St Mary and Virginia Falls hike
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St Mary and Virginia Falls hike
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St. Mary and Virginia Falls are pleasant hikes near Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. These family-friendly routes include a tranquil waterfall and a more dramatic one, along with gentle climbs through a lush green forest.
Getting there
Enter through the St. Mary Entrance Station and continue along the Going-To-The-Sun Road 10.6mi until you see the trailhead for St. Mary Falls. Park in the small parking lot if you can, or try to find a spot along the road elsewhere. This short hike can be done in the evening when the crowds are thinner.
About
| When to do | June through October |
| Backcountry Campsites | No |
| Toilets | Trailhead |
| Family friendly | Yes |
| Route Signage | Average |
| Crowd Levels | Moderate |
| Route Type | Out and back |
St Mary and Virginia Falls
Elevation Graph
Weather
Route Description for St Mary and Virginia Falls
Start the hike descending through a recently burned forest with views up to Mahtotopa Mountain and Little Chief Mountain. The well signposted trail is wide and has few obstructions.
After a 0.6mi, you will reach the St. Mary River and shortly hear the roaring of St. Mary falls. A few hundred meters later you will reach the bridge crossing right in front of the falls. The stunning three level falls are worth a few minutes to soak in. If this is as far as you are going take in the mist then return the way you came.
Continuing along the trail leads to Virginia Falls. The path starts to climb gently as you enter a dense, lush forest. The trail becomes slightly narrower, but is still clear and well signposted. You will pass a small series of waterfalls, however these are not Virginia Falls. They are nonetheless photogenic and give great views of Little Chief Mountain behind them.
Finally, you will reach the end of the trail where the 49ft Virginia fall lies. The gorgeous mist that rolls from the falls are fantastic on hot August days. The multilayer falls have multiple viewpoints, all very stunning. From Virginia Falls, you can see Goat Mountain peaking out above the trees from across the valley.
Return the way you came and make sure to take the turnoff towards the St. Mary parking lot, not to the shuttle stop!
Would you like to find more epic hikes in Glacier National Park? Check out the classics: Grinnell Glacier and Piegan Pass.
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Krista Lucas 4 months ago
This hike was beautiful a little longer as I hiked fr sun point to see baring falls st Mary falls and Virginia falls as well as spending some time at st Mary falls basking in the sun and having some lunch. Great easy hike w Virginia falls being the highlight. Glad I did this one!
Giedre 7 months ago
Lovely popular hike. Mostly walking in the forests. The waterfalls are lovely although nothing that I've never seen in my previous hikes. After we've returned from the hike there was a mountain goat standing right next to the parking spot so people were going nuts and the traffic was paralyzed for good 15 minutes. Apparently, this happens quite a lot in parks like this
MaggieRoy 7 months ago
Easy walk through the forest, very well maintained and quite popular.
ishita_war 7 months ago
nice walk beautiful waterfalls but rocks might be slippery making taking pictures near waterfalls hard
stocRob 7 months ago
Easy walk, be sure to put on shoes as the rocks might be slippery. You might see lots of tourists posing on the edges of the slippery slopes of the waterfalls so please be careful if you do the same
Ronny 7 months ago
nice and easy walk. loads of people taking pictures of every stone they find.
Burokai 7 months ago
A nice pleasant walk, good for families as it was not too hard. In the car park, we saw a moose trough our binoculars so it made our day too