This web page contains our photos taken from the western half of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway - the stretch between the West Glacier park entrance up to the Logan Pass summit. I didn't include the pictures of Lake McDonald or the hike to Avalanche Lake in this section, because they have their own sections. The photos are placed in roughly the order in which you would see these views if you were driving eastbound. In our week long visit, I think we went up and down the Going-to-the-Sun-Highway at least three times; this is why some the photos are taken in bright afternoon sun, while others have early morning clouds.
The road follows the south shore of Lake McDonald for about 9 miles. At the tip of lake, at the eastern end, there is a road you can pull off and drive to see McDonald Falls. There is a bridge over McDonald Creek, which is the point where we got the shot of the mouth of the creek emptying into the Lake. We did not take the trail to McDonald Falls - that was the day we were going canoeing, and we were eager to get started on that.
The road parallels McDonald Creek for a long way, still mostly level and straight. There are pulloffs along the way where you can stop for pictures of the creek, or looking up at the mountains. I have a few photos from these pulloffs, but I am not sure which mountains are which when I looked at them back at home. (I am reasonably certain that the labels I have placed on the pictures on this webpage are accurate, but if someone spots a mistake, I would be glad to hear from you.)
Once the road starts to climb, and coils around a tight hairpin curve called The Loop, the nature of the road changes. There is parking at The Loop, with an excellent view of Heaven's Peak across the valley. From The Loop up to Logan Pass, a distance of about 10 miles, the Going-to-the-Sun Highway is narrow, with sharp drops on one side, slow moving traffic, but excellent scenery. We stopped at most every pulloff to admire the changing view. These frequent stops are the reason I have multiple photos of the same mountains - I took pictures from different points as we climbed upward.
Bird Woman Falls is 492 feet tall. The Weeping Wall is a short stretch of road where a continuous stream of water splashes down right next to the roadway (no nearby pulloffs). Haystack Falls tumbles down from Haystack Butte. The mountain chain on the eastern side of the road is called The Garden Wall, because apparently there is a time when wildflowers bloom and display a sea of color against the cliffs. After we had hiked the Highline Trail, and knew the route it took, it was fun to scan the cliff with Melanie's binoculars to spot other hikers making the same trek. Near the top of the pass, Logan Creek runs right under the road at the base of Mount Oberlin. There is a pulloff at the final switchback with a great vista point for all the mountains of the Continental Divide. This pulloff is apparently frequented by mountain goats; these animals are not afraid of humans.
Logan Pass is the Continental Divide. It is the high point of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway. There is a visitor center. The parking lot fills up for most of the day, because it is such a beautiful point and all the travellers stop there. This point is also the trailhead for the Hidden Lake and Highline Trail, and those are two magnificent hikes that are not to be missed. I was glad we had enough time to stop and look at all these points.
Click on any thumbnail to open photo in new window. My favorite photos have blue frames.
