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 North Lake McDonald View
Why stop
- The fire exhibits add a specific story to the lake view.
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 North Lake McDonald View, 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
North Lake McDonald View0:00 / 0:18
“North Lake McDonald View is ahead, a shoreline pullout with a story across the water. Howe Ridge burned in two thousand three and again in twenty eighteen.”
Plays as you drive up to North Lake McDonald View in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Sprague Creek Picnic Area and Campground
- Lake McDonald Lodge
- Sperry Trailhead and Chalet
- Lincoln 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 North Lake McDonald View
A lakeshore pulloutNorth Lake McDonald View is a roadside pullout on Lake McDonald's north shore, with access to…
North Lake McDonald View is a roadside pullout on Lake McDonald's north shore, with access to the shoreline and a view across the water to Howe Ridge. I'd stop for the fire exhibits and the ridge's history as much as for the lake view. The pullout lies on Going-to-the-Sun Road, which closes seasonally.
The ridge's fire storyHowe Ridge, across the lake, burned in the 2003 Roberts Fire and again in the 2018 Howe Ridge…
Howe Ridge, across the lake, burned in the 2003 Roberts Fire and again in the 2018 Howe Ridge Fire. Exhibits at the turnout explain the area's fire history and help connect the story to the forest across the water. A strong photo frame pairs the near shore with Howe Ridge beyond it.
A broad glacial lakeLake McDonald is Glacier National Park's largest lake, about 10 miles long and nearly 500 feet…
Lake McDonald is Glacier National Park's largest lake, about 10 miles long and nearly 500 feet deep. Glaciers carved it into a U-shaped valley; from this shore, the wide water gives you a sense of that scale.
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.
