What Is St. Mary Lake And Where Is It?
St. Mary Lake is one of many stunning lakes in Montana and specifically in Glacier National Park. Other popular and stunning lakes include Hidden Lake, Swiftcurrent Lake, Two Medicine Lake, And Lake McDonald. Glacier National Park in located in northern Montana right along the Canadian Border. The towns of Kalispell and Whitefish are the two largest towns near Glacier National Park. If you are headed to Glacier and nor driving there, chances are you’ll fly into the Kalispell airport.
Glacier covers a massive area and Kalispell is closest to the West Glacier section of the park. St. Mary Lake is located on the east side of Glacier National Park. From Kalispell to St. Mary Lake, it is about a 2.5 hour drive. If you plan to fly out to Glacier you will need a car to see much of the park.
St. Mary Lake is the second largest lake inside Glacier National Park. It is located and accessed along the famous Going To The Sun Road. It can be seen from many points along this famous road and is photographed from many places along the road. One of the more popular photo spots is the Wild Goose Island pullout.
What Is It Like To Travel To St. Mary Lake At Glacier National Park?
Traveling to St. Mary Lake At Glacier National Park is an adventure. Glacier National Park is a mountain paradise. The sights in and around the park are absolutely spectacular! Once you’ve flown or driven to Glacier and got a place to stay, taking in the view around St. Mary Lake will probably be on your list of things to see and do.
If you drive Going To The Sun Road, you’ll see St. Mary lake without making any effort at all and you’ll be able to easily get some photos of it.
One of, it not the most popular spot to stop, see and photograph St. Mary Lake is the Wild Goose Island overlook. Wild Goose Island is just a little spec of an island out in the middle of the lake that you might not even notice with just a quick glance out over the lake.
The Wild Goose Island overlook has a decent sized pullout along the Going To The Sun Road. It is a popular spot any time of day. The best time to photograph it for the best lighting is right at sunrise. Though it is popular and typically draws some people at sunrise, it has never been difficult to find a parking space there at sunrise or any time of day. When you park in the pullout, you are right at the overlook. There is some room to walk around and go down to the lake shore if desired. Once you are at Glacier, it is an easy spot to get to on the east side of the park and a nice scenic iconic photo spot.
What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Photo Of St. Mary Lake?
Arguably the best photos of St. Mary Lake are taken at the Wild Goose Island Overlook. The best photos there are arguably taken at sunrise. When the sun rises, the mountain peaks light up. If the winds and water are calm those glowing mountain peaks reflect in the waters of St. Mary Lake.
If you want a wall art quality photo print of St. Mary Lake, definitely head there for sunrise. Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate and you may have to pick a different time of day or simply stick around until the rain stops, the clouds lift or the winds calm down.
Since the overlook can be crowded, getting there early can be a good idea. It can also be a good idea to have a REALLY tall tripod. There is a wooded hill that slopes down to the lake shore from the overlook area. People will often walk in front of wherever you are setup to shoot and go down the hill a bit but still be in the bottom of your photos. The higher you can get your camera the better your chance of shooting over the people that will almost come stand in front of you.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing St. Mary Lake At The Wild Goose Island Overlook?
When you go to Glacier you probably want to come away with good photos to share with your friends on social media and elsewhere. If you want wall art quality photos the camera gear you take can be important.
If you plan to photograph St. Mary Lake from the Wild Goose Island Overlook something as simple as a decent cel phone camera will do for posting to social media. If you want something better and something you can use to make a larger print for your wall, a DSLR or a mirrorless camera with a fairly wide angle lens would be a good choice. A lens that goes anywhere from 17mm up to around 100mm will enable you to capture the whole scene viewable from the overlook. If you’ll be there at sunrise or sunset a tripod will help keep your camera steady and your photos sharper since the shutter speed will be slower in low light. A circular polarizer may be helpful if you stick around and shoot a while after sunrise.
What Is The Story Behind This Panoramic Waterfowl Lakes Landscape Wall Art Photo?
During the summer of 2017 I was out exploring Glacier National Park. It was another season with active fires in the park and the Sprague Fire was actively burning on the west side of the park. That fire did eventually get pretty big and did cover some areas of the park with a fair amount of smoke. You can see a bit of smoke/haze in this photo but there isn’t too much.
I’d taken lots of photos from up at the Wild Goose Island overlook and wanted to get some down at lake level at sunrise. The goal was to catch the mountains glowing as the sun rose and catch those peaks reflecting in the calm waters of St. Mary Lake. Neither the wind nor the clouds cooperated that morning. I took panoramic as well as regular photo gear down and shot a lot with both setups that morning. It took hours and was well into late morning; closer to noon than sunrise by the time the winds dropped to dead calm. When they did, the mountains reflected and a circular polarizer cut the reflections in the foreground and made it possible to see the rocky bottom of St. Mary Lake.
While down along the lake shore, a grizzly bear stopped by for a distant visit. We were 100 or more yards apart, though the bear might have been closer before I noticed it strolling away from me. I had bear spray in hand but the bear didn’t even so much as cast a glance my way.
After many hours down by the lake shore, I took lots of shots and lots of aborted panoramic shots as the wind kicked up in the middle of shooting the individual frames to stitch together for panoramic shots. I hiked back up to the car. Though the morning didn’t yield the desired photos, it did yield this one and a few others cool shots. The time down by the lake was a nice escape from the crowds in most of the park. A few other people walked down by the lake shore but not many. One day it would be great to go back and try again for this same shots with the mountains glowing at sunrise.
Leave a Reply