7 Best Hikes in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park has to be on every hiker’s bucket list. The crystal blue waters of the lakes, the perfectly framed mountains in the valleys, and the active wildlife make for the perfect hiking adventure.

You’re going to leave this park absolutely awe-struck. I had help with this post from my lovely brother, Brandon, who visited Glacier in July of 2021 with his partner, Abby. And let me tell you, he remembered everything about every hike he did. It was that memorable.

He remembered the wildlife, the difficulty of each hike, how long they took, how much water they packed, the amount of food they brought, literally everything you can think of, he remembered.

I had so much fun hearing about his adventure, and I can’t wait to give you insight on the 7 best hikes in Glacier National Park!

So, let’s get into it!

Here are the 7 Best Hikes in Glacier National Park!

1. Trail of the Cedars

Trail of the Cedars is the easiest hike of the 7 I’ll be mentioning. It’s only 1 mile long, mostly flat, and even wheelchair accessible! The perfect hike to start your journey through Glacier.

You’ll get to witness massive cedar trees as you walk along a beautiful stream. The stream is accompanied by bright blue, red, and yellow colored rocks that are stunning to look at.

For a good portion of this trail you’ll be walking on a wooden bridge and at one point you’ll walk across a stream with a small waterfall.

One thing that’s awesome is they have meditative plaques along the trail to redirect your focus to the beautiful surroundings. It’s easy to get caught up in conversation or to focus your attention on where you’re stepping, so to have reminders to stop and look around is a great feat.

1. Avalanche Lake

Avalanche Lake starts about halfway through Trail of the Cedars. If you want an extra challenge, tack it on! Many people take a dip in the clear blue water on the way to Avalanche Lake in the warmer seasons.

How do you get to Avalanche Lake? It’s a pathway you’ll come across about halfway through your Trail of Cedars hike. Enter as you wish!

You’ll come across the well-marked trail about 0.5 miles into Cedar and you’ll hike another 1.5 miles until you reach the lake. Like I said before, if it’s hot, you’re going to want to take a quick refreshing dip in the water along the way.

Once you arrive, you’ll be rewarded with a very shallow, light blue lake, an amazing valley view with tons of tall cedar trees filling the sides of mountains, and 3 large waterfalls trickling down to the lake.

You can either pop a squat or hike another 0.8 miles to other side of the lake, whatever you prefer.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Keep your eyes peeled for deer! They’re quite active in this area
• Opposed to Trail of the Cedars, this trail is not wheelchair accessible
• It has a small elevation change (750 feet)
• Difficulty: moderate

3. Hidden Lake Overlook

One of the most popular hikes in Glacier.

Hidden lake starts at Logan’s Pass. Fun fact: Logan’s pass is the highest point you can reach by car in the entire park! You’ll be driving upwards to about 6700 feet.

Keep in mind there is very little parking. It would be in your best interest to get here as early as you can so you can secure a spot.

At the beginning of the trail there is a Ranger station where you can use the restroom, refill your water, talk to a ranger to plan your day, or get a souvenir for your parents.

Now for the good stuff!

This path starts off on a wooden boardwalk that has beautiful wildflowers on it. You can see views of the mountains and large rocks with the same red, blue, and yellow colors as the stream along Trail of the Cedars (these are rare to come by)! The colorful rocks on this trail are much larger and seem as if they fell from the sky because of their random placements along the path.

The boardwalk was about half of the trail to the overlook, then it turns more rocky for the rest of the hike. Once you get to the overlook there’s a wooden platform you can stand on and see a beautiful view of Hidden Lake.

You’ll be greeted with beautiful blue water surrounded by steep snow-capped mountains. Sometimes you can walk down to the lake, but keep in mind it’s an extra couple miles with extra elevation. Some skip this part because they can already see the beautiful view from above!

Wildlife: My brother saw a pack of bighorn sheep (about 20) and 4 or 5 mountain goats which came close (including a baby one).

Make sure to keep your distance from the bighorn sheep – they have been known to get close and could possibly charge at you. Their goal is not to hit you but still stay aware!

Highlights of this hike: the wildflowers, the big rocks and their variety of colors, the wildlife, steep mountains, and the beautiful lake – all within 3 miles total.

4. Pitamakan and Dawson Loop

Alright, now we’re getting to the more intense hikes – woohoo!

Pitamakan and Dawson’s Loop are labeled very difficult. This is probably the most strenuous day hike in the park, so make sure you’re prepared with water, food, and lots of breaks.

Know before you go:

• You can either go the Pitamakan (counterclockwise) way or the Dawson (clockwise) way, but whichever way you decide to go you’ll get to the same place. Keep in mind once you reach the top of the ridge there won’t be much shade for the rest of the hike.
• Starting at Dawson Pass, there is a very steep 3500 feet climb over about 3 miles. If you choose this route, you would be climbing for less mileage all together, but it is much steeper and physically challenging.
• Pitamakan is a 7 mile climb but it’s way less steep and less physically demanding than Dawson. Either way, make sure to bring a water filter as there are no facilities along the trail.
• This will be a very long day hike or, if you want to stay the night, there are backcountry campsites close by. Over night camping requires a permit so make sure to get that handled beforehand if that’s your plan.
• Bring at least 3L of water per person as it’s a long day.

