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Lake McDonald

Photo: Jacob W. Frank / National Park Service / Public Domain (NPS) · source

🌊 Lakes & rivers

Lake McDonald

West Glacier, MT · Glacier Country

About

Ten miles long and the biggest lake in Glacier National Park, Lake McDonald sits at the western foot of Going-to-the-Sun Road, where the water goes glass-still at dawn and hands back a perfect copy of the snow-streaked peaks above it. Wade in along the Apgar shoreline and the real prize is underfoot: a scatter of smooth pebbles in deep reds, greens, and slate-blues, colored by the iron in stone the glaciers ground down ages ago. Rent a kayak, ride the historic wooden tour boat DeSmet, or just stand on the gravel and watch the larch turn gold in October.

Highlights

Mirror reflections of the peaks at dawnFamous multicolored pebble shorelineLargest lake in Glacier National ParkHistoric DeSmet wooden tour boatFoot of Going-to-the-Sun Road

Getting there

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The Rocky Mountains21 places

The Rocky Mountains

Alpine lakes, fourteeners, and golden aspen along the spine of the West. The Rockies at their most iconic: the Maroon Bells mirrored in their lake, the Tetons rising straight off the valley floor, Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road, the red spires of the Garden of the Gods, and Idaho's serrated Sawtooths over Redfish Lake. From Colorado's San Juans to the Wyoming Tetons, Montana's Glacier, and the Idaho high country, with high passes and old mining towns in between.