By Holly Glessner, Air Travel Specialist

If you’re like me, then you’ve often thought about the many creatures that roam the expansive forest that surrounds you while hiking the trails in our beautiful national parks.  One of my favorite places to hike is Glacier National Park.  As I wander the trails through Glacier I always imagine what creature I could run into around the next corner…will it be a moose, an elk, a mountain goat, or perhaps the beloved grizzly bear? One has a great chance of running into all of this wildlife and then some in Glacier National Park.

A Mountain Goat in Glacier National Park

(c) Bradley T Wolfe

I remember a run-in I had once with a mountain goat on the trail in Glacier. One side was a steep drop off and the other a steep incline up the mountain. With nowhere to go and my fuzzy white friend only a few feet away, I froze, and the mountain goat froze as well.  We looked each other in the eye, stood there for second, and then up and around went the mountain goat, no sweat for him to negotiate the steep mountainside and walk right around me.

Waterton Lakes National Park, just across the Canadian border from Glacier National Park, is also the perfect place to enjoy these types of wildlife encounters. Check out this incredible timelapse video from a remote trail camera spanning a 4-month period when the area was closed due to flood damage.  You’ll be amazed at the variety of animals that make their way along one of the park’s many trails, taking advantage while the humans are away!

Visit Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Park with Natural Habitat Adventures: https://www.nathab.com/us-national-parks-tours/glacier-national-park-tour/