The Avalanche Lake Trail is a beautiful wooded hike in Glacier Park. It is an extremely popular out-and-back hike in the park and follows the mostly whitewater Avalanche Creek to the gorgeous Avalanche Lake.
Getting to the trailhead requires a park pass to Glacier National Park as well as a pass to drive Going-to-the-Sun road. If you can’t secure a driving pass on Going-to-the-Sun road you can take the free shuttle service. We secured a road pass by booking a boat trip on Lake MacDonald, which you might find easier than getting a pass for the road by itself.
We found parking to be a little hard to come by, so you’ll either need to be patient and circle the lot next to the Trail of the Cedars for a while or arrive early in the day. Avalanche Lake Trail is around 5 miles round-trip, so you’ll definitely want to bring along some water, maybe a snack, and someone in your group should have bear spray.
We started on Trail of the Cedars, which is a very flat, easily accessible trail. It has a lot of wooden walkways to make things easier for folks with limited mobility.
Elevated walkway in Trail of the Cedars
This is a very serene hike with tall, thin cedar trees everywhere. It is a very heavily traveled path because of how easy it is to hike. We saw a lot of parents hiking with their young children who wouldn’t be capable of doing a more difficult hike.
Avalanche Creek carving out a passage in rock
Along the Trail of the Cedars is the Avalanche Lake trailhead and there is a park sign marking the entrance. Once you leave the Trail of the Cedars for Avalanche Lake Trail, the hike becomes more challenging. Alltrails.com has Trail of the Cedars rated as an easy hike and Avalanche Lake Trail as moderate. For most people, Avalanche Lake Trail will be fairly easy to hike, but you should be aware of your personal fitness before getting two miles into the hike and regretting your life’s decisions.
In some areas Avalanche Creek is somewhat narrow
The Avalanche Lake Trail roughly follows Avalanche Creek from the trailhead until you reach the lake. This is a fast flowing, whitewater creek. The creek in some spots has carved out smooth mini-canyons and in other spots opens up into wide rapids flowing over smooth river rock.
Where Avalanche Creek hasn’t been restricted by a rocky passage it opens up and widens into rapids.
According the data recorded from my Garmin on the hike, the hike to the lake is about 2 1/2 miles and the elevation goes from around 3,500 feet above sea level to around 4,000 feet in that span, The creek basically has the same stats. Any time a creek has a 500 foot drop over a couple of miles, there will be a lot of whitewater.
There are plenty of times that the trail veers away from the creek which lets you enjoy the forest. Most of the trail itself is fairly wide and comfortable to walk. There is quite a bit of traffic on the trail, but because the trail is wide, there is plenty of room to maneuver around other hikers.
Some of the mountains in the area of the trail.
After a little over a couple of miles, we arrived at the lake. In my opinion, there is nothing more stunning than a mountain lake, and this is a breathtaking one. The beach is filled with smooth rocks and the water is crystal clear. The water was extremely calm which made for a perfect mirror of the sky and mountains in the background.
Avalanche Lake from the beach at the end of the trail
The shore itself was lined with hikers and we found a little chipmunk who had grown accustomed to begging for snacks from the hikers. He was rewarded by one who gave him a little chunk of a snack bar.
Fairly tame chipmunk
While we were there, I caught the end of what was a young man proposing to a young woman in front of their friends and family. She said yes, and everyone cheered. Congratulations to the happy couple and I have to say that was an excellent choice of location for the proposal.
Avalanche Lake
After resting, having a snack, congratulating the couple, and taking a ton of photos and selfies, we headed back to the trail. The hike back is quite a bit easier, since now its dropping 500 feet over 2 1/2 miles instead of climbing it.
Tall pines along the trail
It gave us a second chance to view all of those beautiful rapids that the creek has created on our way back to the parking lot.
Avalanche Creek
The Avalanche Lake Trail is the most consistently beautiful trail that I’ve ever hiked. From the pine trees, to the mountains, to the whitewater and finally the calm mountain lake, there just isn’t a boring or ugly spot on this trail. It is beautiful from beginning to end and I would recommend this trail to anyone who has the opportunity to take it.
Normally, I’m the one who does the planning for our family trips. However, I recently found myself in Montana with a group of my old high school friends who made the trek to see our friend Mat get married. It was pretty obvious early on that they were on top of it and I could just show up and enjoy it. I knew that we would be going to Glacier National park as part of this, but I didn’t do an ounce of research on it before we left, which is very unusual for me.
Glacier National Park Entrance Sign
On the first night, we went to Tamarack Brewing for dinner. I was enjoying an IPA while we caught up on old times. The conversation switched to how we would secure passes to “Going-to-the-Sun Road”. Tracy said she would set a reminder for 7 p.m. the next day, which was during the wedding reception, to get the car pass.
