Parking
No dedicated road parking is documented for this segment. Its south end is the Lincoln Creek Patrol Cabin / South Boundary Trail junction; plan the approach and exit on connected trails.
Overview
About Lincoln Creek Trail
Why go
- Creekside forest gives way to an open burn with drainage views.
Heads up
- Three fords, eroded banks, and downed trees complicate footing.
- Remote point-to-point access needs a longer route plan.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Glacier map
Full mapElevation3,383–4,291 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 Lincoln Creek 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 area
When the River Took the Bridge0:00 / 0:32
“In June nineteen sixty-four, heavy rain fell while mountain streams were already high from melting snow. The resulting floods tore through communities on both sides of the Continental Divide.”
Plays on the road 0.3 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- When the Lobby Was a Nature Classroom
- The Bacteria in a Lupine’s Roots
- The Butterfly That Waits Out Winter
- The Weak Layer Under the Snow
- 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 Lincoln Creek Trail
The creek connectorLincoln Creek Trail is a 6.
Lincoln Creek Trail is a 6.7-mile, one-way point-to-point connector from South Boundary Trail at Lincoln Creek Patrol Cabin to the Lincoln Lake Trail junction. It follows the creek through forest, opens into an old burn with mountain views, then returns to older, wetter woods. This is a remote trail link, not the separate Going-to-the-Sun Road hike to Lincoln Lake. Allow about 4½ hours for this segment; returning the same way makes it about 13.4 miles before either approach.
Creek, burn, and forestFrom the cabin, the trail follows Lincoln Creek through damp forest and crosses it three times.
From the cabin, the trail follows Lincoln Creek through damp forest and crosses it three times. Expect rough footing around the fords, eroded banks, and downed trees. The route gains about 1,100 feet overall, then opens into a burn with little shade and views up the drainage. Farther on, the tread enters older forest and wetter ground before it meets Lincoln Lake Trail.
Plan the connectionThe south start is in the backcountry at the patrol cabin, not a roadside trailhead.
The south start is in the backcountry at the patrol cabin, not a roadside trailhead. Plan the approach and exit on the connecting trails before setting out; the 6.7 miles covers only this segment. The alternate Middle Fork Flathead approach can involve a dangerous spring ford, and Lincoln Creek itself can run cold and swift early in the season. Glacier does not allow pets on trails or in the backcountry. Carry bear spray on this remote route.
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.
