Logan Pass, Hidden Lake and Mountain Goats

Reynolds Mountain and Clements Mountain rise above the pass. Because the parking lot often fills early, the free park shuttle is an easy way to get here without hunting for a space.

In summer, the meadows around the pass fill with wildflowers. Yellow glacier lilies are often the first to appear, pushing up through lingering snow, and a range of hardy alpine plants soon takes their place. At the Logan Pass Visitor Center, rangers can help you choose a day hike, and there is a bookstore, restrooms and a water bottle fill station.

The Hidden Lake Overlook Trail starts at Logan Pass and is one of the most popular walks in the park. It runs about a mile and a half each way on a mix of boardwalk and gravel, climbing roughly 460 feet through the fragile alpine terrain. At the overlook, Hidden Lake spreads out below Bearhat Mountain, with the jagged ridge of Dragons Tail in the distance. Hikers who want more can keep going down to the lakeshore, about three miles from the pass.

This trail is one of the easiest places in Glacier to see mountain goats, the official park symbol. They live in alpine terrain and can work their way across nearly vertical cliffs and narrow ledges. Despite the name, they are more closely related to the chamois of Europe than to farm goats, and they are the only living member of their genus.

Bighorn sheep also graze these meadows, and a grizzly bear sometimes passes through. Early morning brings soft light on the peaks and better odds of spotting wildlife before the crowds arrive.