Parking
Use the Sun Point Picnic Area parking lot on Going-to-the-Sun Road; a restroom is at the picnic area. The 0.9-mile route ends at Sunrift Gorge, so arrange a ride there or walk back to Sun Point.
Overview
About Sun Point Nature Trail
Why go
- Broad St. Mary Lake views begin at the trailhead.
- An easy lakeshore walk with a historic viewpoint at the start.
Heads up
- Without a ride at Sunrift Gorge, the return doubles the walk to 1.8 miles.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Glacier map
Full mapElevation4,525–4,677 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 Sun Point Nature 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
Sun Point's View and Vanished Chalets0:00 / 0:28
“Up ahead is Sun Point, where a short walk from the parking area reaches rocky ledges above St. Mary Lake. Stop here for the broad lake-and-mountain view without committing to a long hike.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Sunrift Gorge and Baring Falls
- How the Peace Park Began
- St. Mary and Virginia Falls
- Why the Lakes Turn Turquoise
- 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 Sun Point Nature Trail
A lakeshore walk between two access pointsThis easy, mostly level trail runs 0.
This easy, mostly level trail runs 0.9 miles one way from Sun Point Picnic Area to Sunrift Gorge along the north shore of St. Mary Lake. Expect about 30 minutes for the through-walk; a return to Sun Point on foot makes it about 1.8 miles. The posted climb is 284 feet, with 163 feet of descent. Choose it for an easy shoreline leg-stretch with room to look around, rather than for a long hike. Baring Falls is a continuation beyond the Sunrift Gorge turnoff, not part of this 0.9-mile route.
The lake comes into view earlySun Point's open rock ledges look out over St.
Sun Point's open rock ledges look out over St. Mary Lake; after the viewpoint, the path moves through trees and opens to more lake views along the shore. Leave some pale rock in the foreground when you frame the lake to show the scale of the ledge. The viewpoint is exposed above a steep drop, so keep back from its edge.
A little history and the returnSun Point was once the site of the Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, built by the Great Northern…
Sun Point was once the site of the Going-to-the-Sun Chalets, built by the Great Northern Railway in 1915 as part of a network of hotels, chalets and tent camps. The picnic area has auto parking and a restroom. This is a point-to-point route: arrange a ride at Sunrift Gorge or retrace the path to your car. Dogs are not permitted on Glacier's trails, and access along Going-to-the-Sun Road is seasonal.
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.
