Last Updated on: 31st March 2024, 09:01 pm
Glacier National Park is comprised of several different districts, but lots of visitors call Many Glacier their favorite. The area offers some of the park’s best hiking experiences, while it’s also home to pristine lakes and abundant wildlife. In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at two of Many Glacier’s top hikes: Iceberg Lake and Red Rock Falls.
Before going further, it should be stated that the top hike in Many Glacier is the hike to Grinnell Glacier – arguably the top hike in the entire park. If you only have one day in Many Glacier, make hiking to Grinnell Glacier your top priority. But if you have two days, hiking to Iceberg Lake is a great way to spend the other.
Glacier National Park is probably one of the most difficult and stressful parks to plan for, as districts like Many Glacier require advanced vehicle reservations. At the time of writing, you’ll have to secure these four months in advance, with permits often selling out in minutes!
We’ll go into detail about the complicated process in our dedicated Glacier National Park planning guide. But for now, keep in mind that if you fail to secure a vehicle reservation for Many Glacier, one workaround is to book a tour with the Glacier Park Boat Company for the days you want to hike.
Hotel bookings within Many Glacier, of course, will also grant you access to the area. Learn more about Many Glacier accommodation options, along with the current park fees, at the end of the article.
Hiking to Iceberg Lake
About This Hike
THE BASICS: This is a 9.5-mile (15.4 km) out-and-back hike with about 1460 ft (445 m) of elevation gain. It could be considered a moderate hike, with its main challenge being the overall distance.
Expect it to take you a little over four hours, though some people like to linger for a while at Iceberg Lake.
As mentioned above, Iceberg Lake is located in the park’s Many Glacier district, for which you’ll need either a vehicle reservation or tour/hotel booking to enter.
As we’ll cover below, this trail is a common place to see or encounter grizzly bears. And if there’s been too much bear activity, rangers may even close the trail for a time. See the latest trail status reports here.
WHAT TO BRING: As with any summer hike, you’ll want to come prepared with water, a hat and sunscreen. Hiking boots would be ideal but aren’t necessary.
Another essential item you should definitely bring is bear spray, which essentially acts as mace. Be sure to research in advance how to use it, and also how you should react in a bear encounter before reaching for your spray. You can learn more here, while there are plenty of great YouTube videos on the topic.
While you can find some good deals online, you’re not allowed to fly with bear spray, so you’ll have to buy it locally unless you’re driving from home.
People living in bear country generally discourage the use of bear bells, even nicknaming them ‘dinner bells.’
RECOMMENDED APPS: You can find the full trail outlined on AllTrails, though you’ll have to pay for a yearly subscription in order to download it and access it offline.
Otherwise, the free Maps.me app should come in handy.
The Iceberg Lake hike shares a trailhead with the hike to the Ptarmigan Tunnel. You can find the trailhead near the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn.
For those not staying at the Siwftcurrent Motor Inn or its adjacent campsites, you’ll want to arrive early to ensure you find a parking space. Arriving a little before 8:00, I found plenty of spaces available, though it’s said to fill up by late morning.
To my surprise, few other hikers were on the trail at this time. Normally, this would a great thing. But at a park like Glacier, there’s strength in numbers, as large groups of hikers are more likely to keep the local bears off the trails.
As signs warn you about at the trailhead, this hike takes you deep into bear country. While all of Glacier National Park (and Montana as a whole) could be considered bear country, the Iceberg Lake trail is one of Glacier’s most notorious when it comes to bear encounters.
As mentioned above, park rangers will occasionally close certain trails if too many bears have been spotted in the area.
Before your hike to Iceberg Lake (or anywhere at Glacier), it’s imperative to research bear safety, such as how to minimize chances of a surprise encounter, and what to do if you experience one.
While I can’t claim to be an expert, based on my research and from talking with locals and rangers, I learned that bears are not out there looking for humans to prey on.
On the contrary, they want absolutely nothing to do with us. And if they hear you coming in advance, they’ll voluntarily move out of the way (at least most of the time). Problem arise, however, when bears are caught by surprise.
You’ll always want to keep your eyes peeled when hiking in bear country. Fortunately, this trail starts off quite open, allowing you to see far ahead in the distance.
It’s generally recommended to hike as a group at Glacier, as bears will surely hear a loud conversation from far away. If you’re hiking alone, try clapping your hands together or even talking to yourself as you hike.
