The Silver Staircase Waterfall is a beautiful cascade of shimmering waters, and it’s particularly impressive during spring runoff. But, the best part of all? You can enjoy it right from the road!

The Running Eagle Falls trail is just over half a mile long, and takes you to, you guessed it, Running Eagle Falls. The double waterfall is absolutely stunning, tumbling over 30 feet into a clear pool below. But what makes this hike even more amazing is that this is, in fact, the very same falls where Running Eagle underwent her life-changing vision quest. The trail also includes interpretive signs that tell you about the local plant life, and their traditional uses by the local tribes.

The Continental Divide Trail is a little too long for a day hike, seeing as it’s somewhere around 3,100 miles long. But at the the trailhead, you can enjoy an easy, one-and-a-half mile trail to the beautiful Appistoki Waterfall.

The South Shore Ranger Station is a great first stop if you need information on backcountry hikes, boat rentals, or just need to chat with a ranger.

Park in any of the five parking areas on this short loop to have a picnic, relax a little, and enjoy walking along Two Medicine’s rocky shoreline.

Besides admiring the views, there are several fun and exciting things to do at the South Shore. First, if you need any supplies, or just wanna pick up some souvenirs, you should swing by the Two Medicine general store, just at the right gravel lot. Second, for a small fee, you can take a relaxing 45-minute boat ride across the lake. They even sometimes offer free group tours to the short Twin Falls hike. For more info, ask the Two Medicine Boat Company just to our left. Finally, the hikes. I have several recommended hikes that start at our South Shore Trailhead, just over to our left, at the tree line. My first recommended hike is for Paradise Point–it’s an easy, flat hike that measures 1.4 miles or 2.3 kilometers round trip. This family-friendly hike passes through a pine and fir forest and conifer swamp before opening up to the lakeshore. At the rocky shoreline, hikers are treated to views across the lake of the towering Lone Walker Mountain, Mount Helen, and Rising Wolf Mountain. Another recommended hike is the trail to Aster Falls and Aster Park Overlook. This moderate 3.8 mile or 6.1 kilometer round trip hike leads to a scenic waterfall and viewpoint overlooking Medicine Lake. The trail traverses subalpine forests and meadows, with the waterfall located 1.8 miles or 2.9 kilometers from the trailhead. From Aster Falls, hikers can continue another 0.3 miles or 0.5 kilometers to Aster Park Overlook for panoramic vistas of Medicine Lake and the surrounding peaks. There are several more trails in the area, all of which branch off of the Two Medicine South Shore, but these two are the ones I consider to be the best day-hikes in the area. To learn more about the others, be sure to check out the trailhead.

Go see Glacier's National Park's official mascots, the Mountain Goats, at a natural salt-lick!

This statue, one of a set of four, marks the entrance to the Blackfoot Nation. Created from barbed wire, rusty bits of cars, and stones from a mission school, this statue is one of four that mark the entrances to the Blackfoot Nation.

The big stop at Kiowa is the Kyiyo Bakery and Mercantile, Kyiyo meaning bear in Blackfoot language. It’s home to some pretty famous fried chicken, and it’s also the last place to eat until after we leave the park. So, if you’re hungry, feel free to pop by.

This scenic roadway has several overlooks where you can get some early glimpses of Two Medicine and the Lewis Mountain Range.

The town of East Glacier is a last-stop before entering Two Medicine. The town has an Amtrack Station, the East Glacier Lodge, and a few amenities, hotels, and restaurants.

There are two great hiking trails here on the North Shore. One of the most popular hiking trails in Two Medicine is the Trail to the Upper Two Medicine Lake. Many hikers start this long trail from either the North Shore or South Shore trailheads, making it a beautiful 10 or 12 mile, 16 to 19 kilometer round trip hike. And, along the way, they’ll enjoy beautiful wildflower meadows, twin waterfalls, and dense forests of birch, pine and fir trees. However, you can shorten the hike by about 4 to 6 miles by taking the boat shuttle across Two Medicine Lake, and cutting out the first half entirely. While reservations are recommended for the boat, you can check at the dock to ask about same-day availability. Even if you aren't hiking the full trail, the boat ride provides a nice opportunity to see the lake, and maybe make the short there-and-back hike to Twin Falls. If you catch a boat ride there and back, it’s only about 1.8 miles altogether. The other trail let's you visit Glacier's famous triple divide peak. At Glacier’s triple divide, water flows to the north, to the east, or to the west, eventually joining the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and the Hudson Bay. That means that raindrops and melting snow, starting just feet apart, can end up in entirely different bodies of water, many hundreds of miles away. To place boots on the Triple Divide Mountain, you’ll need to check out the backcountry 17-mile Pitamakan Trail. The Pitamakan Pass is definitely spectacular, but also long, strenuous, and definitely not for the unprepared. If you’re interested in hiking some of these longer backcountry trails, you’ll need to talk to the ranger about planning and a permit, as most of them are overnighters.