Plan A Hiking Trip to Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park has over 700 miles of hiking from easy to very challenging. We are what you would consider ‘middle of the road’ hikers. We like a long, somewhat challenging hike, but we don’t pack into the mountain and do overnight hikes or if we have to scale anything, I’m out. I like to come back to my hotel room, take a shower, and fall into a deepest sleep after a 15 mile day.

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I will give you a mix of easy and challenging hikes we took, along with an itinerary for visiting Glacier in five days. You really could spend as little or as much time as you want to in Glacier. You can take a drive through the Going to the Sun Road and get a great overview of what Glacier is all about. There are stops everywhere! Or you can spend days and days hiking Glacier and taking in every bit of the park. It’s really up to you and how much time you have.

One thing I found was the hiking distances in the guide you receive as you enter the park are a little deceiving. The hikes were always longer than it indicated and when we visited with others on hikes, they said the same thing. Maybe we just weren’t starting in the correct spots. Either way, plan accordingly.

Two Medicine

Aster Falls

Since this was our very first day hiking in Glacier National Park, we were stoked! The beauty was all around us. The Aster Falls hike is found behind the Two Medicine boat rental office. It is a 1.3 mile hike (one way) and is considered an easy hike. It was our first waterfall sighting, so it was time to start filling up the SD card.

On the hike, we saw several mountain peaks, making it postcard worthy. We passed an area where beavers were swimming all around. We also saw open areas of wildflowers. There isn’t anything you don’t see on this hike!

After we reached Aster Falls, we continued on to the Aster Falls Overlook. This is not easy, but it is worth it. You climb over 500 feet in 3/4 mi, so you may need a break or two. However, when you get to the top, you can see Two Medicine lake and several mountain peaks serving as its back drop. You will hear me say this a lot. It was worth the climb.

Running Eagle Falls

Running Eagle Falls is also knows as “Trick Falls” because there are actually two waterfalls flowing out of the same area. Late in the spring, one of the waterfalls has usually dried up, but still beautiful. If you want to hike this easy trail (.3 miles one way), start at the Running Eagle Falls Trailhead.

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Logan Pass, Many Glacier, & St. Mary Valley

Sun Point Nature Trail/Sunrift Gorge/St. Mary Falls/Virginia Falls

We stopped at St. Mary to go on the St. Mary Falls hike. Wrong! This hike does not leave from St. Mary. You have to drive down the road a bit until you reach the Sunrift Gorge area. Here we parked and walked up to the gorge. Note: Walk all the way to the rocks and look down the gorge. You think you’ve ‘seen it’ when you walk up to it, but there’s more! You can see deep into the mountain.

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From here, we hiked to St. Mary Falls and then on to Virginia Falls. Make sure you hike all the way. It is a bit of an elevation climb, but it’s worth the extra couple of miles (see what I mean…worth it!). You hike right up to Virginia Falls and can take a dip under the frigid water if you’d like. We tried to take pictures under the falls and nearly got hypothermia. It’s freezing!

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On the way back, there are a couple areas you can opt out of the hike and go to the highway and walk down to your car. We did this because it was getting dark and quite honestly we were beat after hiking Two Medicine so we took the easy way back. It was a 12 mile day hiking Glacier with a lot of uphill hiking, so we were good with that choice. The hike is a 3.6 mile round trip hike, but add a little more distance if you start from the gorge like we did.

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Apikuni Falls

This Glacier hike is only a mile east of the Many Glacier Hotel and is considered a challenging .8 mile hike (one way). It has a 651 ft elevation, so you are climbing basically the whole way up. Like all the other hikes you have to climb to see if it’s worth it and it always is. Just remember what comes up, must come down, so the way back is MUCH easier. You hike through some nice trees and finally arrive at a beautiful waterfall you can walk right up to. We did this hike around 5PM and only saw a couple people on the hike.

