Glacier National Park Sun Road

Lake McDonald

Ten miles long and roughly 460 feet deep, this glacier-carved lake shows off colored pebbles — red, green, blue, purple — ground from billion-year-old seafloor rock. Lake McDonald Lodge, built in 1913 from native stone and cedar hauled across the frozen lake by sled, still sits on its shore.

The Jammers and the Red Buses

When Going-to-the-Sun Road opened in 1933, so many tourists were too frightened by the sheer drop-offs and lack of guardrails to drive it themselves that the park hired professional drivers in fleet of red buses. Those drivers earned the nickname "Jammers" from the grinding sound of their unsynchronized transmissions — a name that has stuck for over ninety years.

The Loop

The only switchback on the entire fifty-mile road exists because a landscape architect named Thomas Vint convinced the Park Service to build one long curve instead of fifteen switchbacks. It's also the site of the park's most dramatic crime — a 2013 murder case that made national news.

Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Gorge

This boardwalk loop winds through western red cedars that have been growing since roughly 1517 — decades before the Pilgrims arrived — and crosses a bridge over a slot canyon carved by ten thousand years of glacial meltwater.

Logan Pass

At 6,646 feet, this is the highest point on the drive, where mountain goats walk the ridgeline without a hint of fear. It's also the trailhead for the Highline Trail and Hidden Lake Overlook, two of the most rewarding optional stops on the entire route.

The Lewis Overthrust

The mountains around you are one and a half billion years old, sitting on rock that's only sixty-five million years old — a geological reversal caused by an ancient slab of seafloor the size of Connecticut sliding fifty miles east and landing on top of younger stone.

Jackson Glacier Overlook

This is the only spot on the entire road where you can see a living glacier without hiking a single step. Jackson Glacier has lost nearly forty percent of its area since 1966, and scientists project most of the park's glaciers could vanish by 2030.

Wild Goose Island Overlook

The most photographed scene in the park — a half-acre island rising fourteen feet above St. Mary Lake — was also the filming location for the opening aerial sequence of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining in 1980.

Rising Sun Motor Inn

Built in 1940, this was the only facility in the entire park that stayed open during World War Two while every grand hotel and chalet closed. It marks the eastern end of your drive across Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Still Planning Your Glacier Trip?

Don't let good intentions turn into a scattered road trip with no real plan. Glacier National Park spans hundreds of miles of trails, lakes, and scenic drives — trying to wing it means missing the moments people fly across the country for.

Read The Ultimate Glacier National Park Itinerary now and get the exact day-by-day breakdown — from Going-to-the-Sun Road to Many Glacier's grizzly country — so every hour of your trip counts toward the views, hikes, and stories you'll actually remember. Whether you've got one day or five, the plan is already built. All you have to do is follow it.