The Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park lies on the southeastern side of the Continental Divide , a little north of the town of East Glacier. In this area, amazing landscapes, hikes, boat rides, and wildlife viewing await but also fewer crowds. Most activities center around Two Medicine Lake. There is a campground, and numerous trails leave from here. The Two Medicine area feels like a different world from the Going-to-the-Sun Road and Many Glacier areas. With many fewer visitors, it is possible to feel a sense of peace and enjoy nature uninterrupted.
See our Glacier NP post for an overview of our entire trip that also included Banff NP, Jasper NP (Icefields Parkway), and Kootenay NP.
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Two Medicine General Store
The Two Medicine General Store, open seasonally, was closed for the season when we visited on September 7. It is set in a 1924 building and sells snacks, drinks, souvenirs, and camping supplies. Sit on its front porch for views of beautiful Two Medicine Lake.
Boat Tour on the Historic Sinopah
Glacier Park Boat Tours offers scenic boat rides (shuttles) on the “Sinopah,” which was built in 1926, and is the oldest wooden boat in its fleet. Book your boat tour well in advance at Glacier Park Boat Tours. As with other boat tours offered in Glacier National Park, there are both roundtrip and one-way “return” tickets available.
You do not need to be a hiker to take this tour. Many people just ride down to the west end of the lake and back. But we do recommend hiking!
We took the 10 AM boat and arrived on the other side of the lake about 20 minutes later. The boat guides do a good job telling passengers about the boat and the area. You can stand in the front of the boat to take pictures.
Hiking to Upper Two Medicine Lake with Detour to Twin Falls
We recommend hiking to Upper Two Medicine Lake after taking the boat across Two Medicine Lake. You can hike along the lakeshore of Two Medicine Lake, and then on to the Upper lake, but by taking the boat, you avoid a 3.1-mile hike each way just to get to the Upper Two Medicine Lake trailhead.
Twin Falls
At about 0.7 miles, and after the uphill and a short walk over boardwalks and footbridges, you come to a split in the trail. Travel straight ahead here for a short (0.1-mile) detour to Twin Falls. These pretty falls cascade down the Pumpelly Pillar, which is a large, glacially carved rock. There are separate flows at the top of the falls and then the two converge as they splash down near the trail.
Hiking back out to the main trail, turn right toward Upper Two Medicine Lake. From here, it is 1.3 miles to the lake along a relatively easy trail with little elevation gain. The trail passes through alpine meadows with majestic mountain views. Look for bighorn sheep high on the cliffs to your right. We saw some!
Upper Two Medicine Lake
The Upper Lake is a splendid sight. Multi-colored rocks are visible at the shoreline through the crystal-clear blue water. Bleached-out downed trees dot the shore, creating a striking contrast of color. Evergreen forests line the shore and climb up the slopes of the mountains. Looking across the lake, you see impressive mountains.
This lake is not as heavily visited since it requires a boat ride plus 1.7-miles of hiking (or almost 5 miles if you don’t take the boat) to get there. And then you must travel back! So it is a lovely and peaceful place to picnic and enjoy the sun and the views. We sat on fallen logs just to the left of where the trail comes down to the lake.
Goats were visible high on the mountain to the right the end of the trail at the lake. But they were white spots and hard to locate.
As you hike back to the boat dock from Upper Two Medicine Lake, you are treated to spectacular alpine scenery, especially as you pass a pond below the trail.
We arrived back at the boat dock around 2:30 PM, so the hikes (Twin Falls and Upper Two Medicine Lake), with a picnic stop and photo stops along the way had taken us about 4 hours.
Our return boat was scheduled for 3:30 PM, so we had time to relax at the boat dock, have a snack, and take some pictures.
Two Medicine Campground
We stayed one night at the Two Medicine campground. This campground is open from mid-June through mid-September. Reservations are accepted on a 6-month rolling basis (as in, the reservation window changes daily). Book early at Recreation.gov!
The campground has 110 mostly shady sites with amazing views of the mountains and the small Pray Lake. A family of bighorn sheep walked through the campground as we arrived, and we saw beavers swimming in the lake.
Running Eagle Falls
You can walk to this waterfall from the Two Medicine campground. From the parking lot at Two Medicine, it is a 0.3-mile hike one way to the falls. The trail is easy and wheelchair-accessible.
Late in the season, the falls spill out in a torrent from the rock wall, dropping 20 feet. Earlier in the spring and summer, there is a higher waterfall that can hide the lower falls. When we visited in September, only the lower falls was active. See the picture with Fred down at the base of the falls to get a sense of the scale of this waterfall.
Above the falls is the 9,500+ foot Rising Wolf Mountain.
Glacier Park Lodge, Two Medicine Entrance
Stop in to visit the impressive lobby, take some photos and sit in front of the huge fireplace. There are restaurants, a coffee shop, and a large gift shop.
Located in East Glacier about 14 miles from the Two Medicine General Store, the Glacier Park Lodge was opened in 1913. Originally, it marked the beginning of most tours of Glacier National Park. “Red Bus” tours still leave from the Lodge, many for Going-to-the-Sun Road.
As always, please leave a comment. Tells us what was useful or what’s missing. Also, add details from your experience (or corrections/updates).
Be sure to take a look at our guides for Going-to-the-Sun Road and the Many Glacier area.