GLACIER ICEBERG LAKE FULL

The hike is pretty and more open, with views of the cirque that contains Iceberg Lake visible throughout. View through the tunnel of Elizabeth Lake.Īfter enjoying the views, you can backtrack to the junction and turn right to hike to Iceberg Lake, one of the most famous in the Park.

Spectacular view of Ptarmigan Lake from the Tunnel. The tunnel is 3 massive switchbacks above the lake (you’ll see them), climb those and enjoy the view looking back at the lake and valley then go through the tunnel to see Elizabeth Lake and the Belly River area. This approach has much gentler terrain as you pass cascades until you reach the quaint lake. After the junction is probably the most strenuous part of the hike, a short but steep climb up the ridge to approach Ptarmigan Lake. The first main feature at about 2.5 mi in is Ptarmigan Falls, but you view the waterfall through trees due to the terrain and it is thus not very exciting.Īfter the falls, you will cross a bridge and the trail to Ptarmigan tunnel splits to the right. Starting from the Iceberg Lake trail head, follow the Iceberg Lake trail as it heads relatively northwest through mainly forested area, this part of the hike has some elevation gain but is overall pleasant.

GLACIER ICEBERG LAKE FULL

The map I have shown above is just for comprehension, you should really pick up a full hiking map like this one from National Geographic for this hike. We wanted to go to both Ptarmigan Tunnel, a 240 ft tunnel carved through the mountain, and Iceberg lake, famous for its icebergs, but both are pretty long hikes at about 9 miles each (I was 13 at the time), but we took a chance and did both since they start from the same trail head. The hike is in the Many Glacier region of the Park, one of the more popular areas due to the number of relatively easy and scenic trails. This is Sinopah Mountain rising above Two Medicine Lake in the Two Medicine region of Glacier NP

The park is worth a visit of at least a week, but today I’m going to share with you my favorite hike I did while vacationing with my family in 2011, an awesome 15 miler to Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg Lake. The park has some of the best mountain scenery in the United States due to its namesake glaciers having carved the terrain into sheer cliffs, massive valleys, and alpine lakes. We’re going to move west for this next adventure, out to Glacier National Park in the Rockies of Northwestern Montana.

Glacier iceberg lake