Lake McDonald is the largest lake in
Glacier National Park. It is located at in
Flathead County
Flathead County is in the U.S. state of Montana. At the 2020 census, its population was 104,357, making it the state's fourth most populous county. Its county seat is Kalispell. Its numerical designation (used in the issuance of license plates) ...
in the
U.S. state of
Montana. Lake McDonald is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long, and over a mile (1.6 km) wide and 472 feet (130 m) deep, filling a valley formed by a combination of erosion and
glacial activity. Lake McDonald lies at an elevation of and is on the west side of the
Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
.
Going-to-the-Sun Road parallels the lake along its southern shoreline. The surface area of the lake is 6,823 acres (27.6 km
2).
The lake is home to numerous native species of
trout, and other game fish. Catchable species include:
westslope cutthroat trout,
rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
,
bull trout (char),
lake trout (char), Lake Superior
whitefish, mountain whitefish,
kokanee salmon (landlocked
sockeye), and suckers. However, the lake is nutrient-poor and is not considered a prime
fishing destination.
Grizzly bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...
s,
black bear,
moose, and
mule deer are found in many places near the lake but are most common on the north shore. The lake is surrounded by a dense
coniferous
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...
forest dominated by various species of
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
,
fir
Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...
, and
larch.
Lake McDonald was referred to by the
Kootenai as the lake by ''Ya Kit Haqwitnamki'' (“The Place Where They Dance”), which was their name for the current campsite at
Apgar, where they used to meet and perform various ceremonies. The lake's English name refers to Duncan McDonald, a
Hudson's Bay Company trader who worked in the
Flathead Valley area and carved his name on a tree near the lake in 1878.
At the westernmost section of the lake in Apgar there is a National Park Service visitor center with limited lodging and dining facilities.
Lake McDonald Lodge is the largest lodging facility on the lake and is approximately east along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The lodge was constructed in 1913–14 to resemble a rustic hunting lodge with Swiss-influenced architecture.
McDonald Creek flows into and drains from the lake, and empties into the
Middle Fork Flathead River shortly after.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald
Lakes of Glacier National Park (U.S.)
Lakes of Flathead County, Montana