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Going to the Sun Road

I often get asked, "If I only have 1 day in Montana, what should I do?." And my answer is always the same - drive the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Going to the Sun is one of the most scenic drives you'll ever experience. It's about a 50 mile drive through the center of Glacier Park in the Rocky Mountains, with many scenic view turnouts available and parking areas to access all the great things Glacier Park has to offer, like hiking to some great waterfalls, streams, and other scenic features of the park.

I don't know if I'll need to say much, I could probably just show you some pictures and have you sold on making Going to the Sun Road part of your Montana visit, including that picture up there in the MTGO2 logo - snapped from a turnout on Going to the Sun Road.

Even though I love the pictures I have, like many other things even pictures just don't the natural beauty you'll experience justice. It's something you must experience yourself!  Make sure to bring a good camera to capture your own experience!

Side Note: Everything on this page is about what you can see directly from the road, make sure to check out the Glacier Park page for more great features.  Going to the Sun Road is such a big part of my trips to Montana, I had to give it its own page!

There will be plenty more pictures below, of course, as I describe more about what you can experience. If you're already sold just from scrolling through some of these Glacier Park pictures, though...

Important Road Information:

There are two things to note about the road that are pretty important for being able to experience it:

  1. Going to the Sun Road, or portions of it, may be closed in early spring or late fall for snow plowing. You can check road closure status here.
  2. 21' Long and 9' Wide are the maximums of vehicles allowed through certain stretches of the road. This includes vehicle combinations (towing).

A scenic view of Logan Creek running alongside Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

St. Mary Lake

St. Mary Lake is on the eastern side of Glacier Park with the Going to the Sun Road paralleling the lake for a few miles (the lake itself is about 10 miles in length). It's one of the bookends of your drive, either starting with or capping your drive off with some breathtaking views of the often teal colored lake with mountain peaks in the background.

As I noted above, this page is dedicated to what you can see from Going to the Sun and the scenic pullouts right on the road. St. Mary Lake and the surrounding areas of course offer more activities, but I've got that covered in the Glacier Park page.

Bird Woman Falls

There are many scenic overlooks available on the western side of Logan Pass, all offering place to pull over for different unobstructed views of Bird Woman Falls.

Bird Woman Falls is another of the many cool features of Going to the Sun Road.  The waterfall is around 500' tall (different sources range from 460'-560').  It runs down the mountainside and cliffs between two of the mountain peaks seen from the road (Mount Cannon and Mount Oberlin).

The falls are quite a ways away, so if you have a zoom lens or binoculars you can get a much better view (even than what I've provided here).

Better yet, with good enough equipment you can get a view of another drop above the portion of Bird Woman Falls seen from the road with the naked eye.  That additional tier is about 175', and there's additional cascades between the upper drop and lower drop, adding another 225'.  When taken all together Bird Woman Falls is nearly 1000' tall!

A little name tidbit: Many believe the name has ties to Blackfoot Nation, named after the wife of a chief.  Some believe the falls are named after Sacagawea, who was called "Bird Woman."