Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is a great place to visit and a superb place to photograph. If you have not been there it is good to know there are basically two sides of the park, Westside and Eastside. On the west side you will find Avalanche Gorge, pictured above, and Lake Mc Donald. Connecting the west and east sides is the Going to the Sun Highway. It is only open once the snow is cleared and this year, 2023, there is no telling when that will be. In a normal winter it is usually opened by the last week in June.

At the top of the pass there is a visitor center and a large parking lot. There are also trails that leave this area going in a variety of directions. The highline trail is a great one and I got this image early in the morning looking back toward the south as the sun was rising. Bear Grass is shown in the foreground, a lucky find as it does not stay around long.

If the Going to the Sun road is closed you can still get the east side by driving around the park to the south. It is well worth the effort as there are several great places to visit on this side and has more photographic opportunities that the west side. The image above was taken at Two Medicine as the sun was rising. I particularly liked the colorful rocks underwater in the foreground.

If you are lucky enough to be here when there is a dark sky (no moon) you can find some decent Milky Way shots. This is looking over Lake Mc Donald from the north east shore. The lights are from the Lake Mc Donald Lodge.

If you are planing to go to Glacier be advised that getting permission to drive the Going to the Sun Highway is not easy. Be sure to check with the park service - if you can get through to them, or check with any of the lodges within the park. When I go this year I will be staying in Apgar and the lodging includes a daytime pass to use the road. But be sure to check before you go.

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