Glacier National Park preserves over 1,000,000 acres of forests, alpine meadows, and lakes. Its diverse habitats are home to over 70 species of mammals and over 260 species of birds. The spectacular glaciated landscape is a hikers' paradise containing 700 miles of maintained trails that lead deep into one of the largest intact ecosystems in the lower 48 states.

In 1932 Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Park, in Canada, were designated Wateron-Glacier International Peace Park. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is symbolic of the relationship between our two great nations.  Together we share the future of this pristine and unspoiled area. 

The park contains over 350 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and six National Historic Landmarks. On August 5th, 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his 144 Radio Address from Two Medicine Chalet in Glacier National Park. His address stated, in part:

"Today, for the first time in my life, I have seen Glacier Park. Perhaps I can best express to you my thrill and delight by saying that I wish every American, old and young, could have been with me today. The great mountains, the glaciers, the lakes and the trees make me long to stay here for all the rest of the summer.

Comparisons are generally objectionable and yet it is not unkind to say, from the standpoint of scenery alone, that if many, and indeed most, of our American national parks were to be set down anywhere on the continent of Europe thousands of Americans would journey all the way across the ocean in order to see their beauties.

There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and wild life are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in the process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbol of this great human principle."

—Stephanie Hester & Will Hammerquist, NPCA

Threats

Glacier National Park has garnered international attention as the last of Glacier Park's glaciers will disappear in 2030. To learn more about the threats to Glacier and the international effort to have Glacier National Park listed as an Endangered World Heritage Site by the United Nations click here.