In my case, my travel companions were not big hikers, and so I ended up doing many of the hikes solo. While not ideal, I obviously survived. But this early on in the hike, I wasn’t so sure of how things would turn out.
With few other hikers on the trail, I took thing extra slowly, carefully examining my surroundings while listening for the faintest sound (in between my own claps, of course).
But what if you do encounter a bear? It’s important to keep your distance while slowly backing away. Never run from a bear, while having bear spray on you at all times is a must. Think of it as pepper spray or mace for bears.
Bear spray is said to significantly reduce the chance of attack, though you should only use it if the bear starts approaching you aggressively.
As you hike along the Iceberg Lake Trail, you’ll eventually encounter a forested area. And it’s here that I encountered some bear scat. At least it didn’t appear fresh.
I then heard a noise in the forest and stopped in my tracks. But to my relief, it was only a group of hikers. As they were a family with little kids, it wasn’t long before I passed them and found myself alone again.
At roughly 60% through the hike, you’ll encounter the Ptarmigan Falls. The water level seemed low during my visit, but it’s said to be very impressive when the level is higher. This would be a good place to rest your legs if you’re already feeling tired.
Moving on, it’s shortly after the falls that the trail will fork. The righthand path will take you all the way to Ptarmigan Lake and the Ptarmigan Tunnel. But as this guide only focuses on Iceberg Lake, be sure to continue along lefthand path.
The trail finally opens up again, offering clear views of the glacier-sculpted mountains. While, as mentioned, the hike to Iceberg Lake isn’t all that challenging, it’s near the end that you’ll have to deal with a majority of the elevation gain. But it’s nowhere near as exhausting as the hike to Grinnell Glacier.
It was around here that I met some other hikers who’d been repeatedly visiting Glacier for years. And this was their fifth or sixth time doing this hike!
As complicated as the park can be to plan for, plenty of people still come back year after year. And with views like these, it’s easy to see why.
You’ll eventually find yourself walking over a series of small rivers, which is a sign that the final destination is very close.
Before reaching Iceberg Lake, you’ll encounter Iceberg Creek on your right. But just continue along the trail and it won’t be long before you make it to the end.
After a final uphill climb, it’s then a short descent to Iceberg Lake. After the long hike, it’s quite an experience to catch the first glimpse of the lake above the trees in the distance.
The lake rests under Iceberg Peak, situated some 3,000 feet above it. And even on this warm summer day, it remained filled with packs of ice and snow. Supposedly, however, the icebergs after which the lake was first named are no more.
Iceberg Lake is indeed stunning and well worth the hike out to see. But to my surprise, despite having encountered few other hikers on the trail (and having passed by most of them), I arrived to find around 30-40 people sitting around the lake!
Unless there’s some secret shortcut, a lot of people must start this hike very early with the goal of spending much of the day relaxing by the lake.
There were even several people daring enough to swim. But as tired and sweaty as I was, I opted to stay dry and enjoy the water from a distance.
As I sat relaxing, eating the snacks I’d brought and taking in the scenery, more and more hikers began to arrive. The scene only grew louder and more hectic, and I figured it was time to start making my way back.
Back on the trail, I encountered a lot more hikers on the return trip. And after exchanging greetings, almost everyone asked me the same question: ‘See any bears?’
For whatever reason, I didn’t end up seeing any bears on this rather infamous trail. It was simultaneously a relief and a slight disappointment!
Fishercap Lake & Red Rock Falls
The Swiftcurrent Motor Inn is also the departure point for yet another popular Many Glacier trail. Officially known as the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail, it leads to a few different landmarks.
The longest version of the hike is to Bullhead Lake which is about 6.7 miles (10.9 km) from the trailhead. The full out-and-back hike would take you about 2.5 hours.
But you can also cut things short by turning around at Red Rock Falls, which is what I did. This cuts the full hike in half to about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) roundtrip.
But if you’re hiking in the evening, the real highlight of this hike is something that you’ll pass by early on in the hike. Not far from the trailhead is Fishercap Lake, one of Glacier National Park’s top spots for moose watching.
You’ll find Fishercap Lake Just a fourth of a mile past the trailhead. It’s not directly alongside the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail, however, and you’ll have to walk down one of the side trails to reach the lake. Oddly, these side trails don’t appear on AllTrials, but they do indeed exist.
Though I could’ve started the hike in the afternoon, I decided to wait around until evening when animal encounters are more likely. Luckily, the waiting paid off, and I arrived to find a female moose feeding in the lake.
