Hiking to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park Montana
Avalanche Lake is one of Glacier National Park’s most popular hikes in the park. The trailhead is located right off of the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road and the hike follows part of blue waters of Avalanche Creek and leads you to a beautiful alpine lake. Here is everything you need to know about hiking to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park is again requiring tickets to drive Going-to-the-Sun Road. From May – early September, during the hours of 6am – 4pm, you must have a ticket for Going to the Sun Road. For more information on reserving your tickets, check the the park’s website.
Avalanche Lake Quick Overview:
- Type: Out and Back
- Length: 5.9 miles round trip
- Elevation Gain: 730 feet
- Bear spray is a must
- Time needed: About 2.5 hours. 1 hour to hike to the lake, 1 hour back, and time to rest and enjoy the lake.
Avalanche Trail Location
The Avalanche Lake trailhead is located off of Going-to-the-Sun Road, near the Lake MacDonald area by the West Entrance. This is an extremely popular trail and there will be a ton of cars here no matter what time you arrive. My sister and I arrived at about 6am and the parking lot was filling quickly but we were able to easily find a spot (we also did this hike over the 4th of July holiday, which is one of the busiest weeks in the park!). If you are staying on the west side of the park, Avalanche Lake would be an excellent choice for a nearby hike. If you’re staying on the east side of the park (Many Glacier/St. Mary), this is quite a long drive. My sister and I were staying at the West Glacier KOA when we did this hike.
Read more: My West Glacier KOA review.
Parking for Avalanche Lake will be at the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail or at Avalanche Creek Picnic Area. This is such a busy area that you won’t miss it. The busiest time to hike this trail would be mid-morning, around 9:30am — that’s when we finished our hike. There were so many people circling the area with cars, looking for spots – we were practically pounced on when someone saw that we were leaving!
The Trail of the Cedars is a nice hike itself – it’s a one mile (roundtrip) completely flat hike and it’s all on boardwalks and is fully accessible. It’s also the easternmost rainforest in the USA! How cool is that?
If you’re not an early bird, you can hike this trail much later in the day or even early evening and won’t have the huge crowds. Daylight lasts ’til nearly 10pm in mid-summer, so there’s plenty of time throughout the day to do this hike. Just remember your bear spray!
Hiking to Avalanche Lake
The hike to Avalanche Lake begins on the same trail as Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail. You’ll be on flat boardwalks for about a 1/2 mile until you’ll see the turn off for Avalanche Lake. From here, you’ll be on a regular, dirt hiking trail.
After leaving the boardwalks, you’ll hike alongside the gorgeous Avalanche Creek, until the trail goes into the forest for the rest of the hike. There are some uphill sections, but it’s nothing too steep – there’s no long uphill slug to get through. People of all ages were doing this hike – from small children to senior citizens!
At about 2 miles in, you’ll reach the sign for the pit toilet (you’ll smell it before you see it. KIDDING!). That’s when you know you’re almost there. I did use the pit toilet on our way back and while the toilet itself seemed clean, the outhouse smelled pretty bad.
After you reach this sign, you’re almost there. Keep following the trail until you reach the shoreline of Avalanche Lake.
Once you’re here, you’re in for a treat! Avalanche Lake is absolutely stunning and if you’re here in the spring or early summer, you’ll see lot of waterfalls cascading down the bowl into the lake.
Avalanche Lake has a big shoreline, so there’s lot of room to hang out, eat a snack or picnic lunch, take photos, etc. You can also continue your hike to go further around the shoreline for different angles of the lake – that’s what we did. It’s also a good idea if you want to get away from the crowds – everyone tends to stop right at the first spot of shoreline they see.
Avalanche Lake Photography Tips:
We reached Avalanche Lake in the early morning – around 7:30-8am-ish? So there was still a bit of fog and mist hanging around, as you can see in my photos, but I thought it made for a nice ambiance. Morning hours are best for photographing the lake, as if you wait until afternoon, you may get a lot of shadows – plus the lake is much less likely to be calm. (I’ve seen photos of Avalanche Lake when the water is choppy and the photos don’t turn out as compelling as when you’re here when the water is calm).
Avalanche Lake Hike in Glacier National Park – Final Thoughts
Pros:
- This is an easy enough hike that almost anyone can do it. We saw people of all ages doing this hike!
- Not only is Avalanche Lake beautiful, Avalanche Creek is also very photogenic.
- Trail is very easy to follow. You will not get lost
- Lots of room at the lakeshore to enjoy a picnic lunch or a nap
Cons:
- Parking can be a huge issue. Get here early (before 7am) or very late in the afternoon.
- You definitely won’t be alone on this trail!
