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Where Can You See Wildlife Right Now: Mountain Goats At Glacier National Park

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on August 1, 2011 - 1:08am

Mountain goats can be readily seen along the Hidden Lake Trail in Glacier National Park. Kurt Repanshek photo.

Want to see some mountain goats? Mountain goats so close you won't need a spotting scope or a 600-millimeter lens? Head to Logan Pass at Glacier National Park. The goats will be waiting, guaranteed.

Just head up the trail to Hidden Lake, and you'll find the goats waiting. You don't have to hike all the way to the lake, just 10 or 15 minutes up the trail, if that, and you'll find them contentedly munching on wildflower buffet. The goats are so close and nonchalant they could be models strutting a runway.

Do, however, keep a reasonable distance from the goats. While they might act as if they were passive farm animals, in Olympic National Park last year a man was fatally gored by a large ram.

So visible, and iconic, are the park's mountain goats (or their kin from elsewhere in the Northwest) that they were featured on the logo for the Great Northern Railway.

There are other places in Glacier to spot mountain goats -- sometimes they share the Highline Trail with you -- but Logan Pass is possibly the easiest way to see the goats.

Comments

Submitted by Preston Filbert (not verified) on August 2, 2011 - 7:50am.

Verified. I was just there last week and the goats were not only up the trail to Hidden Lake, but down by the visitors center, as well -- along with a herd of bighorn sheep and various hoary marmots. Glacier had mammals all over the place (including a few bears that had led to closed trails).