Glacier National Park Hikes – Which Are Worth It?
We estimate the mileage of our Glacier National Park hikes was 35+ miles. And we were only there a few days and didn’t do any super long difficult hikes.
It was so easy to hike in Glacier (ok not physically easy, because a lot of things were uphill…) but the scenery was so amazing, we wanted to get out and hike every day and explore.
Here are the hikes we did and our verdict on which are worth doing or not!
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Iceberg Lake
Our favorite hike in Glacier was to the mini-iceberg filled Iceberg Lake. Put this one on the top of your hiking bucket list.
This 9.6 mile out and back hike takes you through forests, past sweeping views, to a roaring waterfall, over snowfields, and into a striking semicircle of mountains to Iceberg Lake. The chunks of ice in the lake really do look like little icebergs!
Avalanche Lake
Our second favorite hike was to the popular Avalanche Lake. Don’t miss this one either. It’s popular for a reason. The hike in is along a vividly blue river at times uphill about 2 miles through the forest.
Avalanche Lake is a beautiful color, and in a basin surrounded by mountains. Depending on time of year, there are usually multiple waterfalls streaming down the cliff sides into the lake.
Trail of Cedars
On our way back from Avalanche Lake we took this quick side hike. It’s another accessible trail in the park with a mix of paved and boardwalk sections. It’s also only 1 mile long.
As you can guess from the trail name, you’ll see tall ancient western red cedars but also western hemlock trees. The side trip is worth it to see these trees towering above you.
John’s Lake Loop
Outside of those two, our first hike was the John’s Lake loop. This loop is about 2 miles and only has about 200 feet of elevation gain so it’s easier than many others. This is a pretty and easy trail if you have time for it.
Glacier was more green and lush than we expected. All of the snow and glacial melt-off make this area pretty green.
John’s Lake loop was especially lush, and Kevin and I commented to each other that we could picture this being some fairy tale forest, or lords and ladies of medieval castles suddenly coming around the corner in their carriages.
The hike takes you past Johns Lake for which the hike is named but wasn’t really anything special. While crossing a pretty wooden bridge you’ll see the fairly wide but not very tall Sacred Dancing Cascade churning up the water and making the river look especially blue.
We were there when quite a lot of water was coming over the cascade, otherwise you might see the tiered rock ledges better. You’ll also come across the multi-tiered McDonald Falls.
At one point, there was a deer that we passed on the side of the trail, no more than a few feet from us. It didn’t seem to care one bit.
Snyder Lake
We also hiked up to Snyder Lake. This was a decent distance, 8.8 miles out and back, but when a couple women asked us near the trailhead on our return if it was worth it, we had to tell them probably not.
Apparently other hikers returning shortly before us had said the same thing. Near the end we got some good views, but the lake itself was not as spectacular as others in the park, and the distance was more than we thought worth it to see it.
Still, we enjoyed ourselves and made the best of it, but we wouldn’t choose to do this one again. The middle section of the trail felt like too much of a long slog with not much to see. The final views at Iceberg Lake and Avalanche Lake were much better.
St. Mary and Virginia Falls
Another day, we did a waterfall hike, down to the St. Mary waterfall and then on to Virginia Falls. This was a pretty short out and back hike, but really spectacular.
Definitely don’t stop and turn around at the St. Mary waterfall. You can keep going just a bit further for an approximately 3.6 mile roundtrip hike and see Virginia Falls too which is way better.
The pictures will do it justice more than I could trying to describe it. I am glad we had our raincoats though, because the spray off of Virginia Falls was massive!!! If you like waterfalls, come here!
St. Mary waterfall is pretty, but don’t let yourself miss Virginia Falls!
Paradise Point
Here is also a picture of the lake at Paradise Point which we walked to and had a picnic lunch at one day in the Two Medicine area of the park.
It’s a pretty spot and worth it if you’re looking for a spot to relax and hang out a while. Or if you have kids they could spend a long time playing here.
Running Eagle Falls
We also checked out Running Eagle Falls in the Two Medicine area. An easy and accessible trail that’s 0.6 miles out and back will take you to this waterfall. This was a fun one to see and worth it because it was so quick.
The waterfall is pretty neat too, because it’s actually two layers. At certain times of the year the top level will stop flowing and you’ll only see water coming out of the bottom section.
Where To Travel Next
If you haven’t seen it all by driving between the hikes we recommended, drive the rest of the Going-to-the-Sun road and then check out a few local places outside the park!
Fans of Glacier National Park will no doubt think North Cascades National Park is pretty great too. It’s another one of our favorites.
