Keep a sharp eye out for the sure-footed mammals and make plenty of noise on the trail to avoid surprising a black bear or grizzly. Before the trail tucks behind Mount Wilbur, look left toward the glaciers flanking Swiftcurrent Mountain.Īs the terrain alternates between open forest and alpine meadow, you’ll cruise prime territory for bears, and below prime territory for mountain goats and big horn sheep. The climbing mellows from this point, but you’ll continue gently uphill another 1,000 feet over the next 4.3 miles.Īs the trail levels out, look around for breathtaking snowy-mountain views. Follow signs uphill toward Iceberg Lake, bypassing the trail to the Many Glacier Hotel.Īfter a 250-foot climb, turn left at this signed T-junction just 0.2 miles from the trailhead.

The trail starts on the northwest side of the large parking area near cabins and the camp store. For more details about Glacier’s extensive trails, check out their website: nps.gov/glac. The entire climb up the valley’s north side, you’ll have great views of Grinell Point, Mount Grinell, Mount Wilbur, and a snow-filled couilor-Iceberg Notch-the entire climb. The rocky beach is a great place for a snack before backtracking to the trailhead. You’ll bypass the Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail and round the top of the Iceberg Creek drainage as the trail approaches treeline and climbs past an unnamed tern lake just before a quick descent to Iceberg Lake’s eastern shoreline. On a gently graded climb, the trail crosses several small creeks and alternates between open pine and spruce forests and weeping, dripping walls en route to Ptarmigan Falls at mile 2.4. Winding from a frontcountry campground area to Iceberg Lake, this 9.2-mile out-and-back in Many Glacier is a moderate day hike with a spectacularly scenic payoff: an iceberg-laden lake perched just below the Continental Divide.įrom the trailhead on the northwest side of the camping cabin parking area, the trail climbs steeply for the first 0.3 miles and then levels out for a westbound traverse below the ridge linking Mount Henkel and Crowfeet Mountain-look for mountain goats on the alpine meadows to the north.

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Glacier iceberg lake