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Glacier National Park is grizzly bear country! All grizzly bear
safety rules apply.Never camp with food in your tent. Keep all
food in your car with the windows rolled up, or in bear proof
containers away from your tent. In the backcountry, keep food
a quarter mile from camp and suspended. Do not cook or prepare
food near your tent in the backcountry. If fishing, never leave
entrails along the shore. Throw them in the deepest part of the
lake that you can. Always carry bear spray when hiking Glacier
National Park, and make sure you make noise when hiking so you
do not surprise the great bears. Many of the camp stores do carry
bear spray for around $50.
Not only is Glacier National Park one of the most scenic parks
in the U.S., it also happens to have the most full and intact
array of wildlife. It's only wildlife peers in the lower 48 are
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks (also covered in our
Northern Rocky Mountains Campground DVD's. Glacier National Park,
along with Yellowstone National Park is home to the last sizable
grizzly populations in the lower 48. This is truly wild country.
Your best bet of spotting a grizzly would be on the trails or
the Many Glacier railhead lot.
Glacier National Park is incredibly diverse. It's huge lakes,
many different old growth tree species, mountains, rivers and
alpine tundra are home to mountain goats, moose, wolves, elk,
bighorn sheep, cougar, black bear, fisher, pine marten, wolverine,
lynx, bobcat, bald eagle, golden eagle, osprey, otters, various
hawks, owls, mule , white tail deer, and many others too numerous
too mention. The west side of Glacier National Park gets more
moisture than most places in the Rockies and is home to rare animal
and plant species.
Mountain goats can often be seen at Goat Lick, along U.S. 2 near
Essex. They can also frequently be seen at Logan Pass on Going
To the Sun Road, along with bighorn sheep. Moose can often be
spotted in Many Glacier valley and around the ponds at Two Medicine.
Wolverines are sometimes spotted in the tundra near Logan Pass,
along with grizzly bears. Wolves are mostly spotted on the west
side side of the park, north and west of Lake McDonald. Osprey
and bald eagles are easily seen along the park's scenic lakes.
Lynx are present but hard to find. Bobcat also call the park home.
Coyotes range throughout the park. Mountain lions are present
but difficult to see.
You can read the printable Glacier National Park mammal and bird
checklist at these PDF links. Print them out and enjoy them on
your trip:
free
Adobe PDF reader
Birds
of Glacier National Park
Mammals
of Glacier National Park
Photography in Glacier National Park is an amazing experience.
If you enjoy nature photography (both landscape and wildlife),
Glacier is the place to be. For the wildlife, a 300mm lens should
put you in a good position to get some nice bear or moose shots.
Your standard 3x zoom consumer camera might work for curious bighorn
sheep and mountain goats on Logan Pass. So if you want wildfire
shots, but only have a consumer 3x zoom, head up to Logan early
and often. For DSLR users, a 28mm lens should be wide enough (18mm
on a 1.6x crop sensor) for most of Glacier's scenery. Bring your
favorite wide angle lens and your favorite zoom to appreciate
Glacier. If you only bring a wide angle you will miss out on the
fantastic wildlife opportunities. A spotting
scope
is very helpful in catching Glacier wildlife as the animals are
often high up on
the slopes.
Always respect wildlife. Give wildlife enough room and do not
crowd them while taking a picture. You could spook the animal
for others, or even injure yourself. Never approach bears in Glacier.
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