Native Americans referred to the jagged mountain kingdom in Glacier National Park, particularly the stunning east side, as “The Backbone of the World.” If you've ever traversed this million-acre superlative of towering rugged mountains, dwindling blue glaciers, long and abiding bodies of green water, and lush cedar-hemlock forests on that 50-mile, white-knuckle drive across the twisting turns of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, you're certain to agree, emphatically, as your head bobs up and down in amazement.
You're in good company. Two million other flabbergasted visitors a year from across the globe drawn to this alpine mecca of free-roaming grizzly bears, this “Switzerland of America” that borders fair Canada, chime in with that singular universal expression that sums it up nicely: Wow!