The Going-to-the-Sun Road is an engineering masterpiece cutting straight through Glacier National Park. It goes through some of the most rugged terrain in North America. Every year, around eighty feet of snow has to be cleared from the road, and as a result, extensive repairs must be undertaken to make it drivable. The result is a stunning ride through one of the country’s most unique landscapes.
Planning Your Ride on the Going-to-the-Sun Road The Going-to-the-Sun Road is 50 miles, connecting the towns of Saint Mary on the park’s eastern side and West Glacier on the western side. The ride itself takes approximately two hours. The trip will invariably be much longer if you’re stopping to do photographs, read informational signs, or take a short hike. It can easily turn it into a half-day excursion or longer. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is only open from late June (there’s no set opening date, just whenever plowing and maintenance ends) until October. Furthermore, if you want to avoid a major traffic jam, go in September or October and avoid holiday weekends. However, crawling through traffic isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it give you time to enjoy the park’s spectacular views.
Depending on where you’re coming from and where you want to be at the end of the day, the route can be an out-and-back ride or a loop. For the loop, it’s advisable to start from the eastern side at Saint Mary, as the views are more impressive descending from Logan Pass to Lake MacDonald than they are from the other direction.
To make it a loop, leave West Glacier on U.S. Highway 2. This route skirts the park’s southern edge, following the Middle Fork of the Flathead River for much of its length. At the town of East Glacier head north on U.S. Highway 89 to go back to Saint Mary. Consequently, this will add 89 miles to your route. However, it should take around the same amount of time as the Going-to-the-Sun Road due to fewer tight turns and faster traffic.
Fuel The Going-to-the-Sun Road is completely inside a national park, development is limited and services are few and far between. There’s nowhere to fuel up between Saint Mary and West Glacier. The route is only 50 miles, though, so this shouldn’t pose a problem.
Accommodations & Food Glacier is one of the most popular national parks in the country, so there’s a wide range of accommodations at both ends of the route. Lake MacDonald Lodge offers luxury accommodations in a Swiss-chalet style building, but is quite expensive. Cheaper rooms can be found at Apgar Village on the lake’s western tip. Alternatively, camping is possible at Saint Mary and Rising Sun campgrounds near the eastern end of the road. There’s also Avalanche, Sprague Creek, and Apgar campgrounds on the western side. Except for the sites at Saint Mary and some of the ones at Apgar, they’re all first-come, first-served.
Sights Most riders on the Going-to-the-Sun Road will want to stop at three major sights along the route: Saint Mary Lake, Logan Pass, and Lake MacDonald. They mark the beginning, peak, and end of the ride. While you’ll start the ride right at Saint Mary Lake, the most stunning views of it and the surrounding landscape come just after Rising Sun Campground (6.5 miles into the ride). This is also the best vantage point to see Wild Goose Island, the iconic island in the lake, and the striking peaks around it.
Next, you’ll ascend up to Logan Pass. It’s 17.5 miles into the ride and the highest point on the route at 6,647 feet. There’s a visitor center and a couple of well-known trailheads at the pass. The Garden Wall, perhaps the park’s most famous trail, begins here and can be hiked in six hours or so utilizing the park’s shuttle system to get you back to Logan Pass. Most noteworthy, the parking lot at the visitor center is a great place to spot mountain goats. They’ve become quite habituated to humans. Concluding the route, the final major stopping point is at the Lake MacDonald Lodge (42 miles into the ride). Here, you can enjoy a meal or just take in the views of Glacier’s largest lake off the back deck.
Brian W. Schaller /CC BY
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Photo: Pixabay
