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clear, glacier national park, mountains, summer, swimming

Rising Sun

Glacier National Park


You’ll welcome this handy pit stop on Going-to-the-Sun Rd, with useful tourist facilities including a motel, restaurant, showers, small grocery and boat launch. At the peculiarly named Two Dog Flats nearby, thick trees give way to grassy meadows, making it much easier to spot bears, coyotes and elk.

The campground and other facilities sit just off St Mary Lake, where the most daring can enjoy a cold yet refreshing swim.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Glacier National Park attractions

1. Wild Goose Island

1.14 MILES

This tiny stub of an island with a handful of lopsided trees perches precariously in the middle of St Mary Lake, providing a perfect photo op for…

2. Sun Point

3.17 MILES

This rocky, often windy promontory overlooks St Mary Lake and was the site of some of the park’s earliest and most luxurious chalets (now demolished)…

3. St Mary Lake

3.3 MILES

Located on the park’s dryer eastern side, where the mountains melt imperceptibly into the Great Plains, St Mary Lake lies in a deep, glacier-carved valley…

4. Sunrift Gorge

3.74 MILES

Just off Going-to-the-Sun Rd and adjacent to a shuttle stop lies this narrow canyon carved over millennia by the gushing glacial meltwaters of Baring…

5. St Mary Visitor Center

5.06 MILES

Houses interesting exhibits on wildlife, geology and Native American culture and history, as well as an auditorium featuring slide shows and ranger talks…

6. Jackson Glacier Overlook

6.27 MILES

This popular pull-over, located a short walk from the Gunsight Pass trailhead, offers telescopic views of the park’s fifth-largest glacier, which sits…

7. Glacier National Park

8.68 MILES

The rival of any of the United States' most spectacular national parks, including Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park is…

8. Logan Pass Visitor Center

9.13 MILES

In the most magnificent setting of all the park's visitor centers, the building has park information, interactive exhibits and a good gift shop. The…