A Crown Jewel
America is a land of contrasting features; it’s what makes it beautiful. We are bordered by the world’s greatest oceans, and within our country you find jagged peaks, rugged canyons, rolling prairies and lush green forest. Here there are rivers that meander lazily through dense swamp and others much more torrent that have cut into the earth for millennia. There are lands that stay frozen under ice and deserts so hot that very little life inhabits the vastness. As the great migration West picked up steam in the 1800s, settlers, prospectors, pioneers, homesteaders and fortune seekers stumbled upon a landscape towering in stature compared to their upbringing along the Atlantic and across the Great Plains. Despite the rush to claim land for homes and mountains for riches, many recognized the incredible uniqueness of the West, realizing that much of this land should stay unspoiled for all to enjoy. Americans pioneered the idea of preserving land and on March 1, 1872, the Yellowstone National Park Act was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The act established the world’s first National Park “dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."
Yellowstone paved the way for the creation of the National Parks Service and the more than 500 parks, preserves, monuments, sites, historic places, and trails it oversees today. The National Parks Service celebrates its centennial this August and has grown to more than 22,000 employees, and 221,000 passionate people volunteer at these places each year. Each site has its own story, reason and beauty but only one is given the distinguished title; “Crown Jewel of the Continent.” Glacier National Park in Montana has come to symbolize the American West; beautiful and potentially dangerous, yet full of life, contrast and solitude.
Before being established in 1910 as the tenth National Park, Glacier was home to the Blackfeet, Salish and Kootenai tribes. These tribes hunted and gathered within the park's vast resources and followed buffalo migrations in the surrounding prairies. With the completion of the Great Northern Railway, and photos of the landscape appearing in newspapers all across the country, visitors began coming to the area in droves. Tourists saw Glacier as a homegrown version of the Swiss Alps and could travel much more quickly by rail west than by steamer east to Europe. Great alpine lodges were constructed in Bavarian style which still stand today. The Prince of Wales Hotel, built by the Great Northern Railway, sits like a castle on top of Waterton Lake and is a massive piece of history itself. Here you can enjoy stunning views, hop on a ferry to explore the Canadian side of the park, and enjoy the British tradition of afternoon tea served daily. Built in 1913, also by Great Northern, the Glacier Park Lodge is stunningly preserved at more than 100 years old. The lobby is incredibly impressive, and many guests spend a majority of their time here reading a book or learning more about the local history. There is also a spa, pool, restaurant and two 9-hole golf courses. Even if you are staying outside the park in nearby Whitefish, Kalispell or Columbia Falls, a quick lunch or dinner break at any of the park's accommodations shouldn’t be missed. For those definitely wanting to stay inside the park, you should plan on booking your stay at least six months in advance as rooms fill up very quickly especially weekends.
Entering the park from either the east or west side, you will almost surely traverse one of the most beautiful drives in the country, the Going-to-the-Sun Road. For those who have come by plane or train, there is a free shuttle system offered by the park that makes multiple stops. These shuttles run July 1 through Labor Day, weather permitting. These are popular with hikers and campers who don’t want to leave their vehicle inside the park for days at a time. A favorite of many visitors is to take a red bus tour of the park. Experienced guides bring you all around the park in vintage 1930s buses. The buses have large windows, and weather permitting, the roofs can be peeled back giving you incredible vertical views as you pass through the park. For those making the Going-to-the-Sun Road drive themselves, get ready for a very wild ride. The road is slow and always busy as onlookers are mesmerized by the surrounding scenery. Those that have a fear of heights should ride on the driver’s side if heading west to east as the road narrows in many places to barely the width of two car lengths with sheer cliffs just a few feet from your rear tires.
Despite the enormity of the pass, serious bikers love to conquer Going-to-the-Sun Road so keep an eye out for cyclists. As you ascend, you are treated to the site of rugged peaks, beautiful forest and waterfalls, many spilling onto the roadway. You might get so lucky as to spot a mountain goat, big horn sheep, elk, moose or grizzly bear. Once you reach Logan Pass, you can stop in the visitors’ center, embark off on a number of short hiking trails and see high alpine lakes, flowers and wildlife. Crews spend all spring continually plowing mountains of snow off the roadway in hopes of getting the pass open in June. It can snow every month of the year here, so be prepared for anything as you head up the pass.
While being the most popular, there is much more to Glacier than the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The park is a backpacker's dream with more than 700 miles of hiking trails to explore. There are 13 easy access campgrounds throughout and many more designated camping areas in the backcountry. Off the beaten path you will find an even more spectacular landscape. The backcountry is bear country so hikers need to take every precaution in storing food and should carry bear spray as well. For this reason, dogs are not allowed in the park. Those not wanting to get too deep in the wilderness can book all sorts of tours from fishing and whitewater rafting, to mountain biking and bird watching.
According to the National Parks Service, there were approximately 150 glaciers in the park area in 1850. By 1968, there were around 50, and today there are only 25 designated glaciers left. The U.S. Geological Survey studies of the park's glaciers estimate that if global warming trends continue at the current rate, all could disappear by 2030, leaving a beautiful landscape behind but nothing left of the great glaciers that carved this area into such a special place. Seeing these glaciers up close as a young child inspired my own personal western migration and appreciation for the beautiful surroundings I have grown to call home. While Glacier Park will remain for generations, the window is closing to see something truly remarkable up close. Your trip to Glacier will leave you in awe, with a greater appreciation of the natural settings around you and a new realization of how really small we are in such a great big world.
