. Here, in the end, you see private homes and property but their driveways are marked. After our break, we started going back hoping to see a bear.

 

The Howe Ridge Fire

 

In August 2018, the Howe Ridge Fire started close by from a lightning strike. It quickly exploded into a massive wildfire as strong winds picked up from an incoming front. This fire stormed down the mountain toward Lake McDonald.

 

Wildland firefighting crews had help from a local K-Max water-dropping helicopter and two CL-215 Canadian Super Scooper amphibious airplanes. A CL-215 flies above water while refilling its water tanks.

 

You have to check out this seriously cool video of the CL-215 Super Scooper Airplane in action!

 

This massive fire even destroyed some historic homes and structures on this road. All of these properties have been privately owned since before Glacier became a National Park, although the park has been able to buy some of these. Kelly’s Camp and the Wheeler Residence, just to name a few, are part of the park’s deep history.

 

As a result of the fire, Glacier National Park’s overlooked but beautiful Lake McDonald Road has magnificent views without lush trees.

 

Easy Hiking Trails At Lake McDonald

 

Two easy hiking trails at Lake McDonald are Johns Lake Loop and Rocky Point Trail.

 

We have included the Glacier National Park Service trail map of Lake McDonald here to help plan your hike.

 

This is extremely important to remember. You are in bear country so follow all safety precautions that are put in place to protect you and, at the same time, allow a great experience. Also, mosquitos will carry you away in summer, to say the least, so bring plenty of repellents. This is another reason we like traveling in the off-season!

 

On another hike in Maine, we unexpectedly came face to face with a moose which resulted in a confusing stare down.

 

Johns Lake Loop Trail

 

To begin with, Johns Lake Loop Trail is an easy 3-mile hike and rated for all skill levels. Although there are several trailhead locations, we recommend this small parking area that is much quieter than the others off of Going-To-The-Sun road. Look for it after you cross the bridge on the right.

 

We recommend the Johns Lake Loop trail because it is a mostly flat hiking trail that is easy to get to and is family-friendly. It winds through an old-growth forest of red cedars and hemlocks along McDonald Creek then past Johns Lake. In addition, Sacred Dancing Cascade is right beside the trail for a relaxing experience. In fact, Sacred Dancing Cascade received its name from the Kootenai phrase meaning “a good place to dance”.

 

Of course, you don’t have to follow the whole loop, you can stay around the river or just walk to the lake. Additionally, Stanton Mountain and Mount Vaught are watching over Johns Lake in the background. Whenever you are at Johns Lake it’s important to realize you might see a moose too!

 

This trail will provide memories for a lifetime because of waterfalls, mountain views, and a nice footbridge over McDonald Creek. Not to mention a peaceful walk through the quiet forest.

 

Rocky Point Trail

 

Rocky Point Trail is an easy trail for anyone and is perfect for families, even small children.  This mostly flat trail starts in the Fish Creek Campground on the Southwestern Lake McDonald shoreline.  In fact, it is more of a walking trail that follows Lake McDonald’s shoreline. Here, views of the lake and mountains are simply amazing, especially with the golden larch trees in the Fall.

This trail will allow you to experience the natural beauty of the park, unlike the more crowded lodging areas, since this side of the lake isn’t nearly as busy.  But, it’s important to point out bear activity in this area.  Since it’s not as crowded black bears live around here too, so come prepared and be careful just in case.  Furthermore, you should see plenty of fun-loving chipmunks, gentle deer, and active birds.

 

Here is another fun place to see chipmunks up close where they will even eat out your hand!

 

More features of the trail include a small secluded beach about halfway, a nature trail section, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. 

You can even pick huckleberries from the trail if you hike in July and August too!

 

How To Find Rocky Point Trail

 

The trail starts in Fish Creek Campground and follows the lake for a 1.6 to 2-mile round trip hike, depending on if you add the nature trail loop.  

but another option is McDonald Lake Trail that goes above the campground and connects soon after.  Follow the Inner North Fork Road just past the campground to the parking area where you will find the trailhead.

If the Camas Road gate at McDonald Creek is closed in Winter then park on Grist Road.  Then you can hike on Apgar Bike Path to Fish Creek Campground.  All in all, this turns out to be about 6 miles roundtrip.   

 

Final Thoughts About Glacier National Park’s overlooked but beautiful Lake McDonald Road

 

Without a doubt, Glacier National Park is our favorite National Park. Period. If you are a mountain lover like us, we hope you can see why it’s our favorite.

 

We like to go places in the off-season because we aren’t big fans of crowds and traffic. This late October trip to Glacier was exceptional because we saw Glacier’s natural beauty at a slow pace. Without cars riding our bumpers and people everywhere. In fact, the peak season crowds would create a whole different scene. But most of the time we felt we had the park to ourselves! Fall is the best time to go if you want to have an intimate experience like this.

 

Even though Going-To-The-Sun Road is the biggest attraction, save it for another trip. There’s so much more to discover here that gets overlooked. Often, it is difficult to find places that are peaceful and refreshing with crowds, traffic, and noise. Enough said about that.

 

Given these points, we hope you will find places on roads less traveled that create memories for a lifetime.

 

As always, thanks for reading about Glacier National Park’s overlooked but beautiful Lake McDonald Road.

 

Tom and Kristi

 

 

Did you know we also have a store? We specialize in women’s swimwear in sizes 6 to 34, so when you are ready to travel we invite you to our store. Come see us by clicking here on this link to our Poshmark store.