Glacier Basin Trail

Start at the upper end of White River Campground and follow the old mining-road corridor west beside the Inter Fork. The river valley and forest keep the first stretch company while the trail gains height. After about a mile, a signed junction leads to the Emmons Moraine viewpoint; the spur adds one mile round trip. Back on the main trail, continue past the Burroughs Mountain junction. The grade gets steeper near Glacier Basin Camp, where the forest thins and the high basin begins to open. The ordinary day hike turns back here, before the climber’s track pushes toward Inter Glacier.

The Emmons Moraine spur is the best short addition to the hike: it climbs to a view over Emmons Glacier and a pale glacial lake. The main trail’s payoff is different. The open basin has a tarn and meadow, with The Wedge and Mount Ruth rising behind it. Pause to scan the surrounding slopes for mountain goats. For a photo, keep the tarn in the foreground with the peaks behind it; at the moraine, include the lake below the glacier so the depth reads.

Copper was sought here in the late 1800s, but the ore proved commercially worthless. The old mining road later became a walking trail. Glacier-fed floods damaged the route in 2006 as the White River shifted across the valley, so the park and trail volunteers built a new alignment, including 6,500 feet of trail completed in 2011. That history explains why the walk feels like a steady valley approach before it turns toward the basin.

Use the hiker and climber day-use parking area at the upper end of White River Campground; do not park in a campsite. The park entrance fee applies. Treat stream water before drinking. Pets and bicycles are prohibited on park trails. Overnight campers at Glacier Basin need a wilderness permit; that permit is for camping, not the day hike. Stay on the route around the basin: the continuation beyond camp crosses fragile wetland and becomes a climber’s approach toward Inter Glacier.