Having done zero research for this trip I thought the pass was for “Sun Road” and she just said that in a weird way. Then I heard some of the others say things like “It will be fun to drive Going-to-the-Sun road” and “I’m glad they managed to get Going-to-the-Sun road open.”
I started to strain my ears and look quizzically at them. What’s going on, am I having a stroke? These are all smart, accomplished people, why are they talking like they just learned English last week? Once I figured out that the road was called “Going-to-the-Sun Road,” I was both a little relieved and still a little confused by why a road would be named that.
What is Going-to-the-Sun Road?
According to the National Park Service, Going-to-the-Sun Road is a two lane road built in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. It is 50 miles long and essentially bisects Glacier National Park from Apgar to St. Mary. It is the only road that goes through Glacier National Park and is one of the most scenic roads in the United States.
The road is named for Going-to-the-Sun Mountain. It is unclear whether the origin of the mountain’s name is based on a Blackfoot Indian legend about the deity Sour Spirit teaching the Blackfoot to hunt or whether the explorer James Willard Schultz made up the name.
Getting a Pass for Going-to-the-Sun Road
The number of cars allowed on Going-to-the-Sun Road is limited. This is to keep the narrow two-lane road and especially the small parking areas on the side of the road from being overwhelmed by cars. Reservations for Going-to-the-Sun Road can be made at Recreation.gov.
There are two types of reservations, one that can be made 120 days in advance, if you have sufficiently planned ahead, and one that can be made at 7 p.m. mountain time, the day before. Tracy grabbed our pass at 7 p.m. which is why she needed to do it during the wedding reception.
The next morning we packed up the minivan and headed out to Glacier National Park. After a quick stop for coffee and breakfast, we had to check our park passes at one set of security and then our pass for the Going-to-the-Sun Road at a second security stop. Once we were through security, we were on our way.
Driving Along Lake McDonald
The drive begins from Apgar along Lake McDonald. Lake McDonald is about 10 miles long, about a mile wide and a pretty impressive 472 feet deep. The beginning of this drive is a beautiful and calm drive through the forest with Lake McDonald on the left hand side. It remains a pretty calm drive past Lake McDonald Lodge, the Trail of the Cedars and up until you hit the West Tunnel, about 20 miles into the drive.
Tunnel cut into rock face
The Ascent to Logan Pass
After the West Tunnel, there is a switchback and then a constant and gradual ascent toward Logan Pass. This is the beginning of a long stretch of road built on the edge of cliffs with long beautiful vistas, waterfalls and mountaintops poking out through the clouds.
View of a valley on the way up to Logan’s Pass on the Going to the Sun Road.
Being the driver is a definite disadvantage. Tim was our driver and while the rest of us were gawking over the views, he had to pay attention to the road. Going-to-the-Sun road is an active driving situation with narrow lanes, tight curves and frequent stops. The temptation to stare at the landscape instead of the narrow road has to be pretty intense.
Much of the early part of our ascent to the pass was marked by a lot of fog, but it made for dramatic views of the mountains and valleys when they cleared.
Ascending up towards Logan’s Pass, we entered the clouds.
At one point, we caught a quick glance of a Big Horn Sheep or a Mountain Goat right on the side of the road, just poking his head out from behind the stone wall, but it happened so fast my brain didn’t fully process it. We stopped at the next pull-off but couldn’t see him, so I don’t know what exactly we saw but it had horns and it was right next to the road.
Waterfall where Adler Creek goes under the Going to the Sun Road.
As we continued our ascent, we started to come across snow. It became very obvious why they aren’t able to open the roads until June or July because the amount of snow that has to be removed every year is massive. The remainder of the snow accumulation was still pretty deep by the side of the road in some spots.
According to the National Park Service, Glacier National Park receives an average of 157 inches of snowfall per year at its headquarters in West Glacier and much more at higher elevations. Opening Going-to-the-Sun-Road is a massive undertaking that starts around April and lasts for months. This past year, they had to deal with a drift that was 80 feet high, so it takes a long time for this snow to melt completely.
Snow on the side of the road, slightly before Oberlin Bend
We got out of the car on multiple occasions to take photos at pull-offs along the road, but we got out to walk around at Oberlin Bend. There is a wood and steel grate walkway there. There was still a considerable amount of snow left in the area and it gave us a sense of how long it must take for it to melt every year – this was June 30th!
It was still very snowy at Oberlin Bend
Logan Pass and the Highline Trail
Just a little bit further up the road from Oberlin Bend, we then had a chance to stop at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. There is some bathrooms and a cute little gift shop there. Steph and I took a little walk out the back of the visitor center and she showed me the people who were hiking the Highline Trail.
