An alternative way to Glacier National Park's Avalanche Creek

There is a “back door” and pleasant way to Avalanche Creek that few people hike in Glacier National Park.

The trail runs along the McDonald Creek Valley from Lake McDonald Lodge to Avalanche Creek. We hike it (sometimes snowshoe, sometimes ski) at least once a year for the annual Christmas Bird Count. But in the summer, it’s just as pleasant for those folks who like deep woods and surprising quiet, even though sometimes you can see the traffic on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The trail is flat and runs through groves of cedars and hemlocks and larch, some of which are gigantic.

On this day we started at the John’s Lake Loop Trailhead on the Sun Road, hiked the 4.4 miles or so to Avalanche Gorge and turned around and came back.

We saw a black bear, a few birds, a few squirrels and pretty much had the trail to ourselves, as we saw just a handful of hikers along the way until we reached the crowds at Avalanche Creek.

A note about bears — this trail does see a fair amount of bear activity, as it seems to be a wildlife route for creatures avoiding the Sun Road. There have been a couple of grizzly bear incidents on the trail over the years, so be sure to carry bear spray just in case.

You can also start at Lake McDonald Lodge, of course, but in the summer months it’s also used by horse tours, so you’ll have a little more than a mile of hiking in a trail of horse tracks and poop.

You can also extend the hike all the way to Avalanche Lake, though the crowds will obviously be thicker once you get to Avalanche Creek.