by Scott Gittens

Created on: October 19, 2009   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

Montana holds the beauty of two great National Parks which each offer unique aspects of scenery, wildlife, camping, hiking, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Incidentally, Montana does not hold sole possession of either of its two National Parks. Glacier Park, located in the northwestern part of the state, combines with Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park to form Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. At the southern pole of the state, Yellowstone National Park, America's first National Park, begins in Montana, edges into Idaho, and lies primarily in Wyoming. One's decision to visit one of these parks must be preceded by decisions of what you're hoping to experience.

Natural scenery:

In Glacier, breath-taking views appear throughout every acre of this expansive park. The park's Going to the Sun, known for its feats in civil engineering, provides numerous accounts of nature's artistic ability. Without even leaving the car, one can see such beauties as the Weeping Wall, cascades, waterfalls as tall as 450 feet, glacier-carved valleys, and endless views of matured forests. The list of wonderful views expands exponentially with the list of short jaunts well worth the energy expended on the hike. Of note: Sunrift Gorge (literally shorter than 100 yards) on the east side of Logan Pass and the Avalanche Lake/Trail of the Cedars which sits as one of the milder, shorter hikes available among the list of hundreds of hikes provided.

Yellowstone's natural scenery possesses flavor of a different spice from Glacier. The geothermal pools, for example, create seemingly unique natural colors in dazzling rainbow patterns. From the dazzling Morning Glory Pool to the surreal Abyss Pool and hundreds more, these features are a less-heralded spectacle of the park. A close relative of the beautiful geothermal pools lies in the geyser's found throughout the aptly named Geyser Basin. While Old Faithful remains the parks most popular geyser it is neither the parks most common eruption nor its greatest in volume or height. The Park's Steamboat Geyser peaks at over 300 feet and its Great Fountain Geyser's eruptions can last forty five minutes. As an added bonus, geothermal features aren't the only natural beauty held within the borders held within Yellowstone's borders. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone holds a number of waterfalls and dazzling views. While Teton National Park shares Yellowstone's southern border providing views of peaks often clinging to snow in early and

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