(photo of Lake McDonald via Wikipedia.org)

Glacier National Park was established as a park on May 11, 1910 and was later, in 1932, established as Waterton-Glacier National Peace Park, which is the same year that Going-to-the-Sun Road was completed.

(photo of Mt. Cleveland  via Wikipedia.org)

The 1,012,837 acres, or 1,583 square miles, of land that make up Glacier National Park is shared with British Columbia (31 miles), the US Forest Service (130 miles) and Waterton National Park (21 miles).  There are 25 named glaciers in the park that are all slowly shrinking in size, with the largest glacier being Blackfoot Glacier at .7 miles.  There are 175 mountains at Glacier National Park, with Mt. Cleveland standing the tallest with an elevation of 10,448 feet.

There are 762 lakes within the boundaries of Glacier National Park, with 131 being named and 631 unnamed.  The largest lake is Lake McDonald and is 9.4 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, with the its deepest depth reaching 464 feet. There are also 563 streams in the park that are 2,865 miles in length, with the longest being Upper McDonald Creek at 25.8 miles long.

(photo via panoramio)

There are 24 species of fish in the park, with 18 being native and 7 non-native, as lake trout are native in the Hudson Bay drainage, but are non-native west of the Divide.  Therefore, they are listed on both the native and non-native lists.  There are also 68 species of animals that call Glacier National Park home, along with 277 documented species of birds.  Among other living tings that live at Glacier National Park include 1,132 vascular and 858 non-vascular plant species.

Also, in 1976, Glacier National Park was designated as a World Biosphere Reserve, which recognizes Glacier National Park’s “intact ecosystem as a valuable place for sound research and education to take place in a sustainable manner”.

It’s pretty amazing to know that we have this abundance of wildlife and scenery in our state, while so many people travel thousands of miles each year, making Glacier National Park their vacation destination.  Take the time to visit Glacier National Park this summer to remind you just how fortunate we are to call the big sky state home…and show off your knowledge by rattling off some of these interesting facts about the park during your trip!

(Information via nps.gov)