Glacier National Park in Montana

Weeping Wall on Going-To-The-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

One of the many exciting stops along the spectacular Park Road is the famous Weeping Wall shown here amid melting snow banks and snow clad peaks.  During spring and early summer, runoff rills of foaming water cascade over the face of this rocky wall, creating a very unusual sight.

Photo by Dan Sample

postmarked in 1996 with 20 cent Harry S. Truman stamp

High above Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana, a lone mountain goat makes its stand on a sheer precipice, better to keep an eye on its domain and the many people who hike through it every year, hoping to catch a glimpse of these shaggy but incredibly sure-footed local residents.

postmarked in 1992 with 19 cent hot air balloon stamp

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Glacier National Park is located in the U.S. state of Montana, south from the Canadian borders of Alberta and British Columbia. The park encompasses over 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2) and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants and hundreds of species of animals.

Soon after the establishment of the park on May 11, 1910, a number of hotels and chalets were constructed by the Great Northern Railway. These historic hotels and chalets are listed as National Historic Landmarks, and a total of 350 locations are on the National Register of Historic Places. By 1932, work was completed on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, later designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, which provided greater accessibility for automobiles into the heart of the park.

Glacier National Park has almost all its original native plant and animal species. Mammals such as the grizzly and mountain goat as well as less common ones such as the wolverine and lynx are known to inhabit the park. Hundreds of species of birds, more than a dozen fish species and even a few reptile and amphibian species have been documented.

The park has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1995.