By editor
Flathead and Glacier Counties, Northwest Montana
To enter Glacier National Park is to ascend into a landscape carved by ice and time. The mountains here are abrupt, jagged walls of sedimentary rock, plunging into deep, forested valleys. Because of the extreme elevation gradients, a birder can move through three distinct ecological zones in a single day, from the cedar hemlock forests of the valley floor to the desolate, wind scoured tundra above the treeline.
In the fast, cold waters of McDonald Creek, the Harlequin Duck breeds. This small, strikingly patterned sea duck spends its winters on the violent coasts of the Pacific Northwest, but flies inland to nest in the turbulent rapids of the Rocky Mountains. Higher up, near Logan Pass, the White-tailed Ptarmigan walks among the scree, a master of camouflage that turns pure white in winter and mottled gray in summer. The alpine zone is also the domain of the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch and the Black Swift, which builds its nest behind the spray of high mountain waterfalls.
Visitor Access
Entry to the park requires a fee of $35 per vehicle in the summer. A vehicle reservation system is often in place for the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor during peak months, so advance planning is essential. The park offers over seven hundred miles of hiking trails. Logan Pass, the best area for alpine birding, is typically accessible by car only from late June through September due to heavy snowpack.