Two Medicine

Two Medicine is the south-eastern corner of Glacier National Park, a glacier-carved valley that opens onto the plains a few miles from East Glacier Park. A single road climbs past Lower Two Medicine Lake and Running Eagle Falls to Two Medicine Lake, about 2 miles long and at 5,164 feet, with Sinopah Mountain at its far end and the steep south face of Rising Wolf Mountain above its north shore. It sees a fraction of the traffic of Going-to-the-Sun Road, and many of the park's best day hikes start here.

The shortest walk is to Running Eagle Falls, 0.3 miles from its own trailhead and wheelchair-accessible as far as a viewing area. It is also called Trick Falls: in spring runoff water pours over the top of the cliff, and later in the season the upper fall dries and the creek bursts out of an opening in the rock face below. The falls are named for Running Eagle (Pitamakan), a Blackfeet woman warrior. Longer hikes include Aster Falls (1.2 miles one way), Scenic Point (3.9 miles one way with about 2,350 feet of climbing), and Twin Falls and Upper Two Medicine Lake, which the tour boat shortens to 0.9 and 2.2 miles.

The Blackfeet regard the valley as one of the most sacred places in the park and held vision quests here. From the late 1890s until Going-to-the-Sun Road opened in 1932 it was one of Glacier's busiest areas, served by the Great Northern Railway's log chalets of 1914. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a national radio address from the chalets on August 5, 1934. The other buildings were burned in 1956; the surviving one, now the Two Medicine Store, is part of a National Historic Landmark.

2026 has been an unusual year. The valley is in the middle of a road rehabilitation and utility replacement project scheduled to finish in late 2027, possibly running into 2028. The campground was closed for the whole 2026 season, and the North Shore Trailhead could not be reached; hikers used the South Shore Trail, about a mile longer, or a signed reroute with an unbridged ford. The tour boat Sinopah, built in 1926, ran its 100th-year season from June 1 to September 7. Since September 8 the road has been closed to vehicles, first at the Running Eagle Falls trailhead and from mid to late September at the junction with Highway 49, so there is no driving into the valley this autumn or winter.

Practical tip: check the park's construction page before planning a 2027 visit, because the campground and trailhead arrangements are likely to change again. In season, arrive early, buy boat tickets in advance, and carry bear spray on every trail.