Hiker Injured in Glacier Park Bear Encounter

A 35-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries in an encounter with a bear on Glacier National Park’s Highline Trail early Thursday morning, prompting rangers to close a section of the alpine route between Haystack Butte and Granite Park Chalet. The injured hiker and his hiking party encountered the bear near the spur trail to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook, according to a press release.

According to Glacier Park Spokesperson Gina Icenoggle, details about the encounter were still scant by early afternoon as a ranger and a wildlife technician investigated the remote site where the bear encounter occurred along the Continental Divide and tried to piece together what happened. As of 1:30 p.m., Icenoggle could only share what limited information a law enforcement ranger had dispatched to headquarters with a satellite communications device.

“The injured visitor hiked to Granite Park Chalet with assistance from rangers and other hikers where he was met by Two Bear Air and flown to the Apgar horse corrals, then transported by Three Rivers ambulance to the hospital in Whitefish,” according to the press release. “No further details are currently available.”

Among the details Icenoggle said were still unknown is whether the bear was a grizzly or black bear, where the injured hiker is from, whether the hiker surprised the bear, whether the hiker deployed bear spray, and the extent of the hiker’s injuries.

The Highline Trail’s closure will remain in place until further notice. Hikers starting at The Loop trailhead may still travel as far as Granite Park Chalet, while visitors beginning at Logan Pass may proceed to Haystack.

Icenoggle said she’ll provide more information to the public as wildlife managers investigate the encounter.

“There’s a lot we still don’t know, including what kind of bear it was, but we wanted to get the word out to visitors,” Icenoggle said. “This hasn’t happened in so long.”

There has been one other bear-related injury this summer, which occurred in July when a Glacier Park trail crew member encountered a sow grizzly with cubs and received a bite on their hand. It was the first bear encounter with an on-duty park employee in 40 years, according to Icenoggle.

In July 2020, a Kalispell woman was running on Glacier’s Huckleberry Lookout Trail when she collided with a young grizzly bear crossing the trail and sustained minor injuries in the surprise encounter.

Prior to that incident, the last injury caused by a grizzly bear in Glacier Park was in August 2016 when an off-duty park employee startled a bear while picking huckleberries in the Swiftcurrent Valley. That incident also resulted in minor injuries.

In 2015, a 65-year-old man from Wisconsin was grabbed and shaken by a grizzly bear while hiking alone near Mount Henkel above the Many Glacier Valley in an incident that involved a sow with cubs. The hiker successfully deployed bear spray, causing the bear to release him and run away. The man received puncture wounds to his extremities.

And in August 2011, a 50-year-old Minnesota man was hiking alone on the trail between Many Glacier and Piegan Pass when he rounded a bend in the trail and encountered a sow grizzly with one sub-adult. The hiker was carrying bear spray but was unable to deploy it before the bear attacked, according to park officials. The hiker sustained bites to his left thigh and left forearm before the bear grabbed his foot, shook him, released him and left the area.

Visitors to Glacier National Park are reminded that the park is home to black and grizzly bears. Hikers are highly encouraged to hike in groups, make noise when hiking, and have bear spray accessible and know how to use it.  For information on trail closures in the park, visit the park’s trail status webpage. 

For more information about recreating in bear country, please visit the park’s bear safety webpage.  

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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