Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska

Glacier National Park
National Park Glacier National Park of the United States of America is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the northern border of Montana.
Story:
Glacier National Park borders WatertonLakes National Park in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia - the two parks are known as International Glacier Park and were recognized as the world's first international peace park in 1932.
Scenery:
The park is an amazing showcase geological processes who changed North America for several million years. The rocks in the park are almost entirely sedimentary, formed between 1600 and 800 million years ago when the area was an inland sea. The park covers more than 4,000 square kilometers and includes parts of two mountain ranges, more than 130 lakes, more than 1,000 different plant species and hundreds of animal species. These sedimentary rocks are considered to be some of the finest fossil specimens ever early age Earth.
Flora and fauna:
The park provides many opportunities to see wildlife and its largely unchanged ecosystem. The park is also one of the largest remaining natural habitats for grizzly bears, and during late summer, grizzlies often descend to low elevations to eat the area's popular berries and fish in the lakes. In addition to bears, the park is also home to two other endangered species - Canada lynx and bull trout. 23 species of fish live in the waters of the park and fishing is very popular here. Bird watchers will find many species of waterfowl, in addition to large birds of prey, including the bald eagle. The park has several ecosystems, from prairies to tundra. Coniferous forest is the predominant ecosystem, although the forests differ markedly on the eastern and western sides of the Glacier. Wind routes through subalpine meadows are rich in wildflowers and alpine tundra.Climate:
National park weather often differs depending on altitude and direction. The west side of Glacier Park has more rainfall, while the east side tends to have more rainfall. strong winds and a lot of sun. The Rocky Mountains disrupt air flow over the North American continent, resulting in climate differences. During summer season, the temperature during the day can reach more than 30°C, but at night at altitude it can drop to -5°C. Snow can fall at any time of the year. During the winter season, most of the park is covered with snow. Some trails and roads are closed during the off-season.
Fires are also a common occurrence in the park.
Traveling by car:

• Hike to the Sunny Highway. The most impressive site in the park is along this road. The highway is closed to traffic in winter and open from June to October. Major attractions include Lake McDonald, Logan Pass on the Continental Divide, Rising Sun, and Lake St. Mary. Logan Pass is the highest road point near the park (2000 meters).
• US Highway 2 (Hwy 2) is on the south side of the park. This route is used by Amtrak trains. View of the forest, river, railways and the railway tunnels all together make this place very picturesque.
• Mirror Road (Glass Hill Road, Highway 49) from the top of the hill has a beautiful view of the two lower healing lakes. Plus, this trail is a shortcut (and narrow and winding) to the east side of the park, so you don't have to walk all the way to Browning and back.
• Highway 89 connects to roads leading to St. Mary's Park and Babb Park (many glaciers). Continues north where the highway intersects with Chief Mountain on the International Highway. Great view to St. Mary's Park and Lake from the northern hills and south of the city.
• The Main Mountain on the International Highway (Highway 17) connects Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes in Alberta.
• Two "medical" roads begin four miles north of East Glacier and follow north side Two “Lower Medical Lakes”. Bears can often be seen in this area.
• CutBankCreek dirt road on the east side of the park 23 kilometers south of St. Mary's. The road leads to the Triple Divide Pass. Where the continental divide splits into three paths between the Pend Oreille - Columbia Rivers (mouth near Portland, Oregon in Astoria), the Missouri - Mississippi Rivers (mouth near New Orleans) and the Saskatchewan - Nelson Rivers (west of the Hudson Strait in Manitoba, Manitoba) . This area is only suitable for adventurers.
• Inside the NorthFork Road is a dirt road running from the north on the west side of the park that starts at Apgar at Lake McDonald.
• Camas Road runs parallel to the NorthFork Inland Road, but is paved. It leads to the Huckleberry Mountain Nature Trail. Both roads will eventually lead to Polebridge. This route most the paths are paved.

Entertainment:

• A ride on the bicycle. Limited to bike lanes, roads and parking lots. Riding on the trails is prohibited. There is no bicycle rental. You can ride a bicycle on the path leading to Sun Road. Best time The best day for driving is early morning or late evening.
• Boating. Boat excursions are available at Many Glacier, Lower Medicine Roads, Rising Sun, Lake Waterton and Lake McDonald.
• Camping. There are several dozen remote camping sites along the trail system.
• Winter active recreation - from December to April. You can explore the park on skis or snowboards. Some trails may be closed due to avalanche hazards.
• Fishing. The glacier is famous for its great trout fishing opportunities. No permit required (except for bull trout fishing).
• Hiking. The national park provides 1,100 kilometers of trail. Tourists can purchase topographic maps And various manuals. Day excursions and hikes are available. The Trail of the Cedars, Hidden Mountain Lake Huckleberry, SunPoint, and Swiftcurrent Nature Trails are the easiest.

