Glacier National Park is the kind of place that makes adults feel small in the best possible way. The mountains are enormous. The lakes are an impossible glacial blue. The wildlife is everywhere and mostly indifferent to you.
It’s also a park that can feel intimidating for families. Many of the most iconic destinations involve long approaches, significant elevation, or multi-day backpacking trips. When we arrived with our toddler to research Hiking with Kids: Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks, we spent a month finding the trails where the scenery-to-effort ratio is genuinely worth it for families — meaning big payoff, accessible terrain, and enough water features to keep a kid moving.
Here’s what we found.
A Few Things to Know Before You Go
Glacier requires some planning that other parks don’t. The Vehicle Reservation System controls access to Going-to-the-Sun Road during peak season — check the Glacier National Park website well before your trip. The shuttle system is legitimately excellent and often the better option anyway; several of the trailheads below are easily shuttle-accessible.
Pack more snacks than you think you need. Carry bear spray and know how to use it. And know that trail etiquette gets complicated when a toddler is stopping every 50 feet to examine a rock.
1. Saint Mary and Virginia Falls
This is the trail we recommend first to almost every family. It delivers two spectacular waterfalls with minimal effort up front — and a built-in bailout point if your kid runs out of steam at Saint Mary Falls, which is a legitimate destination on its own.
From the trailhead, the path descends past charred trees from the 2015 Reynolds Creek Fire, now thick with wildflowers. Watch for moose cooling off in the lake on the way down — we spotted one on multiple visits. Saint Mary Falls is a thundering, three-tiered cascade; it’s loud, it’s dramatic, and kids love it. Push on past it and you’ll find Virginia Creek’s natural pools — a perfect snack break — before reaching Virginia Falls, a 50-foot drop tucked into cool, shaded woods.
Parking in summer is a genuine challenge. Take the shuttle or arrive before 8am.
2. Grinnell Lake via Boat Ride
This one involves two boat rides across Swiftcurrent Lake and then Lake Josephine, which automatically makes it the most exciting hike for any kid who has ever seen a boat. The boats — Chief Two Guns and Morning Eagle — offer interpretive talks and jaw-dropping views of the Many Glacier Valley. Reservations fill fast, but the waitlist works more often than you’d think. We got on multiple times with last-minute waitlist spots.
After the second boat drops you off (restrooms available there), the trail to Grinnell Lake is mostly flat and shaded, winding through old-growth forest. Keep eyes open for moose and bears, especially in the berry patches in late summer. The lake itself is that vivid glacial blue that doesn’t look real in photos and looks even less real in person. Kids can wade at the shore while you take in the views of Angel Wing, Grinnell Mountain, and Grinnell Falls dropping down the cliffs above.
3. Running Eagle Falls
The shortest hike on the list and one of the most satisfying. The trail starts paved, passes through lush undergrowth and wildflowers, and delivers you to a viewing platform in front of a waterfall that looks like it pours directly out of the face of a cliff. Named for a legendary Blackfeet warrior woman, Running Eagle Falls forms a rare double waterfall during high water — cascading both over and through the rock simultaneously.
This is a great one for families who are hiking with very young kids or anyone who needs a lower-commitment day. Bring snacks and a towel. The mist keeps things cool and there’s plenty of room to spread out and linger.
4. Deadwood Falls
A word of warning on this one: it goes down first and comes back up. The descent through dense forest is beautiful — mountain views open up through the trees — but the return climbs nearly 600 feet over just over a mile, so make sure everyone has the fuel for the finish before you commit. We recommend long pants for kids; the vegetation is thick and the path is narrow.
At the bottom, Deadwood Falls spills over rock and fallen timber in a series of cascades that are genuinely fun to explore. There’s good wading and natural ledges to scramble on (supervised, with caution). It feels more like a discovery than a standard waterfall hike, which kids tend to respond to.
5. Lake Josephine Loop
This is the distance hike on the list — but the mileage is deceptive because the terrain is rolling and mostly flat. The loop passes three lakes with massive mountain views and is one of the better wildlife corridors in Many Glacier; moose sightings are common near the south shore of Lake Josephine.
Start at the Grinnell Trailhead. If parking is full (and it often is), there are multiple options to start between the trailhead and the Many Glacier Hotel. The boat dock at the far end of Lake Josephine has a shelter and restrooms — a good halfway rest stop. Return via the north shore trail, which is more open and gets you the dramatic views of Mount Grinnell and Angel Wing on the walk back.
Planning the Trip
Glacier’s permit and reservation system has gotten more complicated in recent years, and the most popular trailheads book up fast. Build in flexibility where you can. The Two Medicine area (Running Eagle Falls) is significantly less crowded than the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor and worth prioritizing for that reason alone.
For 42 hikes across the full park — including Waterton Lakes across the Canadian border — our guidebook Hiking with Kids: Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks covers the full range from paved walks to half-day adventures, all tested personally with a toddler in a carrier. Every entry includes bathroom locations, shade coverage, and elevation notes calibrated for what it actually feels like with a kid on your back.
Glacier rewards families who plan ahead. It’s worth it.
Roxy Dawson
I'm Roxy Dawson — New Yorker turned Coloradan, former full-time van dweller, outdoor industry veteran, and co-author of three Falcon Guides. I've spent the better part of a decade testing outdoor gear for adults across some genuinely terrible conditions. Then I had kids, noticed that nobody was doing that work honestly for the 0–14 age set, and built the site I kept wishing existed. Everything on Good Better Best has been tested by my actual children — currently ages two and five, with strong opinions and zero patience for gear that doesn't work. I test first. I write second. I don't recommend things I wouldn't buy with my own money.
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