Kintla Lake is a beautiful, remote location in the northwest corner of Glacier National Park. It sits just above 4,000 feet, and lies just a few miles from the Canadian border. The Boulder Pass Trail starts here on the western outlet of Kintla Lake.
Backpacking over Boulder Pass to Waterton Lake makes for an epic backpacking trip, but you can get a taste of the trip hiking a portion of the trail as an out-and-back route.
Time: 2.5-3 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation gain/loss: +390’/-390′
Dogs: No
When to go: Mid-June to October
Getting to Kintla Lake
Kintla Lake is about 2-1/2 hours north of Kalispell, Montana. To reach Kintla Lake, we entered Glacier National Park from the West Glacier entrance, and headed north. When you reach Polebridge, the road turns to gravel. We travelled about 16 miles of gravel road to reach the trailhead.
Any vehicle can make it back there, but you’ll have to allow additional time for the slower speeds on gravel roads. Get turn-by-turn directions on Google Maps.
When you reach the trailhead campground, read the signs carefully. Campsite parking is reserved for campers.
Hiking the Trail
This trails begins near the western shore of Kintla Lake, running parallel to the northern shoreline through a forested slope bursting with wildflowers.
There are numerous views through the trees that look across the lake toward Long Knife Peak and Parke Peak. Just beyond the jagged peaks to the northeast lies Canada’s Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park and Waterton Lakes National Park.
The trail is well shaded, with filtered sunlight providing a perfect environment for wildflowers to thrive, including mariposa, wild roses and glacier lilies.
At 3.7 miles we reached the barely perceptible junction with the Kintla Trail, which begins at the North Fork of the Flathead River and climbs over Starvation Ridge to this junction. The tread of the Kintla Trail was very faint, and only evident after carefully spying blazes on trees marking the path.
This was our turnaround point, as I had a plane to catch out of Kalispell. Hiking this trail as an out-and-back gives you flexibility to hike further or shorter distances. This is definitely an area that I will come back and explore further.
Kintla Lake Trail Map & Elevation Profile
Kintla Lake Tips
- Grizzly bears live in this area. Avoid solo travel and carry bear spray.
- There are campsites available at the far eastern end of Kintla Lake, making this a great option for an overnight backpacking or kayaking trip.
- After your hike, be sure to stop at the Polebridge Mercantile for their famous huckleberry bear claws. The “Merc” was built back in 1914, and you can soak in the history strolling through the shop.
Polebridge Weather Forecast
Originally hiked on June 26, 2017 with Jason Fitzpatrick.
What a beautiful hike – Glacier has long been on my bucketlist of places to visit.
Great Place! I will visit it when possible.
Thanks for sharing!
Hey Jeff, thanks for the info. I have trip planned to hike from Kintla lake trail head to Bowman lake trail head, and we planning using two cars to make it happen. I am little concerned about the road conditions after i read on trip advisor how terrible the roads are and how people broke axel bearing, etc. You said any car could make it there…do think what other were saying is over blown? We plan on using Toyota Rav4 and something similar for the other car. Do you think if we drive slow, we will make it fine?
Honestly, I am just looking for reassurance here 🙂
Hi William! My personal take is that if you go slowly, you’ll be fine. The risk is that there are long, straight sections where it may be tempted to go faster. Take your time and use caution and you can get back there with a Rav4 no problem.
Thanks Jeff! It is hard to find good info sometimes about Glacier and you sharing your experience is very helpful!
In July of 1967, my family camped at Kintla Lake campground, which we had previously done for several years. I was 17 years old, my brother was 14 and my best friend was 16. We hiked from the campground around Kintla Lake, passed the ranger cabin, on to Upper Kintla, and then returned all in the same day. It was an experience I will never forget. We were all very, very stupid because we didn’t have bear spray or even bear bells. We were also extremely lucky, because two weeks later, after we return home, they were two 19 year-old girls who were killed by Grizzly bears in separate incidents. Both girls, who worked for the Park Service, had been backpacking and camping. You can Google the situation and read about their terrifying and tragic deaths.