With the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Currently, there are about 37 glaciers left in the park. Glacier Park is part of a huge ecosystem that has survived to this day virtually unchanged. Glacier is stunning with its wild meadows, emerald valleys, incredible mountain peaks and stunning waterfalls. On the territory of the reserve there are more than a hundred lakes, thousands of plant species, and a huge number of different wild animals. Glacier is a corner of untouched nature, occupying about 42 thousand square kilometers.

The region that became Glacier Park was originally settled by the Native American Indians. The Indians primarily occupied "Blackfeet" in the east and "Flathead" in the west. Under pressure from the federal government, some of the land was released in 1895 and later became parkland. In May 1920, shortly after the creation of the park by the Great Northern Railway, several chalets and hotels were built. These buildings are listed as National Historic Landmarks. By 1932, work on equipping the “Road to the Sun” tourist route was completed.

This route was one of the first projects designed for road travelers. This is the only route that crosses the Continental Divide over Logan Pass at an elevation of 2,026 meters. The road was conceived by George Goodwin back in 1917. Construction of the route began in 1921. The entire route became operational at the end in 1933 and cost the treasury 2.5 million dollars.

Glacier Park Highlights

The largest lake in Glacier is Lake McDonald. The lake is about 16 kilometers wide and 1.6 kilometers long. The depth of the reservoir is about 130 meters. Lake McDonald is located at an elevation of 960 meters on the western side of the American Continental Divide. The surface area of ​​the lake is 27.6 square kilometers. The lake is home to many species of trout, salmon, and sockeye salmon. Grizzly bears, black bears, elk and deer are found near the lake. The lake is surrounded by dense coniferous forest, dominated by different kinds spruces, fir and larches. On the shore of the lake you can stop for the night, have a snack, or rent a motor boat.

“Following the Trail of Cedars” is the name of the mountain hiking trail. This is 960 meters of equipped route. Walking along it you can enjoy the mighty cedars, the height of which reaches 24 meters. The trail splits into two sections: one winds while the other continues to Avalanche Lake. Along the way, you will see an amazing waterfall among the rocks.

You will be especially impressed by the 170-meter waterfall under the poetic name “Woman Bird”. It is clearly visible from a distance of 3 kilometers. The waterfall is fed by the remains of a glacier located on the northern and western slopes of Mount Oberlin. The waterfall is at its fullest in late spring and early summer, and in the fall its waters dry up.

"Garden Wall" - an alpine meadow covered in dozens of species in the summer months flowering plants and bushes. An unforgettable sight!

Glacier National Park is minted on the 25-cent coin in the America the Beautiful series.

How to get there

The park is located in northwestern Montana along the ridge of the Rocky Mountains. international Airport Glacier Park (FCA) is the closest to the reserve. It is located 30 miles from the western entrance to Glacier National Park and receives major airline flights from and other American airports.

You can also get here by car. The journey from Seattle will take about 10 hours, from Calgary in Canada about 6 hours, and from Spokane only 4 hours.

Video: "Glacier National Park"

Glacier National Park on a map of the USA

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Glacier National Park is located near the Canadian border at the northern tip of the Rocky Mountains. The park's area covers approximately 4,000 square kilometers, including mountain ranges, hundreds of lakes, massive glaciers born thousands of years ago, and velvety green meadows spread out like carpets of flowers.

The enchanting landscapes of the park, founded in 1910, were formed largely due to the movements of huge glaciers. Today there are just over thirty of them left, which is about a fifth of what there were in the mid-19th century. The melting of glaciers is a natural process that cannot be stopped and, according to experts, glaciers (glacier - glacier) may disappear completely in the coming decades.

Glacier National Park, revered as a sacred land by Native Americans, is often called Little Switzerland or the American Alps. This is undoubtedly the best place in the northern part of the United States to conduct summer holidays and walking. Glacier Park is extremely rich in many wildlife populations. These include longhorn sheep, moose, wolverines, wolves, and a large population of black bears and grizzly bears. And mountain goats or deer can often be seen directly from the windows of the most popular, located in the middle of alpine grandeur on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake.

Visitors to the park are justifiably interested in a two-hour ride by car or on a small bright red tourist bus with a tarpaulin roof along the eighty-kilometer “Road to the Sun.” The road stretches from the lower areas of the park to the Continental Pass, located at an altitude of 2000 meters. This journey will allow you to enjoy magnificent views of the park, taking you past glossy fjord-like lakes, thousands of seasonal waterfalls and dense evergreen forests.

