Upper Two Medicine Lake Hike

The hike up to Upper Two Medicine Lake is one of the most popular in Glacier National Park's Two Medicine area. Using the boat shuttle to the west end dock cuts 5- to 7-miles of round-trip hiking off the trip and makes Upper Two Medicine an easy hike for most abilities. The boat ride is an adventure in itself. From the west dock, the trail starts out through lush forest and fern groves, crossing Two Medicine Creek on the way. There is a short spur trail to Twin Falls, which is as far as many on the boat tour get. There are free ranger-led hikes to Twin Falls on many of the boat trips. After the falls, the trail climbs up with views of the rocky spike of Pumpelly Pillar and Lone Walker Mountain to the distant west. The small ponds just before Upper Two Medicine are a great place to see moose, especially early or late in the day. Upper Two Medicine Lake has a huge log jam at the outlet, but past this there are gravel beaches, places to fish and a nice little backcountry campground with four developed sites. There is no good trail around the lake, but the views from the outlet are great.