Classic Adventures in the National Parks: Triple Divide Peak
Glacier National Park
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When you realize how many peaks you can bag from Glacier’s criminally underappreciated Cut Bank Area, it may feel like cheating. That’s not to say it’s easy, but four résumé-worthy peaks gird the cerulean waters of Medicine Grizzly Lake in the glacier-hewn Lewis Range. With four days, you can net them all, but if you’ve got just three, set your sights on 8,020-foot Triple Divide Peak, which dumps runoff into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans—making it one of just a handful of hydrographic apexes on Earth.
From Cut Bank Campground, it’s 4.3 miles to basecamp at Atlantic Falls via the Pitamakan Pass Trail. From there, it’s another 2 miles to the basin below Medicine Grizzly Peak, Razoredge Mountain, Mt. James, and your objective for day two, pyramidal Triple Divide Peak. Continue about a mile to gain the pass before the mile-long push up class 3 and 4 scree to the summit, where views of toothy peaks jutting up from lush valleys and bright-blue lakes await. Return the way you came, and note that it’s just another mile northeast from the pass to 9,375-foot Mt. James.
Trailhead Cut Bank Campground Season July to September Permit $7/night per person
