Highline Trail Season & Hours: The Highline Trail is a seasonal trail in Glacier National Park, open July through October. The trail is open all day during the summer months, but it is highly recommended to avoid hiking very early in the morning and after dark, as there’s plentiful wildlife in the park.

Highline Trailhead: The Highline Trail trailhead is located at Logan Pass, right across the Going-to-the-Sun Road from the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Most people hike the Highline Trail, starting at Logan Pass, but you could also hike the Highline Trail from The Loop trailhead.

Highline Trail End: There’re two ways to end your Highline Trail hike (1) Start at Logan Pass finish your hike at The Loop trailhead, which is a 13.2 Miles strenuous hike (2) Start your hike at Logan Pass, go till Granite Park Chalet and then return back to Logan Pass, which is an 18 miles strenuous hike. I highly recommend the first option, a one-way hike from Logan Pass to The Loop trailhead. However, to do this, you would need to plan for your return to Logan Pass from the Loop Trailhead, which we will discuss next.

Highline Trail Parking: Most people hiking the Highline Trail park their vehicles at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. However, if you’re planning to start your hike from Logan Pass and end it at The Loop trailhead, which I highly recommend, you could also park at The Loop trailhead and take a shuttle to Logan Pass to start your hike.

Park Shuttle: The park provides a free shuttle service in Glacier National Park, stopping at all major trailheads and vista points. The shuttle service connects The Loop Trail Head, where you most likely will end the Highline Trail hike, and the Logan Pass Visitor Center, where you would park your car and start your Highline Trail hike. In peak season, it might be quite challenging to find parking at Logan Pass, and you could even ride the shuttle to Logan Pass from one of the visitor centers located at the park’s gate.

Highline Trail Services & Amenities: There’s absolutely no food or water service along the Highline Trail until you reach the Granite Park Chalet. Granite Park Chalet offers limited food service, including packaged foods, snacks, bottled water, and has picnic tables and restrooms.

Highline Hiking Options: There’re several sections on the Highline Trail, and it is very customizable, offering several hiking options, including the entire hike to The Loop, hiking till the Haystack Pass, Granite Park Chalet, or additional spur trail to the Grinnell Glacier. I have reviewed each hiking option in depth in the following section of the post. The main take away, you don’t necessarily have to hike the entire Highline Trail, and even a short hike to the Haystack Pass offers stunning scenery!

Highline Weather Conditions: Weather conditions can quickly change at such a high elevation, and most likely, you will still see snow-capped mountain peaks and face some strong winds along the Highline Trail. So it’s a good idea to dress in layers, carry a fleece jacket, and an umbrella or a rain jacket.

Bear Safety: Hike in groups, make noise to make your presence known, carry bear spray, follow bear safety guidelines published by National Park Service. Though I haven’t called out mountain goats, they’re wild animals too and can cause severe physical harm when aggravated, so please maintain distance from all wild animals during your hike.