The North Fork Road in Glacier National Park was built in 1901. The Butte Oil Company constructed a rough wagon road from

Lake McDonald Lake McDonald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park. It is located at in Flathead County 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) ...

to its oil well at Kintla Lake, encouraging the development of the North Fork region. From 1935–1945, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

developed the road adding culverts and drains. The unpaved road extends nearly forty miles, to the Canada–United States border. In 1933 a proposal was advanced to extend the road to Canada to connect with a proposed road on the Canadian side of the border that would create a loop around Glacier and

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

. No further action was taken, and by the 1950s the plan had been abandoned.

References

Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Transportation in Flathead County, Montana Glacier National Park (U.S.) National Register of Historic Places in Flathead County, Montana 1901 establishments in Montana National Register of Historic Places in Glacier National Park Petroleum infrastructure in the United States {{Montana-road-stub