Friday, Sept. 5th we decided to explore the Going-to-the-Sun Road, the highlight and a must see for any visitor to Glacier NP. This was our first time driving west to east through the Park, it is a beautiful sunny day so the views are spectacular. The road followed Lake McDonald and McDonald Creek for several miles, after leaving the dense forest we had our first view of the Road winding up the side of the mountain called the Garden Wall. Everywhere we looked there were views of towering mountains, and many places to pull off the side of the road to get photos.
The Going-to-the-Sun Road was completed in 1932, and opened from end-to-end in 1933 at a cost of $2.5 million. It was an engineering marvel and is a National Historic Landmark and a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and bisects the Park west to east crossing over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass 6,646ft. The road was named for the Going-to-the-Sun Mountain which dominates the eastbound view at Logan Pass. Once we reached Logan Pass the parking lot was full so we continued down the east side toward St Mary. We stopped along the way to see the view of Jackson Glacier in the distance and St Mary Lake.
We took the loop south toward Glacier Park Lodge at East Glacier, where we had lunch. The Lodge was built in 1913, the first to house visitors to the Park, and it is located outside the Park boundaries across from the Railway Depot. Entering the Lodge the impressive 3 story lobby takes your breath away, it is 200′ by 100′, lined with Douglas Fir columns, 40′ tall and between 36′ to 42′ in diameter – 60 trees were used, shipped from the Pacific Northwest. The Lodge and the addition completed in 1915 cost $500,000. It is open from May to September and closes the rest of the year, so if you want to stay here you have to book early. We enjoyed a nice lunch and wandered through the lobby and the breezeway with cozy seating looking out at the mountains. We drove south to complete the loop back to West Glacier arriving back about 5:30 for dinner and a campfire. What a way to end a great day!