Keep An Eye Out For Bears On A Popular Glacier National Park Trail

Montana's Glacier National Park encompasses almost 1,600 square miles of the Rocky Mountains near the Canadian border and is a definite candidate to be on your national park bucket list. Within its borders are numerous mountains, peaks, and glaciers, 200 lakes, over 1,500 miles of streams, and more than 700 miles of hiking trails. Visitors routinely use these trails to view not just the glaciers, but the myriad of wildlife found in the park, such as elk, bighorn sheep, deer, and bears. While hiking and nature watching can provide a memorable experience, there is one trail in Glacier National Park where dangerous bears are encountered quite often.

Huckleberry Trail is one of the more popular trails in Glacier National Park. However, it is also one of the most dangerous. Given that Glacier National Park is home to the largest grizzly bear population in the United States outside of Alaska, as well as a large black bear population, it is no surprise bears are encountered on trails within the park.

Huckleberry Trail tends to have a disproportionate amount of these encounters because of the vast amount of its namesake berries, which are a favorite food for bears and grow along the trail in late summer and early fall. With that in mind, it is important to keep an eye out for bears on this popular Glacier National Park trail, which is subject to closure during times of exceptionally high bear activity.

Staying safe while hiking Huckleberry Trail involves taking the same precautions you would when adventuring elsewhere in bear country. But, given the high likelihood of a bear encounter on this trail, it is important that you remain vigilant and are not lax in your bear safety precautions. Keep in mind that you are much more likely to run into a bear during summer or fall, not just because they are more active in those seasons, but also because of the ripening huckleberries along the trail.

In addition to keeping a watchful eye, it is also helpful to make noise while moving down the trail to help you avoid surprising a bear. A bear bell or bear horn can help with this task. In the instance that you do encounter a bear, be sure to give it plenty of space. If you cannot safely go around the bear by giving it a wide berth, turn around and go back down the trail.

It is important to be able to tell the difference between a grizzly and black bear, as the species will determine how you respond if the bear charges or, worse, if you are attacked by a bear. Additionally, you should know how to tell the difference between a bear bluff charge and an aggressive bear charge. In general, you should play dead if aggressively charged or attacked by a grizzly, but make lots of noise and fight back if a black bear exhibits these behaviors. Additionally, when hiking on the Huckleberry Trail, or anywhere in bear country, it is a good idea to carry bear spray and know how to use it.