West Glacier Entrance
Photo courtesy: Donnie Sexton
Flathead River
West Glacier is the western entrance to Glacier National Park, so the name describes its location at the southern tip of Lake McDonald. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)
Glacier National Park was established in 1910. It is a land of mountain ranges carved by prehistoric ice rivers. It features alpine meadows, deep forests, waterfalls, about 50 glistening glaciers and 200 sparkling lakes. Relatively few miles of road exist in the park's 1,600 square miles of picturesque landscape, thus preserving its primitive and unspoiled beauty enlivened by a spring and summer profusion of wildflowers.
West Glacier anchors the western entrance to Glacier National Park and provides a variety of visitor services including lodging, cafes and gift shops. The vistas seen from Going-to-the-Sun Road are breathtaking as you cross the Continental Divide at 6,646-foot-high Logan Pass, and helicopter tours of Glacier National Park are offered out of West Glacier. Enjoy fishing, whitewater rafting, golfing, hiking, horseback riding, and so much more in West Glacier! Finally, it is one of the stops on Amtrak's northern route across Montana. Begin your exploration of the Crown of the Continent in West Glacier.