Today, hundreds of infrastructure buildings and structures have been built on the territory of Glacier National Park to serve tourists. One of the most comfortable places is the hotel complex, located in the western part on the shore of the largest lake in the park - Lake McDonald.

Glacier National Park - VIDEO

MAP

Glacier National Park - PHOTO

Glacier(Glacier) is a famous national park in the US state of Montana, which provides, first of all, the opportunity to see snow-capped mountain peaks and glaciers. First of all, this is what people come here for. The reflection of sunlight from the peaks of the mountains is a truly mesmerizing sight. But for a Russian person to visit Glacier is to recognize something native and familiar in it.

- This is one of the most remote national parks in the United States, located in Montana, right on the border with Canada, however, it is not difficult to access. It is not at all natural for nature to pay attention to state borders, so the mountain range is part of two countries at once. In the US it is known as Glacier, and on the Canadian side it is called Waterton, and it is not surprising that a large percentage of visitors are from the Canadian province of Alberta.

In Glacier Park you can see:

• Virgin mountain forests;
• Alpine meadows;
• Rocky Mountains;
• Breathtaking lakes.

For lovers trekking and those who seek solitude while walking around wildlife, the park has about 1000 kilometers of groomed trails different categories difficulties.

Glacier Park was founded in 1910 as a recreational preserve, and immediately began developing the park's infrastructure, which was greatly improved by the construction of the famous mountain road Going-to-the-sun Road in the 30s of the last century. Today it is one of the most impressive mountain resorts in the United States. In the park there are about 200 waterfalls, 130 lakes, not counting very small ones, and about three dozen glaciers, which, unfortunately, are rapidly melting. Scientists predict that by 2020 the last glacier in the park may melt.

Today, Glacier Park is home to more than 1,100 species of plants, 62 species of mammals and about 250 species of birds, as well as reptiles, amphibians and more than 20 species of fish.

In 1976, Glacier was recognized as a state biosphere reserve (as are Washington State and Russia), and in 1995, Glacier, along with Canada's Waterton, were recognized as a single UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Park information

Brief geological information

The sedimentary rocks of Glacier Park, formed between 1.6 billion and 800 million years ago when the park was a shallow sea, are well-preserved with various fossils, making this park unique for studying the history of the planet, since similar sedimentary rocks periods in other areas of the world are heavily destroyed and altered during mountain building and are poorly suited for the study of fossil organisms.

About 170 million years ago, during the formation of the Rocky Mountains in America, significant mountainous areas were displaced about 80 km to the east - the so-called Lewis Thrust was formed, which has a height of about 5 km and a length of several hundred kilometers. Today, in the Glacier territory there are 6 three-kilometer mountain peaks in the Rocky Mountains, the highest of which is Mount Cleveland with a height of 3190 m. And Mount Triple Divide Peak is the watershed point of the North American continent.

Rocky Mountains in Glacier National Park

Glacier Park's topography was largely formed during the last ice age which ended about 12 thousand years ago. During the Little Ice Age - the last cold snap on planet Earth (from the mid-16th to the mid-19th centuries) - the area of ​​glaciers in Glacier National Park increased slightly. However, now the situation with glaciers is exactly the opposite and their area is decreasing.

Basic information about Glacier national park in the table:

Map of Glacier Park - clickable, click for details

Glacier National Park on a map of the USA

What to do in Glacier

• Hiking. More than half of all visitors to Glacier National Park come here to go trekking. A wide selection of trails for every taste allows you to choose the most suitable walking route for each visitor, taking into account his wishes and physical capabilities.
• Camping in nature. If you want to spend the night under the stars, choose a spot at one of the 13 campsites throughout Glacier National Park.
• Various ranger-led activities- from simple introductory tours of the park to challenging hikes and boat tours
• Boating. To do this, you must obtain permission and undergo appropriate inspection before launching the boat.
• Fishing. Allowed in certain areas in the park. No special license is required to fish with a rod.
• Horseback riding- allowed only on certain trails.
• Skiing in winter.
• Picnic in nature- in the forest or on the river bank.
• Tours around the park with a guide.
• Ride on the road Going-to-the-sun Road, which connects the western and eastern parts of the park.
• Bicycle rides around the park, including driving along the Going-to-the-sun Road.

Free shuttles at Glacier Park

Glacier National Park has a free shuttle service that runs along the Going-to-the-sun road between the Apgar Visitor Center and St. Mary Visitor Center every day, starting at 7 am and ending at 7 pm. Bus routes cover the western and eastern parts of Glacier Park. On the western route, buses depart every 15 to 30 minutes, and travel time from Apgar Visitor Center to Logan Pass is 1.5 to 2 hours. In the east, shuttles run every 40-60 minutes from St. Mary Visitor Center to Logan Pass, travel time takes about 1 hour. All buses are air-conditioned and equipped with wide windows for better review views and attractions that open from the road-following the sun.

