Glacier Park Kootenai Lakes Trail

Glacier Park
Kootenai Lakes Trail – 10 miles round trip.
Best bet for moose viewing in Glacier Park.

The trail begins at Goat Haunt, which is the Port of Entry back into the United States. Only Canadian or American citizens are allowed to hike the trails here. You must have
I.D. and a trail pass.

To reach Goat Haunt from Waterton, you may hike the Waterton Lakeshore Trail, use your own boat or ride the International Cruise Ship early in the morning and catch the last boat of the day back. We choose to enjoy this beautiful morning on the cruise up the lake.

As we begin our hike we walk through the employee housing area, then along a gravel road for a ways until we are on the Waterton Valley Trail into a beautiful mature forest with meadow and marshy areas along the way. There is little elevation gain on this hike, which is a plus, however there are lots of mosquitoes and we are really happy to have brought along a good supply of repellent and use it freely. At approximately 2 ½ miles the Kootenai Lakes Trail heads off to the left. We have been warned about the moose and bear in the lakes area so are not surprised to come across a large bull moose in one of the marshy meadows. Taking the time to watch this creature, we are amazed at how large he is. His horns are huge! Keeping a good distance between the moose and us, we move on up the trail. The trail is peaceful and the day is excellent for our outing. Getting closer to the lakes we come out into a meadow surrounded by the Citadel Peaks and Porcupine Ridge and on the far side of one of the lakes there are two cow moose feeding. What a beautiful place. Beaver dams on the Waterton River created this series of small-shallow lakes and they are a favorite feeding area for the moose. There is bear sign everywhere but we don’t see any bear.

If you were able to get a camping permit in Glacier Park before coming, and want to spend the night, there are good tent campsites here and an outhouse too.

After resting quietly for a while we head back to catch the boat to Waterton.


	Glacier National Park is located in the northwest corner of Montana, just north of Columbia Falls. The park encompasses more than one million acres and is home to grizzly bear, moose, elk, along with 63 varieties of wild mammals. While most of the roads in Glacier National Park are closed off during the winter, this provides miles and miles of tracks for snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Visitors are seldom around in the dead of winter, so the muffled hush of the snow covered woods is especially enticing and serene. A ski or snowshoe trip along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is one of the most scenic roads in North America, is a great option, according to park rangers. The road is closed to cars from September or October until snowmelt, usually in June. Several short hiking trails branch off from the road, which would be excellent for snowshoeing or skiing in the winter season. Once you have your gear, head up to Glacier National Park for an exciting adventure. Guided snowshoe trips are available, led by a park naturalist, and are highly recommended. If you are looking for an informative tour, snowshoeing is an easy way to explore the winter wonderland of this unique park. Snowshoeing will provide even the novice an effortless activity so your senses are more in tune with your environment and your guide's knowledge on the history, wildlife, geology, and biology of this precious ecosystem.
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