Located along U.S. Highway 2 just east of Essex is the Goat Lick Overlook, where people can stop and check out some of Glacier National Park’s famous scenery and, if you’re lucky, see one of the park’s most iconic residents – mountain goats.
While mountain goats usually prefer higher elevations, they often make the trek downhill to the Middle Fork of the Flathead River to find salt on the river’s edge.
There is a small parking lot just below Highway 2 where people can park and walk a short nature trail.
Other vantage points can be had from alongside the highway.
Be sure to look underneath the road, as sometimes the goats may be hiding in the shade.
Although this overlook is in Glacier Park, you do not have to pay an entrance fee because it’s right along the highway.
How to get there:
From Kalispell follow U.S. Highway 2 east to Essex, where you will enter Glacier National Park.
The Goat Lick Overlook, on the south side of the road, is about two miles east of the Walton Ranger Station.