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 McDonald Falls
Why stop
- A quick stop with a paved, ADA-compliant route to the overlook.
Heads up
- The viewing angle can be partly screened.
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 McDonald Falls, 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
McDonald Falls0:00 / 0:18
“You're coming up on McDonald Falls, a brief waterfall stop with a graded, paved path to a wheelchair-accessible overlook. The water spreads across rock ledges into a blue-green pool.”
Plays as you drive up to McDonald Falls in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Upper McDonald Creek Trailhead
- Johns Lake Loop Trailhead
- Sacred Dancing Cascade
- Trout Lake Trailhead
- 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 McDonald Falls
A short roadside waterfallMcDonald Falls is a cascade on McDonald Creek beside North Lake McDonald Road, about 12 miles…
McDonald Falls is a cascade on McDonald Creek beside North Lake McDonald Road, about 12 miles from Glacier National Park’s West Entrance. It works well as a brief roadside stop: a graded, paved path leads from the start of the Upper McDonald Creek Trail to an ADA-compliant overlook.
Read the creekThe water spreads across rock ledges into a blue-green pool, with trees close around the…
The water spreads across rock ledges into a blue-green pool, with trees close around the channel. Visitors often praise the vivid water and rushing rapids, though some find the falls hard to see clearly from the overlook.
Make the stop workThere are no restrooms or drinking water at the viewpoint.
There are no restrooms or drinking water at the viewpoint. Access follows the North Lake McDonald Road corridor, whose seasonal operations can affect a visit; check current park road conditions if you are planning around this stop.
Frame the cascadeFrom the paved overlook, try to include both the foaming water and the pool below.
From the paved overlook, try to include both the foaming water and the pool below. Vegetation can screen parts of the falls, so adjust your view within the designated area instead of scrambling toward the creek.
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.
