Big Bend

Big Bend is a wide sweeping curve about mid-way between The Loop and Logan Pass. Dramatic vistas of the Lake McDonald Valley and the high peaks of Mount Canon, Oberlin and Heaven’s Peak make this a great place to stop and take a break from driving.

Scan the hillsides for goats and the occasional bighorn sheep, although the sheep are hard to spot since they blend into the surroundings so well. Often however mountain goats can be seen resting on the impossibly steep cliffs overhead. Binoculars or a spotting scope will help. 

As you look up the mountainside you’ll notice several huge avalanche paths. The lack of trees attests to the fact that tons of snow and ice roar down these paths every year. It presents a difficult challenge to the park road crews every spring as they begin the annual plowing operations to reopen the road. Some years the avalanches are small and the snowplows can make short work of them. But often the crews discover thirty to forty feet of snow piled over the roadbed and it can take a week or more to plow this one short section of road.

Avalanches are a real danger to the road crew as well and USGS avalanche specialist work hand and hand with the park to assess and monitor the snow pack and advise the staff of conditions. Spotters on the crew stand guard to radio reports of any snow movement high on the slopes in time to warn workers below. When weather prevents adequate observation or when snow conditions are deemed unsafe plowing is not permitted. Safety is paramount even if it delays the opening of the road by a day or two.