Grinnell Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

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Big skies and glacial lakes

With one million acres of rugged wilderness to explore here in the USA’s Big Sky Country, a trip to Glacier National Park in north-west Montana could fill an entire summer. But let's just take a quick (virtual) trip and visit Grinnell Lake. A seven-mile loop trail, a relatively easy one in this rugged country, takes you to the shores of the lake, which was turned emerald-green by glacial silt.

The lake, Mount Grinnell and Grinnell Glacier take their names from the naturalist George Bird Grinnell. For two decades, he lobbied for the creation of the park, and on 11 May 1910, the Crown of the Continent, as Grinnell dubbed this area, became the USA's 10th national park. Among other points of interest, the park’s famous scenic Going-to-the-Sun road features in the opening credits of The Shining and while the park’s official mascot is the mountain goat, often spotted by visitors, about 300 grizzly bears also wander its landscape.