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Swiftcurrent Lake Trail

After Apikuni, we headed to the Many Glacier Hotel. We wanted to make sure to see this area on our Glacier hiking trip. We didn’t realize how awesome this part of the park would be! The lodge itself was amazing. It had a beautiful deck overlooking the lake. Many people grabbed a bottle of wine and sat here to unwind after a day of hiking. There is wildlife everywhere. We saw three bears sitting on the deck.

We got our daughter settled in (she was over hiking at this point), and took the leisure 2.6 mile loop around the lake. It was so relaxing. It was an easy hike (no elevation climb for once) and part of the hike is wheelchair accessible. This is the only hike that is wheelchair accessible other than Trail of the Cedars that I know of.

Wildlife Sightings

There were a few bridges to cross, docks to walk out on, and lake all around. We saw a moose foraging in the water and got some great pictures of her.

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On our way back, my son yelled, “bear!” He started to run. I looked to my left and there he was! A black bear. I started to run. My husband was in the back and really didn’t know what was going on, so he started to run!

After the initial adrenaline hit wore off, we knew we needed to stop and be calm. You NEVER run when you see a bear! You walk calmly and out of harms way. It’s much easier said than done. Please don’t judge. You don’t know how you will react until you see a bear staring you in the face.

Hindsight is 20/20 and we would have done it differently now (I think we would anyway). After we got within a safe distance, we walked back a bit to get another look. I think we scared the poor bear, more than he scared us. It was exciting, but only because we lived to talk about it. Ha.

After our hike, we ate at the Many Glacier Hotel restaurant. Beautiful views and wonderful food. Highly recommended. My husband and I would love to come back here and stay a couple nights. You need to make reservations at least a year in advance. We were told the reservations for the following year had just opened and the system crashed because so many people were trying to get in. If you are interested in seeing wildlife, this is the spot to go.

Hidden Lake Overlook

We drove up to Logan Pass around 5:30 PM and we were able to score a parking spot. During the day, parking can be very full here since this is one of the most popular spots in the park. The visitors center is very nice and there is an area to walk around and take in the views.

We hiked to the Hidden Lake Overlook, which was about a 2.7 mile hike round trip. The first half is all uphill. Don’t get discouraged. It’s worth the view once you get there. You follow cool little waterfalls along the way and this is where we saw the most mountain goats. There were quite a few scattered along the trail. They won’t bother you if you leave them alone.

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You will also see quite a few marmots and ptarmigans. The marmots can be a nuisance. One almost bit my leg looking for food! Once you get to the top, you overlook Hidden Lake, which is gorgeous. If you have enough time, you can hike down to the lake. They say this is a great area to see wildlife. We did not hike all the way down since it was again getting late and we had just hiked 8 miles at Avalanche.

Lake McDonald

Trail of the Cedars

This Glacier hiking trail is a .9 mile loop and is wheelchair accessible. Most of the trail is on a raised boardwalk making it an easy hike. Parking is a huge issue since it’s an easy hike and most people want to mark this one off their list. We went in the evening right before 6PM and we were able to score a parking spot right away.

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We actually did this hike twice. Once on our way home from St Mary Falls and another time because we wanted to hike Avalanche Lake. The trail follows along HUGE red cedar trees. There’s a place to stop and take a rest and a picture of a tree that fell down and exposed its roots. It’s a piece of art if you ask me.

About half way, you get to experience a beautiful waterfall on Avalanche Creek and Gorge. Once you reach this point, this is where you turn to hike Avalanche Lake. If you don’t want to hike the whole thing, I would recommend just hiking the very beginning of it so you can see more of the waterfall and rushing waters of the creek. It’s so beautiful. When you are back on the Trail of the Cedars trail, you can keep following it around by the campground or just turn around and go back the way you came from.

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Avalanche Lake

This trail is technically 2.3 miles one way, but add on the first .5 mile of Trail of the Cedars and we hiked past the end trail point, so this trail was over an 8 mile hike for us. This Glacier hike is considered a moderate hike due to the 741 ft. elevation gain. The hike will lead you to relaxing Avalanche Lake where you can stop for awhile and take in the scenery. It is indescribable. Several waterfalls are flowing off the mountain in front of you. There is beauty everywhere you look.

