Date: 07/22/2005
After we arrived in Glacier National Park at East Glacier, we had some light left in the day for an excursion into the park to see some sights before our last day in civilization and our hike into the backcountry. My brother-in-law, having been to Glacier before as a summer intern, was familiar with the area where we were staying. We had a rental car and decided to take a drive into the park to visit Two Medicine Lake which is northwest of East Glacier and the Glacier Park Lodge. This would give us a taste of what was to come in this glorious park.
From East Glacier Park Village, you take MT-49 north about 3.5 miles. Turn left onto Two Medicine Road and travel about 7.2 miles to Two Medicine Lake. The total drive time is less than 30 minutes if you don’t stop along the way which is difficult to do considering the scenery. When first turning onto Two Medicine Road, you will pass Lower Two Medicine Lake on the left. This lake is partly on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation who operates the dam there and controls the fishing regulations on the eastern half of the lake. Due to the steep mountains on the north and east sides of the lake, where Two Medicine Road travels, it’s difficult to gain access to this lake from these sides. However the scenery is breathtaking, but watch out for cows which roam wild on this road.
Once past Lower Two Medicine Lake, you will officially enter Glacier National Park marked by a ranger station gate. About a mile further and you will pass a parking area for Running Eagle Falls on the right. Since we were short on light we opted to continue to Two Medicine Lake first. About another mile past the Running Eagle Falls parking area, you come to the end of Two Medicine Road right after passing the Two Medicine Ranger Station which marks the entrance to Two Medicine Campground on the right. There is a parking area on the east side of the lake with a historic General Store and a boat dock which offers boat rides on Two Medicine Lake. There are several trailheads near this area including Scenic Point, Two Medicine Loop, Dawson Pass and Pitamakan Pass Loop to name a few. We didn’t hike any trails due to time constraints, but instead took in the beautiful scenery on the shores of the lake.
On the drive back we stopped at Running Eagle Falls. This creek flows from Two Medicine Lake to Lower Two Medicine Lake. The falls are only a short, about a quarter mile, down Running Eagle Falls trail which begins at the south side of the parking lot and ends at the observation deck to the falls. There are two paths which converge back on each other offering an alternative route back to the trailhead. Right before the falls there is a well maintained foot bridge which crosses Dry Fork, a small stream which runs into Two Medicine Creek. There are actually two places to observe the falls. The first is right after crossing the bridge and the second is an observation deck at the end of this short trail. The falls drops about 40 feet when it’s fully running. It has a nickname as well called “Trick Falls”, because when the falls are drier, the water runs into a sinkhole at the top and come out of the face of the falls about half way down which reduces the fall to about 20 feet.
The Two Medicine area is sacred to the Blackfeet tribe and the area above the falls is said to be where Running Eagle, a female Blackfeet warrior, had a four day vision quest, thus giving the falls their name. Rising Wolf Mountain towers 9513 feet as a backdrop when viewing the falls.
Links:
National Park Service – Two Medicine
Two Medicine Campground Information
East Glacier Park Village to Two Medicine Lake Google Map
This post is part of a series on my trip to Glacier National Park. Other posts can be found here.