Mountain obscured by clouds near Logan Pass
Prior to the trip we briefly considered doing that trail, but decided to do the Avalanche Lake hike instead since it was considerably less terrifying. The Highline Trail is known for its breathtaking views and a section called “The Ledge” which is only 6-8 feet wide with a sheer drop over a hundred feet down. There is a steel cable to hold onto in this section. If you’re brave enough, parking for people doing the Highline Trail is available at Logan Pass Visitor Center.
Jackson Glacier Outlook
We got back in the minivan and continued on, now going downhill. We stopped at the Jackson Glacier Overlook, where a ranger explained to a fairly large group about the remaining glaciers in the park and how the number of glaciers and size has been shrinking since around 1850. That overlook, of course, has a view of Jackson Glacier, but it is quite far from the overlook.
Way off in the distance is Jackson Glacier, one of the 26 remaining glaciers in Glacier National Park. There were 80 at the end of the Little Ice Age, which ended around 1850.
St Mary’s Lake
We completed the drive by stopping at the Visitors Center at St Mary. There is a little gift shop in there as well as some museum-like exhibits about the history of the Native American people indigenous to the area.
St Mary’s Lake
As is going to be the case for most people on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, we needed to do the entire drive back to the start at Apgar, so we returned to the car for the 50 mile return trip.
Piegan Pass Trail
When we did the first half of the drive, we didn’t get to do a hike near St Mary’s Lake. We tried on the way through the first time to get a parking spot on one of the pull-offs near Piegan Pass Trail but couldn’t. On the return trip, after a little work, we were able to get a parking spot and get out and stretch our legs a little.
Bering Falls on Piegan Pass Trail
We walked a very short distance to see Bering Falls and then turned around and walked to along the path to a point which I believe was the end of Piegan Pass Trail. There is a rocky area jutting out into St Mary’s Lake there where there was a lot of great photo opportunities.
View of St Mary’s Lake from Piegan Pass Trail
Piegan Pass is a heavily traveled trail, at least in this area, so the odds of being approached by a bear is low. We did bring along bear spray just to be sure, but there were no signs of bears in this area. We hiked around 3 miles, and returned back to the minivan to finish our drive.
St Mary’s Lake from the end of Piegan Pass Trail
A Bear Sighting
Near the end of the return trip back to Apgar, we came across a traffic jam. Obviously, we weren’t expecting a traffic jam on Going-to-the-Sun Road, so we assumed that there must be an animal around. Once enough cars had cleared, we pulled off to the side of the road to see what was going on.
The cub is looking for mama, definitely thinks she’s across the road.
There was an animal making noise by the side of the road, and it was a sound I wasn’t familiar with. After a little while, I saw a baby bear head pop up on the side of the road. It was very clear that the bear was in distress and probably looking for his mama. Now, honestly while that is adorable, it’s also pretty terrifying since I’m assuming a stressed mama bear must be nearby as well.
The cub makes an attempt to cross the road but gets scared back into the tall grass by a car.
The cub made several attempts to cross the road, but kept getting scared off by traffic. Finally Tim jumped out into the road and stopped traffic so that the bear could finally cross and hopefully be reunited with his mama.
Tim stops traffic and finally allows for the bear to cross the road.
The Importance of Great Travel Companions
If you’re driving Going-to-the-Sun Road, you will be spending probably a minimum of 6 hours with people in a car, assuming that you are at least stopping once in a while to take pictures and enjoy nature. Spending that much time in a car, you might want to have people with you that you also enjoy spending a minimum of 6 hours with.
For me, this turned out to be a great group with whom to do this drive. We talked about the old days, our families, and a lot about travel. Obviously, I like to talk about travel, but sometimes feel a little weird about it. Honestly, I avoid the subject with people who don’t travel much, because they’re either not interested or I’m afraid it comes off as braggy. It’s something that I’m really passionate about and to have spent a few days with people who are as passionate about travel as me made for great conversations.
The crew being silly. From left to right: Julie, Tracy, Steph, Carrie and Tim.
I loved hearing about all of the places they’ve been and I’ve certainly taken some mental notes about places that I might want to visit based on our conversations. In between all of these conversations, there was also plenty of carpool karaoke, which I abstained from to save everyone else’s eardrums. In the end, it was a great time with some great friends.
I would definitely recommend driving Going-to-the-Sun Road if you get a chance. It’s an unbelievably beautiful drive. The variety of views from mountain lakes and snow covered peaks to waterfalls is astonishing. It’s also one of the few really accessible places in Glacier National Park for people who aren’t doing long hikes. Keep in mind that the number of car passes are limited and you will need to purchase those in advance. Then all you need is a full tank of gas, some great friends, and some snacks and you will get to witness one of America’s great treasures.
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