Discover Great National Parks: Glacier: Kids' Guide to History, Wildlife, Trails, and Park Preservation

By Tammy Gagne

Discover Great National Parks: Glacier is an excellent non-fiction book for young learners. It features the history of Glacier National Park and its association with the Blackfeet Native American Tribe, wildlife and more than 2000 plant species in the park, and what needs to be done to keep the park clean and preserve the glaciers. Also included are activities visitors can do in the park like hiking, biking, and a Red Bus tour that takes riders to the peak of some of the mountains. Readers will learn about the world biosphere reserve where scientists do research to protect the natural areas and maintain the plants and animals in the park. See the beautiful photos of Glacier National Park before and after it became a park, and use the fun facts, chapter notes, suggested readings, and glossary to learn more about this amazing North American destination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Release date: Feb 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9781637414569

Tammy Gagne

Tammy Gagne has written more than 100 books for both adults and children. She lives in northern New England with her husband, son, and a menagerie of animals.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

THE CROWN OF THE

CONTINENT

St. Mary Lake is the typical teal color of a glacier lake.

Each year, millions of people travel to the northwest corner of Montana to visit Glacier National Park, where knife-edged mountain peaks reach into the sky, giving the park its nickname, The Crown of the Continent. These remarkable rock faces rise from lush green valleys, carved into the northern Rocky Mountains over millennia by the slow-moving advance and retreat of sheets of glacial ice. To visit Glacier is to see what it is like to travel back in time through layers of exposed geology and acres of deep wilderness. The views in all directions are incredible, from turquoise lakes and dense forests to the rugged rock faces punctuated by waterfalls and the few remaining glaciers.

Among the most popular vacation spots in the United States, Glacier is among the top ten most visited national parks. Covering more than a million acres of land, it stretches north to Canada where it conjoins its sister park, Waterton Lakes, to form the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park. Wild rivers, miles of hiking trails, boating, and red-jammer bus tours await the adventurer.

Glacier National Park is big in almost every way. It includes 762 lakes and 175 mountains. Its largest lake, Lake McDonald, covers 6,823 acres. The tallest mountain, Mount Cleveland, measures 10,448 feet tall.1 The only thing small about the park is the number of glaciers—at least compared to the number that used to be found there. Of the 150 glaciers found in the park in 1850, only twenty-five remain today.2

Going-to-the-Sun Road winds east to west through the heart of the park. Visitors who drive it can see breathtaking views without ever leaving