- Distance: 30.7 Miles (49.41 km)
- Rating: 4-D, Fairly technical, the road isn't in such good shape because of the harsh winters in the area Ratings Explained »
- Travel: South to North for best results
- Start: East Glacier Park, MT
- End: St Mary, MT
- Fuel: Available on both ends
- Along the Way: Stunning views overlooking the Upper and Lower Medicine Lakes offer some of the most amazing views of Glacier National Park we've yet to find.
- Highlights: Highly technical and surrounded by some of the best scenery in the state of Montana
- Advisories: Expect LEO presence in East Glacier Park, campers and RV's become increasingly prevalent the closer you get to the entrance gate.
Summary
Some of the most famous views of Glacier National Park are taken from some very humble pullouts along this route. Looking Glass Hill Road is only 11 miles, but if connected with MT-89 all the way to St. Mary it's extended to a worthwhile 30 miles, but its those first 11 miles that makes this road worthy of our list.
Leaving East Glacier Park, MT the road immediately narrows and begins climbing through tight, blind corners that narrowly miss thick stands of Aspens on both sides of the road. Pullouts overlooking the Medicine Lakes must be stopped at. After the pullouts the road really gets challenging. Heavy snow loads, harsh winters and lots of water have created enormous frost swells that will have your suspension working overtime. Lots of quick kicking corners skirt along crumbling slopes so expect gravel and plan for the road to narrow to one-lane in several places. The road will turn to the east and the aspen trees will be replaced by endless expanses of grasses. The road drops and climbs again as it meets up with MT-89. Turn north for more great riding, although far less technical. MT-89 will climb along a long empty glacial valley then start gyrating through burned out stands of trees. Watch for RV's and campers heading toward the park. When the road zeniths and starts dropping again, the best cornering is behind you. When you reach St Mary's, skip the big gas station on the corner and go a block farther north for a much friendlier and less busy fillin' station.
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Rate This Road
Have you ridden this road? How would you rate it? With one star meaning you thought this was a super-lame road with very little value, to five stars meaning that you felt like this was the mother of all roads - a road by which other roads should be judged.
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Ratings Explained
The CanyonChasers road rating is two parts. The first part, numbers 1 through 5, describe how technical the road is, with number 1 being a gently sweeping road and number five being very technical with challenging corners. The second part of the rating is a letter, A, B, C, D and F. The letter describes the quality of the road surface with A being perfect, pristine smooth and F being degraded, bumpy and crumbly. Rolling joints, tar-stips or "gummy worms" will drop the road one letter grade.
This road information is for planning and recreational purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the CanyonChasers ratings. Ratings may not be applicable to all riders, all bikes and all skill levels.