Preston Park
| Trail Features: | Outstanding views, Meadows, Wildflowers |  |
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| Trail Location: | Siyeh Bend | ||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 6.6 Miles | ||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 1460 Feet | ||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 442 Feet | ||||
| Highest Elevation: | 7237 Feet | ||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 9.52 (moderate) | ||||
| Parking Lot Latitude | 48.70145 | ||||
| Parking Lot Longitude | -113.66959 | ||||
Trail Description:
The hike to Preston Park begins from the Siyeh Bend Trailhead, located 2.2 miles east of Logan Pass on the Going-To-The-Sun Road. Hikers also have the option of using the Piegan Pass Trailhead from the Jackson Glacier Overlook, but this would add a little more distance to your hike, and several hundred more feet of climbing. The Siyeh Bend Trail offers hikers a much more gradual climb up to their destination.
The first two hundred yards of the Siyeh Bend Trail travels beside Siyeh Creek as it cascades down the valley. Roughly 1.1 miles from the trailhead hikers will reach the Piegan Pass Trail junction. A turn to the right here would take you down to the Jackson Glacier Overlook. To continue on towards Preston Park, hikers should turn left here.
The trail passes through a dense
spruce-fir forest along the lower elevations of the hike. The forest, however,
begins to thin out as you get closer to the Siyeh Pass Trail junction, located
roughly 2.4 miles from the trailhead. For those wishing to continue on towards
Preston Park you should turn right onto the Siyeh Pass Trail at this junction.
Roughly two-tenths of a mile from the junction you’ll enter Preston Park, a glacially-carved valley known for its beautiful meadows and abundant wildflowers. Preston Park is actually a series of high alpine meadows interspersed by pine tree groves. The meadows become larger as you hike further up the valley.
As you continue up the trail you’ll have commanding views of 9365-foot Matahpi Peak towards the south, and 10,014-foot Mount Siyeh towards the north. Piegan Mountain will dominate the view towards the west, while the pyramid-shaped Heavy Runner Mountain can be seen towards the southwest.
Roughly 3.2 miles from the trailhead you’ll cross Siyeh Creek. Soon after the trail begins to climb up towards the pass. If your goal is to see some of the breathtaking mountain views from Preston Park, any place beyond the creek will achieve that. From this point forward hikers can turnaround anywhere in this area; it only depends on how far you wish to push yourself. The higher you go, the better the views become. To continue on to Siyeh Pass from this point would be a hike of another 1.1 miles, and a climb of roughly 675 feet.
You may also want to note that bears are known to frequent the Preston Park area, so make sure you make a lot of noise, carry bear spray, and hike in groups of at least three.