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We saw a little bit of wildlife on this hike. My daughter experienced a deer visiting everyone on the beach where the hike “ends.” We kept going and tried to hike all the way to the waterfall. We got to the other end of the lake, but then soon realized it was probably another few miles away through unchartered territory (no marked trails is what I mean, as I’m sure many have gone all the way). We saw two baby wolverines on the way back. They were cute, but I was a little worried about where their mother was, so we didn’t stay and watch them long.

Avalanche is a must do on your Glacier hiking trip. This was one of our favorite hikes.

Sacred Dancing Cascade

A beautiful bridge and waterfall sighting by Lake McDonald. It’s worth pulling over for this short hike and waterfall view.

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Apgar Village

We didn’t do any hiking here, but if you wanted to, there are a couple leisurely hikes you can take. There is a 1.5 mi (one way) bike path, which would be easy, or the Oxbow Trail, which is a 1.1 mile (one way) easy hike, which leaves from Apgar Visitor Center.

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We ate and shopped in the Village and walked around near the lake. There is a cool lodge facing the lake, which would be a great place to stay. You can rent kayaks and paddle boards, along with small fishing boats from this area.

This is the area we saw the beautifully colored rocks. Between the beauty of the rocks and the mountains in the distance, this is a must see stop. We came here twice.

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Waterton National Park

We drove up to Waterton National Park and hit Many Glacier on the way back to our hotel. This was a very long day, but worth it. We left at 10:00 AM and got back around 11:00 PM. It was about a 3 hour drive up to Waterton from Columbia Falls.

Many areas of Waterton were closed due to the recent forest fires, so we were disappointed about that. We ate lunch at the famous tea house, Prince of Wales. I highly recommend stopping here. The views from the lodge are amazing. If we would have planned earlier, we would have spent the night here and spent more time in Waterton hiking and eating and shopping in the village.

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Glacier Hiking Tips:

When you are hiking Glacier, there are a few things you need to remember.

Bring a back pack. Even if you think you are just taking a hike that’s a couple miles long, it’s usually uphill or longer than you think, so you should be prepared with water at a minimum, and snacks for longer hikes. You should also have bear mace. Every hike will start off with a sign that says you are entering bear country and highly recommend mace. If you don’t want to buy mace, you can rent it in the park.

Make sure you are wearing proper footwear and clothing. Flip flops aren’t going to work.

Pair up. Some of the hikes you take, you might not see anyone. Glacier is beautiful, but it is also dangerous. Bears, mountain lions, falls, etc. We saw a boy get swept away by the rushing waters trying to fill up his water bottle. Fortunately the current swept him into an area, where we were able to get him out of the water safely. If he would have gotten caught under the rocks, it would have been difficult to save him.

Know how far, how much elevation you can endure, and where you are going. Once you’re five miles in, there’s only one way out. Going back. We met a couple in Many Glacier that had taken the park transportation to a hike, didn’t realize how long the hike was, and got back after the park transportation had closed. Guess what. They had to hitchhike back to their lodging. Not fun. There are no Ubers in Glacier.

Bear Tips:

This is coming from experience! Your first instinct is to run. DO NOT RUN! We encountered a bear and started to run. Once we got our wits back, we stopped running and the bear ran away from us. Bear naturally will chase anything that runs. If a bear comes near, stay calm and slowly back away. If the bear knocks you down, you are supposed to curl into a ball and protect your stomach and neck. Good luck!

If you love nature, waterfalls, and hiking, this is the trip for you. Hiking Glacier is a trip we can’t wait to take again. We have a new bucket list of hikes we want to take like Grinnell Glacier, Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Lake, Ptarmigan Falls, and more. We would love to stay in the park specifically at Many Glacier Hotel. For a list of Glacier hotels, click here.

Happy Hiking!