Our review of visiting Glacier Park in the USA

We came to the amazing Glacier National Park to see its beauty from the car window, stop at several observation platforms and go on a couple of simple treks in the mountains and near lakes. We only had about four hours to explore this amazing place, and this is the biggest omission. But even this was enough to feel the full power of the Rocky Mountains and enjoy the breathtaking views and clean mountain air.

So a short time was due to the time limitation of our travel route by car in the USA, during which we wanted to see as much as possible. And we combined a visit to this park with a long drive from Spokane, Washington, to Helena, Montana. But even during this time, it became clear that Glacier Park and the state of Montana as a whole deserve much more attention and a separate trip.

Here's what we saw in Glacier Park and we advise you to watch:

• at the foot of the Rocky Mountains;
• A trip along the road in the mountains - ;
• - America's snowy watershed.

Despite the fact that the United States has one of the best travel infrastructures in the world, few Russian-speaking tourists come to Glacier Park. Local tourists from other states and residents of nearby countries have much more opportunities to come and see the snowy peaks. But Montana is so far away, and the state itself is so huge, that you will spend a lot of time just getting here. We set our moving record in Montana. For those who want to follow the sun along the road with the romantic name Going-to-the-sun, there are two entrances - the western West Glacier and the eastern Saint Mary. You have to go east to find the sun, and that’s what we did.

If you have arrived and do not want to ride along the narrow route yourself, then there is a red shuttle bus for guests, which will stop at all points along the route. True, you will have to travel in the company of 15 people, but it’s completely free! But you will have to return for the car later to the entrance to Glacier National Park where you left it.

Glacier Park Photos

Lake in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is located in Montana, USA, and occupies more than 400 thousand hectares north of the Rocky Mountains. This amazing and beautiful place, famous for its stunning landscapes, has hills up to 1000 meters along the Flathead River, and real Mountain peaks, reaching 3000 meters. Four dozen glaciers, after which the park is named (in translation, the name of the park is Glacier), ancient limestone cliffs, at least 300 lakes, waterfalls - all this makes the park an incredibly popular tourist destination. In addition, a huge variety of animals - moose, wolves and bears - have long called Glacier Park their home.
In general, Glacier National Park is a glacier-covered wilderness that extends north from Alaska at the passage to the Olsek River, encircling a magnificent sea bay in a most picturesque manner.
According to archaeological evidence, the first settlers arrived in these places about 10,000 years ago. The indigenous population is the Indian tribes Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfeet, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Sioux.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the first Europeans - members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - visited the state. They found Indians of various tribes here. Fort Manuel was founded in 1807, named after its founder, fur trader Manuel Lais. This first American outpost was intended exclusively for trade with the Indians, but in 1811 trade had to be curtailed due to the hostility of the Blackfoot tribe. In the middle of the century (1858), a gold deposit was discovered in the state, and a couple of years later a stream of settlers literally poured into Montana. This was the beginning of the Gold Rush, and Montana became one of the centers of the Wild West. The previously wild area was soon cut through Railway, and the previously almost deserted territory began to actively settle down.
Despite everything, there were also enthusiasts who saw in this beautiful place not only a “gold mine” and fur trade, but also a unique, inimitable natural area, which was necessary to protect from a truly barbaric invasion of compatriots. Thus, through the efforts of several enthusiasts, including researcher George Bird Grinnell, the region was given the status of National Park. After this, construction work began in the Park - and after a fairly short time, the territory opened as a tourist center. To date, the park has more than 300 buildings and structures included in the National Register of Historic Places.
The largest number of tourists try to get to the park in spring and summer - it is from the end of May until September that the tourist season is officially open in the park. During other months the park is open, but only limited services are available.
Today, Glacier Park attracts not only those who, tired of urban overcrowding, seek unity with nature. Glacier Park has become one of the centers of interest for ecotourists. Global Warming, which is progressing on the planet, attracts people here who see in this corner of Montana one of the few places on Earth with glaciers that may be the first to suffer from warming, and therefore they need to hurry up to see them. Thus, according to scientists, glaciers may disappear by 2030. They say that soon there are even plans to change the name of the Park to something like "Glacier Memorial National Park." However, despite the fact that every year more and more record-breaking and threatening temperatures are recorded, the glaciers still remain glaciers, and the proximity of the sea determines a cool, damp climate with heavy precipitation, which significantly affects the size of the glaciers.