North Fork Meadows

North Fork Meadows

Heading up the Inside North Fork Road in Glacier National Park, there are a bunch of meadows that dot the landscape. Three of these meadows have trails.

Heading north from Fish Creek, the first meadow you come to is McGee Meadow. There is an overlook from the Camas side and this trail allows you to walk to the meadow itself. The trailhead is actually the old trailhead for Huckleberry Lookout before the Camas Road was built. This trail is primarily used as a ski trail and is rarely maintained making it not overly user friendly. It is next to impossible to find from the Camas Road side unless you’re looking for it (hint: start at the Huckleberry Lookout trailhead and walk across the road and stumble around until you find the trail). The two reasons I see that you’d take this trail would be if you wanted to get to the meadow or you wanted to access that area of the Inside North Fork Road before it’s opened to vehicles to get to trails such as Howe Lake.

The second meadow you’ll come to is Hidden Meadow. This is a beautiful meadow that’s a short 1.5 mile hike with only 200 feet of elevation gain. It is well maintained and has a lovely pond at one end giving you a great opportunity to see some waterfowl at minimum and perhaps anything from deer to elk to wolves to bears.

The final meadow is right after the Polebridge crossing into the park. Covey Meadow is located on the southeast corner of the junction of the Polebridge road and the Inside North Fork Road. Considered a cross-country ski trail to the meadow, the trail is maintained in the summer for hiking and is a nice meadow with fantastic views. It’s a horseshoe shape and can be done as an out and back or can be walked in the loop with a walk or a little hitchhike on the Inside North Fork Road to close the loop.

McGee Meadow
McGee Meadow

Hidden Meadow
Hidden Meadow

Covey Meadow
Covey Meadow

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One response to “North Fork Meadows”

  1. Deb Franciosi Avatar
    Deb Franciosi

    My husband and I wandered into the meadows a few years ago. Although we didn’t see them, there was bear sign everywhere (must be some kind of tasty tuber in those grasses). Absolutely lovely and no one to be seen or heard.

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