Lake McDonald, Montana, United States

5radx4 5:00 PM Jul 12, 2021

Picturesque Lake
Though not the most impressive lake in Glacier National Park, Lake McDonald is very pretty with very still water and surrounded by beautiful mountains. If you are visiting Glacier National Park, I recommend stopping by Lake McDonald at least once. We were able to take the Lake McDonald boat tour. The tour takes you around the lake, and a tour guide provides narration giving some history of the lake, the park, and the surrounding area. Our tour guide was very good and knew a lot about the park, which made for a fun experience. Although the view from the boat isn't substantially different from what you can see on the shore, we did get to see some unique landscapes -- especially the mountains to the north. Note that if you have a reservation for the boat tour you will be able to enter the park from West Glacier even if you do not have a Going to the Sun Road ticket. I suspect many reservations did this as we were able to take the boat tour with a last minute reservation from the wait list due to large numbers of no-show reservations. Overall, the tour is relaxing and a nice way to take in views of the surrounding mountains. We did get to see some wildlife from the boat including birds. The best way to experience Lake McDonald is from the Lake McDonald Lodge. Be sure to check out the river north of the lake as well for some pretty views of rushing water. There are also hiking trails in the area.

5Kathy Z 5:00 PM Jun 30, 2022

Spectacular lake and views - take advantage of Glacier Park Boat rides.
Stunning lake and scenery. We took a Glacier Park boat ride to savor the beauty of this remote jewel. The guides on the boats are always informative but we so enjoyed the views, even though it was raining and windy. The Glacier Parks boats are works of art in themselves and beautifully maintained, the friendly crew and boats are always ready to go out because of the enclosed seating area/cabin in any weather. In Glacier NP in mid June we had every weather, wind, rain, a snow shower and a magnificent pair of thunderstorms. Dress accordingly in layers! We took 4 boat rides and booked all of them in advance, although you can usually call early in the morning for openings.