Snyder Lake
| Trail Features: | Subalpine Lake, Scenic views |  |
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| Trail Location: | Lake McDonald Lodge | ||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 8.7 Miles | ||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 2045 Feet | ||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 470 Feet | ||||
| Highest Elevation: | 5247 Feet | ||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 12.79 (strenuous) | ||||
| Parking Lot Latitude | 48.61686 | ||||
| Parking Lot Longitude | -113.87554 | ||||
Trail Description:
The hike to Snyder Lake begins from the Sperry Trailhead, located across the street from the Lake McDonald Lodge. In a very short distance, after passing the horse path, the trail becomes known as the Gunsight Pass Trail.
Almost immediately the trail begins climbing, passing through an old growth forest of red cedar, western larch and hemlock in the lower elevations, to a dense spruce-fir forest as it ascends higher. Hikers will have already climbed more than 900 feet before reaching the Mt. Brown Trail junction, roughly 1.6 miles from the trailhead. Many hikers and horses will be sharing this heavily used segment of the trail as they head up to the Sperry Chalet and other points in the area.
Just one-tenth of a mile past the
Mt. Brown Trail junction is the turn-off for the Snyder Lake Trail.
After
turning left at the junction, the trail continues to follow Snyder
Creek,
which flows down the valley between Mt. Brown and Edwards Mountain.
Much of
the route to Snyder Lake passes through tall vegetation, so it’s a good
idea to
make a lot of noise and keep an eye out for bears as you proceed up the
valley.
Hikers will also see a wide variety of wildflowers on this section of
the trail.
After gaining another 1000 feet over the course of the next 2.5 miles, the trail tops out at nearly 5250 feet before making a short descent down to the lake.
Snyder Lake lies in a basin surrounded by Mt. Brown towards the north and Edwards Mountain towards the south. Little Matterhorn, towards the northeast, is the mountain that lies directly ahead of you as you arrive at the foot of the lake. If you look closely you’ll notice a couple of waterfalls cascading down the cliff walls surrounding the lake.
The lake and the creek are both named after
George Snyder, who built a framed
hotel in 1895 on the present day site of the Lake McDonald Lodge. During that same
year Snyder built a road from the new railroad 
depot at Belton (now West Glacier) to the small village of Apgar.
The road would allow him to transport the
40-foot steamboat that he had just purchased to Lake McDonald. The
road would also allow visitors arriving by railroad to travel to Apgar, board his
steamboat, and then sail the eight miles up the lake to his
hotel, known
as the "Glacier Hotel".
The official trail ends at the Lower Snyder Lake. However, the adventurous can continue their hike by bushwhacking up a relatively steep slope alongside Snyder Creek, past a waterfall, to visit Upper Snyder Lake.
