Lake McDonald
The West Glacier-to-lodge road is the normal plowed corridor, weather permitting; the alpine crossing is a different trip.
January · Lake McDonald
What to see and do in Glacier in January
Choose a January outing that fits the route, weather and effort involved.
Winter skiing and snowshoeing
Choose a permitted unplowed-road route only with winter equipment and a route-specific avalanche assessment. A summer road map does not establish safe snow travel.
January · Winter skiing and snowshoeing
Glacier weather in January
January’s normal high is 30°F and low is 19°F, with 3.54 inches of precipitation. The W Glacier station sits near the West Entrance at about 3,148 ft, in the valley where the plowed winter road starts. The east side (St. Mary, Many Glacier, Two Medicine) and Logan Pass, at 6,646 ft, are higher, so expect colder weather there. Treat these numbers as a west-side valley guide; high-country hikes need a mountain forecast.
Cooler Hotter
Jan
High30°F
Low19°F
Precip · in3.54
Feb
High34°F
Low19°F
Precip · in2.17
Mar
High43°F
Low25°F
Precip · in2.58
Apr
High53°F
Low31°F
Precip · in2.15
May
High64°F
Low39°F
Precip · in2.62
Jun
High70°F
Low45°F
Precip · in3.80
Jul
High80°F
Low50°F
Precip · in1.39
Aug
High79°F
Low48°F
Precip · in1.17
Sep
High68°F
Low41°F
Precip · in1.96
Oct
High52°F
Low33°F
Precip · in3.05
Nov
High37°F
Low26°F
Precip · in3.23
Dec
High29°F
Low20°F
Precip · in3.21
Glacier crowds in January
January averages 17,992 recreation visits, 2% of the peak monthly average in July.
LowestLowModerateHighPeakAverage month: 254,484January
Tips for your January visit
Check the approach before choosing the rest of the day.
AWest EntranceBSt. Mary EntranceCMany Glacier EntranceDTwo Medicine EntranceEPolebridge Entrance (North Fork)
- Park boundary
West Entrance
Lower West Entrance road sections are normally plowed; this does not establish access over Logan Pass.
How we built this page.
An independent guide using official data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.
- Crowds
- 2021–2025 monthly averages. NPS recreation visits, compared with the park’s own busiest month. Visits are not unique visitors or a count of people on a trail.
- Weather
- 1991-2020 climate normals. NOAA’s W Glacier, MT station. These describe typical weather at the station, not every part of the park or a forecast.
- Roads & lodging
- Normal seasonal schedules. NPS guidance and official operator information. Confirm access, hours and availability before you travel.
Historical records and data-quality checks
- Visit history: 1979–2025 NPS monthly recreation visits.
- Weather history: 1949–2025 daily observations, separate from climate normals. We average daily highs and lows and total the rain for each month.
- Complete months only: every day must pass our quality checks for that metric. Missing or incomplete records stay blank; we never interpolate.
- Excluded measurements: flagged, presumed-zero and lagged values. Trace rain counts as zero measurable rainfall.