While most visitors to Glacier National Park drive along Going to the Sun Road on the east shore of Lake McDonald, few know of the trail that runs along the west shore and even fewer hike it.
We started at the north end of the trail after taking a left onto North Lake McDonald Drive past McDonald Creek and the Lake McDonald Ranger Station to a place known as Kelly’s Camp. We parked our car and started walking.
The trail starts out in a wooded area and then quickly breaks out into the burn from the 2003 Moose Fire. It runs along the shore of Lake McDonald giving you different views of Lake McDonald with the views looking back north particularly impressive.
A little more than two miles into the hike, you come to the spur trail for a campground on a peninsula which would be a toasty campsite offering no protection from the sun in the summer due to it being in a stand of burned trees.
Eventually (about four more miles), the trail finds some more shade as you hit the wonderful cliffs of the Rocky Point area as you approach Fish Creek. Past this, the trail forks and heads to the Inside North Fork Road or continues on to the campground and further on to the picnic area.
Beyond the picnic area, you find one of the few sections of trail that are available to bicycles and it ends up dumping you onto the Camas Creek Road which would easily bring you back to Apgar giving those that camp at Apgar a nice little place to ride their bikes to if they want to picnic over at Fish Creek.
Leave a Reply