One of the most scenic lakes in the park as well as the longest is Lake McDonald. It is 10 miles long as well as 472-feet deep. The Kootenai called it "Sacred Dancing Lake" and performed ceremonies on the shore. Guided boat tours, fishing, and recreational boating are popular activities.
Hidden Lake Overlook is a popular destination for hikers after reaching Logan pass, which straddles the Continental Divide. The 1.5 mile (one way) boardwalk to the overlook crosses the hanging Gardens of Logan Pass, an area filled with wildflowers and surrounded by jagged peaks. There is about an 800-foot increase in elevation. The exertion should be well within the capabilities of most children and older visitors.
Guided day hikes on the Garden Wall, the cliff that makes up the central Continental Divide, and talks at the Logan Pass Visitor Center are offered. note that the Logan Pass section of Going-to-the-Sun Road is open from mid-June to mid-October, though lower elevation sections of the road remain open year-round.
The 5.5-mile Grinnell Glacier Trail from Many Glacier Hotel brings hikers to one of the most visible glaciers in the park. Along the way, it passes beautiful mountain views and wildflower patches. Hikers can ride the Many Glacier tour boats for part of the trail's length, along Swiftcurrent and Josephine lakes. Although Icebergs Lake's glacier disappeared long ago, it still delights visitors with a flotilla of icebergs that remain well into July and August. The lake lies at the base of a 3,000-foot sheer cliff, and its freezing waters were long rumored to be home to Montana's fur-bearing trout (or so mischievous mountain men told newcomers). It is reached via a 4.7 mile trail from Swiftcurrent Motor Inn in Many Glacier.
Many believe the most dazzling colors of rock and foliage are in Two Medicine Valley, near East Glacier. Here, mountains of red, yellow, and green stone encircle lakes filled with fish. Because of the way valleys curve and twist in the Two Medicine area, hikers often laud it for containg the most dramatic collection of trails and viewpoints. Its name comes from when the Blackfeet and Blood agreed to hold joint medicine lodge ceremonies. The Blood didn't arrive at the designated time, however, so each tribe ended up holding separate ceremonies in medicine lodges set up near one another.
Running Eagle Falls near Two Medicine Lake used to be known at Trick Falls, and the reason is quite obvious. This full-throated waterfall tumbles over a cliff and pours out of a huge hole in the cliff wall. Later in the season, the upper fall dries up, leaving the lower fall apparently springing from solid rock.
This paved, two lane highway extends 52 miles and spans the width of Glacier, crossing the Continental Divide at 6,646-foot high Logan pass. The Logan Pass section of the road is open from mid-June through mid-October, though lower elevation sections remain open year round. The road passes through almost every type of terrain in the park, from large glacial lakes and cedar forests in the lower valleys to windswept alpine tundra atop the pass. Numerous viewpoints and pullouts line the road, so motorists can stop for extended views and photos. Especially during the busy months of July and August, travel the road during early mornings and late afternoons to enjoy the least amount of traffic and the best light for photographing the road's spectacular sights.
The road is well worth traveling in both directions, as the view from one side of the road is much different than from the other. The western half presents and unending sea of choppy peaks. Thee opposite outlook is equally dramatic, with the abrupt switch from mountains to Montana plains stretching to the far horizon.
At 422 feet tall and 3,055 feet long, Libby Dam spans the Kootenai River 17 miles upstream from the Libby in beautiful northwestern Montana. Lake Koocanusa is 90 miles long with a maximum depth of roughly 370 feet. Koocanusa is not an Indian name. In 1971 Alice Beers from Rexford, Montana, won a contest to name the reservoir formed by the Libby Dam. She combined the first three letters of the Kootenai River, the first three letters from Canada, as well as USA.
Libby Dam is a "straight axis, concrete gravity" dam anchored in bedrock. This means that the dam is built straight across the river and not curved or arched. It also means that Libby Dam is made of concrete and its massive weight holds back the water. The dam holds back 5.8 million acre feet of water. An acre-foot of water is one acre of land covered with one foot of water, which equals 325,804 gallons. If the water were spread out one foot deep, it would cover an area larger than Massachusetts. The Kootenai River is one of the largest tributaries to the Columbia River, contributing nearly 20 percent of the water in the lower Columbia River. The dam contains 7.6 million tons of concrete, which is enough concrete to built a two-lane highway from Libby, Montana to Washington, D. C. That distance is approximately 2,290 miles.
Libby Dam was built to provide flood protection for the Kootenai and lower Columbia Rivers. In addition to that, it provided another source of hydroelectric power.