View from the Highline Trail, Glacier National Park [Photo: Bill Hayden, 2005, Glacier Photo Gallery]

Established by President Taft as the 10th national park in 1910, Glacier National Park sits at the northern border of the United States. These 1,000,000 acres of northwest Montana were originally only accessible via the Great Northern Railway, which completed the railroad over Marias Pass in 1891. Early tourists stayed in backcountry chalets and lodges accessed on horseback. Demand led the park to build the Going-to-the-Sun Road to allow the first access by vehicle. The narrow, winding road was completed in 1932 after 11 years of work; today, this engineering feat is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

Visitors to Glacier National Park can drive the Park's famous road for beautiful vistas, or they can utilize over 700 miles of maintained trails that traverse forests, alpine meadows, and exposed cliffs to view lakes, mountain peaks, and wildlife. The park offers over 260 species of birds and over 70 species of mammals, including grizzly bears, gray wolves, mountain lions, and coyotes.

Glacier National Park is one of the largest intact ecosystems in the lower 48 states. Despite common misconceptions, its name comes from the huge glaciers that sculpted the mountains and valleys about 20,000 years ago. Today, the Park has 27 smaller glaciers that carve the mountains on a smaller scale. All of these glaciers are shrinking at present.

Together, Glacier and Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park make up the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, designated as the world's first such park in 1932. These parks have been named as Biosphere Reserves and are jointly named as World Heritage Site.