Highline Trail Opens in Glacier Park
The popular trail between Logan Pass and Granite Park opened three weeks later than last season as lingering snow patches may still require caution
By Tristan Scott
The Highline Trail, an airy footpath etched into the face of the Garden Wall that stretches from Logan Pass to Granite Park across Glacier National Park’s alpine country, is open to travelers, park officials announced Friday.
National Park Service staff announced the classic trail had opened the morning of July 12, three weeks later than last year’s June 22 opening. Sections of low-angle snow remain on portions of the trail and officials urged travelers to watch their footing if they do encounter patches of snow.
Gina Icenoggle, a park spokesperson, attributed the trail’s late opening to a mountain snowpack that was slow to melt as freezing temperatures persisted later than usual in Glacier’s high country, where snow continued to accumulate during the month of May. At 6,600 feet, Logan Pass often continues to receive winter weather into June; however, this year ‘s environmental factors were twofold: freezing temperatures preserved the existing snowpack as the storms continued to supplement it.
“This year we just didn’t have mother nature’s help in melting the trail out naturally,” Icenoggle said Friday. “Our trail crews were keeping an eye on the lingering snow waiting for it to melt out on its own, and with the arrival of the hotter weather they were able to help it along a little. Summer took its time getting here this year, but it’s sure here now and the Highline is open.”
Officials also cautioned that because the trail has seen very little human travel this year, wildlife is abundant and visitors should be bear aware and carry pepper spray.
Considered by locals as the second official sign of summer in this region of northwest Montana — the first sign manifesting in the June 22 opening of the entire length of the Going-to-the-Sun Road — the Highline Trail ranks among the quintessential hikes in Glacier Park, tracing 7.6 miles from Logan Pass along the Continental Divide to the Granite Park Chalet, a remote backcountry destination that is open for overnight stays until Sept. 10. After gaining approximately 2,137 feet of elevation and losing 2,110 feet between the Divide and the chalet, the trail then descends another five miles and 2,000 feet to The Loop, the hairpin turn on the segment of the Going-to-the-Sun Road west of the Divide.
One of the classic ways to tackle the trail is to park at The Loop take one of the free shuttle buses up to Logan Pass and hike back to a waiting vehicle.
