1 active Glacier alert
- ClosureTwo Medicine Campground closed for 2026 constructionTwo Medicine Campground is closed throughout 2026 because of construction in the Two Medicine developed area.Official details
Overview
About Avalanche Creek Picnic Area
Why stop
- Creek access among old-growth cedar and hemlock
Heads up
- Nearby trail traffic can make parking crowded
Map
Where it is
Loading the Glacier map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Glacier Tour Guide
Your drive to Avalanche Creek Picnic Area, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Glacier National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Glacier audio tourRecorded for this place
Avalanche Creek: Cedars or Lake0:00 / 0:28
“Up ahead is Avalanche Creek, with two very different walks from the same area.”
Plays as you drive up to Avalanche Creek Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Red Rock Point
- McDonald Creek Overlook
- The Bird That Plants Pines
- Sacred Dancing Cascade
- 204 audio storiesacross Glacier’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Wolverine, Mountain Goat, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 157 trails, 91 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Our first time to glacier and we used the audio portion for Going to the Sun Road. Wonderful information with perfect advice of what to see and do along the road.”
Guide
More about Avalanche Creek Picnic Area
A picnic break in the Avalanche Creek areaAvalanche Creek Picnic Area is a roadside day-use stop in Glacier's old-growth western redcedar…
Avalanche Creek Picnic Area is a roadside day-use stop in Glacier's old-growth western redcedar and western hemlock forest, close to the Avalanche Creek trail hub on Going-to-the-Sun Road. It's a handy lunch stop before or after the separate Trail of the Cedars loop or Avalanche Lake hike. This is one of the park's busiest corners, so don't expect a quiet picnic hideaway.
Set up lunchThe picnic area has tables and grills.
The picnic area has tables and grills. The wider Avalanche Creek area also has potable drinking water and restrooms, though those facilities aren't pinned to each table site. Treat this as a bring-your-own picnic stop rather than a place to buy a meal.
Plan around the crowdsTrail traffic makes parking competitive; arrive early if you want an easier chance at a space.
Trail traffic makes parking competitive; arrive early if you want an easier chance at a space. In summer, Avalanche Creek is a transfer point on the park shuttle. If you're continuing east toward Rising Sun, vehicles and combinations longer than 21 feet or wider than 8 feet are prohibited between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Glacier
404 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
11 sightingsWolverineMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
1,173 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
1,000 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
395 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
506 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Glacier. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
