What Is Swiftcurrent Lake/Grinnell Point And Where Is It?
Swiftcurrent Lake is the lake at the center of the Many Glacier section of Glacier National Park. Glacier National Park is in Northern Montana. The Many Glacier section of the park is near the tiny town of Babb. You’ll find a few gas pumps, a hotel of sorts a restaurant and not much else in Babb, Montana. The Chief Mountain Canadian Border Crossing that goes between Glacier National Park and Waterton National Park in Canada.
When turn off of Montana Highway 89 onto the Many Glacier entrance road, you’ll drive through the park gate and soon see Swiftcurrent Lake and see Grinnell Point towering above it. If the winds are calm, Grinnell Point may be reflecting in Swiftcurrent Lake. You’ll see the Many Glacier Hotel to your left on the edge of the lake. There are boat ride and boat rentals available during the summer on Swiftcurrent Lake.
What Is It Like To Travel To Swiftcurrent Lake At Glacier National Park?
If you want to visit Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier section of Glacier National Park you’ll need to find a way to make your way to Northern Montana. You’ll need to head up to the little tiny town of Babb, Montana. You’ll be really close to the Chief Mountain border crossing that is the primary road to get from Glacier National Park in the US and Waterton National Park on the Canadian side.
If you won’t be road tripping there you can take Amtrak to East or West Glacier, rent a car and drive from there. The closest airport is the Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, Montana. From there, you’ll need to get a rental car. There are shuttles that operate to various parts of Glacier National Park. Depending on what is running, you MAY be able to get from West Glacier over to Many Glacier but visiting Glacier National Park without a car is quite challenging.
Swiftcurrent Lake and the Many Glacier section of Glacier National Park is about 140 miles from the Kalispell Airport and takes about 3 hours to drive with no traffic or construction delays. If you can make a road trip of it, that is your cheapest and easiest bet. If you have to fly, it gets a lot more complicated to get there.
What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Photo Of Grinnell Point At Swiftcurrent?
If you want to get a wall art quality photo print of Swiftcurrent Lake and Grinnell Point, you’re in luck. Once you get out to the Many Glacier section of Glacier National Park all the in park lodging is very close to the lake. From the Many Glacier lodge you’ll be able to look out the window and take in a view similar to this one. If you’re staying in the campground or the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge you’ll be less than half a mile away. It’s a moderate flat walk or a short drive.
If you want reflection photo print with Grinnell Point reflecting in Swiftcurrent Lake you’ll want to check the weather forecast. You’ll want to look for calm winds at sunrise first and foremost. Cloud cover is important too. Clouds over and behind Grinnell Point are ideal. Clouds to the east that may block the rising sun can severely mute the show you will see here at sunrise.
The best time to get an awesome sunrise shot can be anywhere from 20 minutes or so before sunrise (depending on cloud cover) to a half hour after sunrise. As soon as the sun comes up over the horizon and hits Grinnell Point, the peak will glow and the glow be most vibrant. As the sun continues to rise, the color will begin to fade as it drips down toward the base of Grinnell Point.
If you’re out at Glacier in the summer in forest fire season, forest fire smoke can be an asset and add cool coloring to your photos and make for some wild scenes. It can be so thick it blocks the sun too. Smoky air isn’t a reason to abandon your Swiftcurrent Lake sunrise photo plans.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing Swiftcurrent Lake And Grinnell Point At Many Glacier?
When you go to Many Glacier at Glacier National Park the photo opportunities are endless. Sunrise at Swiftcurrent Lake is a very popular spot with endless possibilities for different photo compositions. The lake is wide and various mountain peaks rise behind the lake. Because of this, panoramic shots are very much in play here. You can get cool shots at Swiftcurrent Lake without a panoramic camera or setup but you won’t be able to capture the full landscape without shooting panoramic shots.
For wall art quality photos you’ll likely want a DSLR, a decent mirrorless camera and lenses that will range from as wide as 17mm to 105mm or more depending on how much you want to zoom in on particular parts of the landscape. If you’re shooting at sunrise under low light you’ll want a decent tripod to hold the camera steady. A cable release will further help keep the camera steady for sharper shots.
If you are going for panoramic shots a heavy duty tripod with a Nodal Ninja panoramic head is a heavy but good option. Combining that with a full frame DSLR and a 50mm or even a 70-200mm lens is what I typically use. That results in BIG files that can be printed VERY large. I like to cram as many shots into a stitched panorama as possible. If you just want to shoot these scene and cover it with as few shots as possible you may want to use wider angle lenses and lighter equipment.
If you just want some cel phone shots to post on Facebook, a cel phone can work too. Most of them have panoramic capabilities built in that will enable you to capture the entire landscape with something as simple as a cel phone.
What Is The Story Swiftcurrent Lake Sunrise Wall Art Photo?
As you have probably noticed, this panoramic view of Grinnell Point and the surrounding landscape reflecting in Swiftcurrent Lake at sunrise looks a little smoky. Guess what, it is!
In 2015 as is often the case at Glacier National Park and much of the western US and Canada, Glacier National Park was burning. In July, the Reynolds Creek Fire erupted along the Going To The Sun Road. The St. Mary campground had to be closed because of the Reynolds Creek Fire. When the fire erupted, I was camping in Many Glacier and had plans and reservations to move to the St. Mary campground. Fortunately at that time, Many Glacier had first some first serve campsites. As a result, I was able to extend the stay in Many Glacier. The St. Mary campground closure wasn’t an issue. Had this occurred today now that the Many Glacier is reservation only, I would have ended up at Glacier with nowhere to stay.
With the Going To The Sun road partially shut down and the St. Mary Campground closed, the only thing to do was to hunker down in Many Glacier, hope the fire didn’t make it to Many Glacier and enjoy the smoky scenes in Many Glacier.
The morning this panoramic photo was taken was during that smoky time in Many Glacier. Some days it was like hanging out in a chimney. Other days were fairly clear. It all depended on which way the wind was blowing. On this day, the smoke was thick in the Many Glacier valley. Breathing was uncomfortable at best. Th sun wasn’t visible during the day but it did get bright enough for the mountains to light up and reflect in the perfectly calm waters of Swiftcurrent Lake.
For this shot I used a Canon 5D MK II with the Nodal Ninja panoramic head. This image is probably made up of about 30 individual shots stitched together and could be blown up far larger than the printer can print it on one sheet of any material.
After heading out in the smoky air to take this shot I headed into the Many Glacier Lodge to get out of the smoke for a while. That was only a temporary reprieve since I was camping but any time you can get inside and out of thick forest fire smoke it is a good chance to give your lungs a break and breath in less of the thick smoke.
Leave a Reply