Moose come here to feed on the plants that grow on the lake floor. According to some people who’d arrived before me, this moose had a calf with her, but it was nowhere to be seen by the time I arrived.
Many visitors bring lawn chairs and binoculars to Fishercap Lake, intending to hang around for hours while to enjoy the show. And that would certainly be a great way to spend your time in the area, though I decided to keep on walking.
The hike to Red Rock Falls is flat and easy and relatively uneventful. While I didn’t have any encounters, the same precautions toward bears mentioned above also apply here.
During my hike, another hiker pointed out a wild huckleberry bush. Huckleberry pie is a common delicacy in Montana, but these berries are especially delicious straight off the bush.
Eventually, I finally made it to Red Rock Falls. As its name suggests, it is indeed a series of waterfalls flowing over some red rocks. And there are a few different ways to appreciate the views.
You can either follow the main trail to enjoy the falls from above, or take a downhill side trail that allows you to view them from a lower angle.
As pretty as they are, there are plenty more impressive landmarks to see throughout Glacier National Park. Nevertheless, the hike to Red Rock Falls is a nice and relaxing way to spend a couple of hours following one of Many Glacier’s more intensive hikes.
The Bears of Many Glacier
As mentioned above, I didn’t end up encountering any bears on my hike to Iceberg Lake (or any other hikes at Glacier, for that matter). But it was elsewhere in Many Glacier that I spotted at least three different bears over the course of my stay.
Interestingly enough, all of these sighting occurred from the car while driving along Many Glacier Road when coming in and out of the park. While I’m no bear expert, it appears that all those I spotted around here were black bears.
As at Yellowstone, if you see a car parked in a seemingly random area, there’s a high chance that someone has spotted wildlife nearby.
Additional Info
When it comes to choosing accommodation at or near Glacier National Park, you have the choice of staying on the west side of the park or on the east side.
Given the park’s geography, it would be wise to spend some time on both sides of the park throughout the duration of your trip. And when it comes to Many Glacier, the district can only be accessed from the east.
I stayed in the small town of Babb, which is just a thirty-minute drive from Many Glacier. Additionally, it also offers easy access to the Going-to-the-Sun Road, not to mention the Canadian border if you plan on visiting Waterton Lakes.
I stayed at the Glacier Elkhorn Cabins and Campground which I’d highly recommend. Accommodation throughout Montana is surprisingly expensive, and that’s especially true of places near the park. With that in mind, Elkhorn is a great value.
While the bathroom was shared, it was a short walk from my cabin. There’s also an on-site restaurant, while the owners can provide great information about the area. As the name suggests, you can also camp here if a cabin is beyond your budget.
Elsewhere on the east side of Glacier is the town of St. Mary. It’s about 30 minutes from the Many Glacier Hotel and it’s also situated near the east entrance to the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Other than St. Mary Village and Duck Lake Lodge, however, there don’t seem to be too many places that are bookable online.
Of course, you can also stay within Many Glacier itself, either at the iconic Many Glacier Hotel or at the smaller Swiftcurrent Motor Inn.
After camping for four nights at Yellowstone, I wasn’t in the mood to do so here, but the area is also home to the Many Glacier Campground. It’s just next to the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and you can make bookings here.
While we’ll go into detail in our dedicated Glacier National Park planning guide, I ended up spending three nights on the east side of the park (in Babb) and two nights on the west. But looking back, I wish I would’ve spent four nights on the east and only my final night on the west.
At the time of writing, Glacier National Park costs $35 per vehicle to enter (learn more here).
US National Parks parks typically charge per vehicle rather than per person. However, if you’re traveling by bicycle instead, they’ll charge you for an individual pass which costs $20, while those on motorcycles will be charged $30.
(*Note: These are just the fees for the park entrance passes, which on their own do NOT grant you access to certain areas like Many Glacier or North Fork. Learn more about vehicle reservations in our dedicated Glacier planning guide.)
Considering how many National Parks and National Monuments there are to see in the Southwest alone, the best option for most will be to buy an ‘America the Beautiful’ Annual National Parks Pass.
These cost $80 for the year. In most cases, you’re already saving money by just visiting four National Parks/Monuments anywhere in the country within a full year.
What’s more, is that only one person in your vehicle needs to have the pass. Additionally, seniors can buy the pass for just $20. So if you have someone over 62 in your party, just have them get the annual pass and everyone else will be set.
As for where to get the pass, you can purchase it in person at most National Parks or Monuments. But you can also order it in advance online.