If someone told me they only had one day in the Many Glacier area, my advice would be to hike to Grinnell Glacier. It’s a beautiful hike with a little bit of everything – flowers, lakes, glaciers, views, and most likely some wildlife. I’ve seen both bighorn sheep and mountain goats along this trail, and bears and moose frequent the area as well.
Plus, where else can you say you hiked to the foot of a glacier?
Grinnell Glacier and its namesake waterfall and lakes are named for George Bird Grinnell, an American conservationist during the late 1800s and early 1900s. He is probably most notable for his work to preserve the American Bison in Yellowstone National Park. However, he also spent time in the Glacier area and was influential in the decision to establish it as a national park.
In the early 1900s, Grinnell Glacier was much larger and included what is now Salamander Glacier. At some point, the glacier split in two, giving way to Salamander Glacier above and Grinnell Glacier below. It’s sad to see photos of how much the glacier has shrunk over the years. It’s estimated that all the glaciers in Glacier National Park – currently there are 26 remaining – will have disappeared by 2030 if the climate continues to change at its current pace.
If you’re hoping to see Grinnell Glacier before it’s gone, you’ll have to hike there. Despite its popularity, this is neither a short nor an easy hike. In fact, round trip distance from the trailhead at the north end of Swiftcurrent Lake is between 10.5-13 miles (17-21 km) with about 2100 feet (640 m) of elevation gain. The reason for the variation is because you can start at the parking lot for Grinnell Glacier Trailhead and travel along either the east or west shores of Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes, or you can start from the Many Glacier Hotel and travel along the east shore.
We started from Many Glacier Hotel, for reasons I will discuss later on. The first 2.5 miles (4 km) of the hike are relatively flat as the trail roughly parallels Swiftcurrent Lake and then the lovely Lake Josephine. Once you reach the far end of Lake Josephine, the east shore trail crosses the creek on a bridge.
And now, it’s time to climb… as you can see from the previous photo. After a quite steep initial ascent, the trail flattens out somewhat for a while but then continues to gain elevation fairly steadily for the remainder of the hike. But honestly, I hardly noticed the elevation gain because I was far too distracted by the views.
The color of Grinnell Lake – and many of the lakes in Glacier – is due to the presence of tiny particles called rock flour. As glaciers move downhill beneath their own weight, they erode and crush the rocks into tiny fragments which are then picked up by meltwater and carried downstream. Once suspended in a body of water, these fragments reflect blue and green light, giving glacially-fed lakes a bright, milky color.
For almost an hour, Grinnell Lake was visible below us, and I came home with photos from just about every possible angle.
I first hiked this trail on a trip to Glacier many years earlier, and it was one of the first places I ever did a precarious-looking handstand. I was determined to re-create that photo, though I didn’t have it with me so I had to do it from memory. I’d say I was sort of successful. I think I found the right spot, at least, even though the angle is different.
The trail crosses beneath a bit of a waterfall – we weren’t able to completely avoid getting wet – and then continues up and around. I’d forgotten how exposed parts of this trail are, though perhaps that’s because exposure never really bothers me. If you have a fear of heights or exposure, I still think this hike is doable, but you might find some sections a little unnerving.
Not too far below the glacier is a trailside picnic area and privy. There are benches here and plenty of other places to sit. There were also about a dozen bighorn sheep hanging out on the rocks a short distance from the trail. I have a photo of sheep here from my 2011 hike too, so clearly this is a common hangout for them.
Shortly beyond the picnic area, we began the final climb to the foot of the glacier, huffing and puffing our way up a long set of stairs. This is one of those hikes where you really have to earn it.
But it’s worth it, because soon we were cresting the high point and gazing down at Upper Grinnell Lake and Grinnell and Salamander Glaciers.
The shrinkage just in the past twelve years is noticeable. Last time, I was able to stand on the ice. Now, it’s no longer possible. The photo below is far from my best, but it does show the difference. It was taken in September, after an entire summer of melting, yet the glacier extends all the way across the basin and the lake is substantially smaller.
We spent half an hour on the shores of the lake, and we would have stayed longer if not for the weather. This was the coldest and cloudiest day of our trip, and I was sure we were going to get rained on. We never did, but the sky was grey for most of the day and the wind at the glacier was cold.
Once we reached our limit with the wind, it was time to pack up and begin the descent. On this particular trail, I’ve never been able to decide which is more scenic: the hike up or the hike down. I’m interested to hear what you all think!
Within about 2 hours we were back at the shore of Lake Josephine which, for us, marked the end of today’s hike. Instead of walking all the way back to our car, we would be catching two sequential boats across Lake Josephine and Swiftcurrent Lake to the dock outside the Many Glacier Hotel. This is why, as mentioned earlier, we began our hike from the hotel rather than the main trailhead.
We had about a 30 minute wait to board the Morning Eagle, during which we chatted with fellow hikers while constantly shooing habituated chipmunks away from our snacks and backpacks. The ride across the lake only took 15 minutes, at which point we disembarked and walked up and over the hill to reach the Swiftcurrent boat dock.
Then it was onto the second boat – called the Chief Two Guns – and back to the Many Glacier Hotel.
The ideal way to do this hike would be to purchase roundtrip tickets, as the initial trips are narrated so you’d get to learn about the area. I waited too long to book and wasn’t able to secure roundtrip tickets, but luckily they sell some extra one-way return tickets that allowed us to hitch a ride back. Note that you have to buy these tickets online in advance, you can’t just show up at the boat dock after your hike and purchase them.
It was nice to relax on the water rather than walking the final 2.5 miles (4 km) back to the car on tired legs. And taking the boat one or both directions cuts off quite a bit of distance – though unfortunately no elevation gain – and makes the hike a little more manageable. I highly recommend the combination boat + hike if tickets are available. And I hope if you ever make it to Many Glacier, this hike makes it onto your itinerary. It’s absolutely worth it!
Up next: driving the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road
Hike stats: 9.9 miles (15.9 km) round trip with a one-way boat ride, with 2100 feet (640 m) of elevation gain.
Here is a trail map of the Many Glacier area, including the route to Grinnell Glacier. I also recommend downloading the NPS app and saving Glacier National Park for offline use. You will be able to use the map in the app to track your location.
For more information on visiting Glacier National Park and how to access the Many Glacier area for this hike, please see this post.
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