What to expect:

You’ll be hiking in the two valleys surrounding Rising Wolf Mountain. For the middle section of the hike, you will be at around 8,000 feet for over 3 miles. This brings some of the coolest views as you look down into the valley with a winding river.

But some of the best views are when you reach the end of your climb (either direction). Make sure to turn around and look at the valley that you just walked through. You’ll see beautiful mountains and lakes in both valleys!

This hike starts at the two medicine campground, and is one of the least populated entrances. It’s a very remote hike so you won’t run into many people (what a plus)!

If you are looking to backcountry camp, both No Name Lake and Old Man Lake have campsites on them. They are marked on the loop and are less than a half mile from the trail. If you are backcountry campers, make sure to tell someone about your plan in case of an emergency because you may not see anyone while you are camping.

Two other lakes you will come across (without campgrounds) are Two Medicine Lake – which you’ll walk aside for about 3 miles – and Pitamakan Lake.

This trail has some of the most beautiful mountain views in the entire park. For over half the trail you’ll be walking in valleys, up close and personal with stunning views of the mountains the entire way.

You can also see moose and bears on this trail, so bring bear spray and be on the look out for moose!

This was the favorite of my brother due to the amazing views, overlooks, and remoteness, This is a highly recommended one!

5. Iceberg Lake

Iceberg Lake is absolutely stunning. It’s a moderate 9.3 mile hike, that takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete.

The beginning of this hike is pretty uneventful. It’s quite steep when you first start out, but then changes to a steady incline for the majority of the hike. You’ll be walking within the trees most of the first half and then you’ll come up to some stunning streams. Towards the end you’ll see an opening of the valley.

Tips:

• This lake is in a natural crater which keeps in the cold, so be prepared to be a bit chilly on this hike! Wear layers!
• I recommend going earlier in the spring as there will be more icebergs in the lake. These are definitely the main draw of the hike/lake due to their uniqueness and jagged shapes sticking out of the water.
• Get ready to see some wildlife! Above the water there’s snow along the steep crater walls. You can see moose, mountain goats, and bears.
• This is one of the most bear active hikes in the entire park.

My brother ran into 4 grizzly bears (yikes)! Luckily, they all ran away😳 be careful!

6. Cracker Lake

If you’re into wildflowers, this hike is for you! The flowers, colored rocks, streams, wildlife, lakes, and mountains make this hike one to remember.

You’ll walk across several streams and the biggest draw is the lake at the end. The lake is an extremely vibrant and unique turquoise color which also has red rocks on the side making a great contrast for pictures.

The best part is that you can walk around the whole lake! You can start by looking down on it, and then once you get to the other side you can get to lake level. There’s less brush, green grass, and more wildflowers over here!

You also have the option to do a horse tour on this trail which is a cool way to do it! Most of the horse trail overlaps with the hiking trail so you will see horse poop but you could barely smell it. Just make sure to watch your step!

This hike is moderate difficulty and 12 miles long. It’s more difficult on the way there then the way back so keep that in mind!

7. Highline with Grinnell Glacier Overlook

This is the most popular hike in Glacier. It’s also one of the most difficult.

It’s right off the scenic Going to the Sun Road. Tip: If any hike is off of this road, get to the trailhead early because it tends to get busy and parking fills up fast.

Planning this hike can be difficult, so let’s start off with talking about that! I recommend starting at Logan Pass. Starting at Logan Pass allows you to end with the loop trail which is mostly downhill and less distance versus an out and back. This would make the trail point to point so you will need to think about where you want to park.

This option will require help from either hitchhiking or shuttling because you’re not ending where you’re starting. It’s easier to find parking at the loop trailhead so I would park there and then get a ride to Logan Pass before you hike. The other option would be to park at Logan pass and once you finish you can get a ride to Logan Pass.

I just prefer not to be tired when trying to figure out a way to get back to my car, but pick the option best for you!

The last option is to do highline trail which would be to hike to granite park chalet (the end of highline/beginning of the loop) and walk back. This is 4 miles longer than doing the loop and much more elevation to climb so that is why I recommend doing the loop. The benefit of this option is you don’t need to worry about finding another parking spot. Just make sure to get their early enough to snag one!

The shuttle system at Glacier was difficult to work with due to Covid. You had to reserve your tickets for a specific time slot and they were only good for an hour or two which is hard to coordinate with ending your hike. Now, not everyone is comfortable with hitchhiking, but if you are on the fence, the Going to the Sun Road is well traveled and everyone driving is either going to where you want to go or driving past it.

Many people are generally fine with helping you get where you want to go. A big recommendation, don’t do it alone, but if you do, have bear spray so if you are scared you can have that ready. One downfall is the little to no cell service on the Going to the Sun Road, so make your own decision on what is right for you.

Now to the actual trail! When you begin your hike you’re instantly walking on the edge of a mountain right above Going to the Sun Road. You’ll see tons of flowers, grass, trees, and tall snow capped mountains on the other side.

One of the steepest hikes of the park is Grinnell Glacier Overlook (only 0.6 miles), but the payoff is so worth it. According to my brother, it’s the best view in the entire park. You have Grinnell Glacier, Grinnell Lake, and Salamander Glacier all in one view.

Thanks for reading the 7 Best Hikes in Glacier National Park!

If you liked this post, make sure to check out my other US hiking posts! Everything from road trips, Yosemite gems, and tons of other national parks and amazing hikes in the Southwest. Check it out here!

And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out! I’d love to talk with you😊