Scenic Point Trail

Scenic Point is a 7.6-mile out-and-back, 3.8 miles each way from the roadside Scenic Point Trailhead. Allow about 5½ hours for the mostly exposed climb, which gains roughly 2,259 feet. This is a hard half-day hike for a wide view, not a quick overlook or a casual lakeshore walk. Two Medicine Road closes to vehicles in winter, so the usual drive-up trailhead isn't available then; the park's winter access starts at the road gate.

At about 0.6 mile, a short side path leaves for Appistoki Falls. Stay on the Mt Henry route for Scenic Point. The broad saddle around 3.1 miles is sometimes mistaken for the destination, but the named viewpoint is farther along the ridge. Near 3.8 miles, take the unmarked left spur uphill to the ledge. Mt Henry Trail continues southeast toward East Glacier, so this is the turn that makes the shorter Scenic Point out-and-back.

The route starts through scrub and trees, bending around Appistoki Creek before the falls junction. Past it, switchbacks gain the east side of the valley. After about a mile, the last trees give way to talus and open meadow. The grade steepens on a cliff band near 1.6 miles; around 2 miles, weather-shaped whitebark pines stand above the switchbacks. Appistoki Peak and Mount Henry come into view as you climb, and the Two Medicine basin opens wider behind you.

The main switchbacks top out around 2.6 miles. From there the trail climbs southeast to the saddle, then traverses the ridge and crosses toward its eastern side. You can see the trail continuing past the Scenic Point turnoff, which helps explain why the mapped Mt Henry corridor is longer than this hike.

At the end, the rocky ledge looks west over Lower, Two Medicine and Upper Two Medicine lakes and their surrounding peaks. Turn east for Browning and the open plains; on clear days the view reaches toward East Glacier and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The climb itself can make the stronger lake photograph: higher up, the water sits below the dark valley slopes with the peaks behind it. At the ledge, take in the plains as well as the lakes. Wind can be strong enough to shorten a stop.

The bleached whitebark pine skeletons are part of what makes the open slope feel so stark. These trees died from white pine blister rust or mountain pine beetles. They appear near the upper switchbacks, where the bare trunks stand against the valley and the peaks instead of blending into a forest.

The Mt Henry trail began as a 1913 connection between Glacier Park Lodge and Two Medicine Chalets, built by Great Northern Railway contractors. Scenic Point later had a locomotive bell: the Glacier Park Hotel Company installed it in 1929 after a request inspired by the custom of ringing bells on mountain passes. It was removed in fall 1943 for a wartime scrap-metal drive. There is no bell at the ledge now.