Parking
Use the small roadside parking area just past the Polebridge entrance on Inside North Fork Road; the route begins at this access.
Overview
About Covey Meadow Loop Trail
Why go
- Open meadow with Livingston Range views
- A little homestead history on a quick walk
Heads up
- The full circuit ends with a half-mile road return
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Glacier map
Full mapElevation3,579–3,707 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Glacier Tour Guide
Your drive to Covey Meadow Loop Trail, 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 trailhead
Polebridge Ranger Station and Covey Meadow0:00 / 0:32
“You're approaching Polebridge Ranger Station, a useful stop for advice before heading farther into the North Fork.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Private Homes Inside a New Park
- The Sandpiper Dad’s Job
- Polebridge Mercantile and Bakery
- Why Bull Trout Need Streams
- 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.”
Trail guide
Hiking Covey Meadow Loop Trail
The full loopCovey Meadow Loop is a gentle 1.6-mile circuit in Glacier’s North Fork; allow about 45 minutes.
Covey Meadow Loop is a gentle 1.6-mile circuit in Glacier’s North Fork; allow about 45 minutes. From the small roadside trailhead, follow the footpath through young pines to the meadow, then keep along its western edge as the path curls back toward Inside North Fork Road. Turn right and walk about half a mile along the road to your car. That road leg closes the loop; turning back at the meadow gives you a shorter walk but skips the full circuit.
Where the meadow opensThe lodgepole pines here grew back after the 1988 Red Bench Fire.
The lodgepole pines here grew back after the 1988 Red Bench Fire. About four-tenths of a mile in, the trees open onto grass and east-facing views of the Livingston Range. Keep to the meadow’s western edge; the route reenters forest before it reaches the road. For a photo, frame the distant peaks with meadow grasses and flowers in the foreground.
A homestead in the meadowCovey Meadow sits on the southern part of the 135-acre homestead Jesse Bemis claimed in 1909.
Covey Meadow sits on the southern part of the 135-acre homestead Jesse Bemis claimed in 1909. It takes its name from his uncle Henry Covey. They raised hay, chickens and a cow, tended a half-acre garden, and played fiddle at local gatherings. That bit of North Fork history gives this short, easy walk a little more to notice. Pets aren’t allowed on Glacier trails.
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.
