Parking
Start from the trail access on Inside North Fork Road, north of Quartz Creek Campground. The campground approach road is rough, dusty, and has blind curves and few pullouts; a formal trailhead lot and its capacity were not found.
Overview
About Quartz Creek Trail
Why go
- A less direct approach reaches the Lower Quartz Lake backcountry campground.
- The meadow opening breaks up a mostly forested walk.
Heads up
- The out-and-back is 13.8 miles.
- An unbridged ford near the far end can be unsafe in high water.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Glacier map
Full mapElevation3,563–4,275 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 Quartz 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 trailhead
Quartz Creek Campground and Trail0:00 / 0:28
“You're nearing Quartz Creek Campground, a small tent-camping stop in mature forest beside the creek.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- How a River Moves Sideways
- Tiny Lives in Icy Streams
- The Dragonfly's Water Test
- A River Plants Its Next Forest
- 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 Quartz Creek Trail
A long route to Lower Quartz LakeQuartz Creek Trail is a 13.
Quartz Creek Trail is a 13.8-mile out-and-back to the Lower Quartz Lake Campground area, starting off Inside North Fork Road north of Quartz Creek Campground. The route is 6.9 miles each way; allow about 5–7 hours. If you want a shorter approach to the lake, the separate Bowman Lake Picnic Area route is 3 miles one way.
Meadow into thicker forestThe trail opens into a meadow, then spends most of the way in denser forest; some sections can…
The trail opens into a meadow, then spends most of the way in denser forest; some sections can be overgrown. NPS lists 500 feet of gain, while terrain data puts the lake roughly 650 feet above the road start and shows some rolling climbing along the way. Distance is the main commitment.
Check Quartz Creek before crossingQuartz Creek is unbridged near the far end.
Quartz Creek is unbridged near the far end. You have to ford it to reach the Lower Quartz Lake campground side, and high spring or early-summer water can make the crossing dangerous. If the water is high, turn back at the bank rather than trying to reach the campground.
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.
