Glacier National Park Points of Interest
Red Rock Point

Red Rock Point offers park visitors a place to relax, picnic, take a few photos and enjoy setting beside fast-flowing McDonald Creek in the midst of beautiful scenery.

The popular pullout is located on the north side, or westbound lane, of the Going-to-the-Sun Road approximately 13 miles from the West Glacier Entrance to Glacier National Park and about a mile north of the Trail of the Cedars/Avalanche Lake trailhead. Travelers driving westbound will find the Red Rock Point pullout about seven miles south of The Loop on the right hand side of the road. The elevation here is about 3,466 feet. Approximate GPS Coordinates: N 48, 41.714; W 113, 49.039.

Plenty of Parking Spaces

A large popular pullout along Going-to-the-Sun-Road offers ample parking

The pullout is fairly large compared to many found along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Finding a parking spot likely will not be a problem. The exception, of course, is during high traffic days when the park is packed with hundreds of visitors. Watch for oncoming traffic in either direction when parking or exiting the pullout. The Red Rock Point pullout is on a slight curve where visibility is a bit restricted.

Rock Slabs and Cascading White Water of McDonald Creek

Cascading White Water of McDonald Creek

Nimble visitors capable of an easy scramble over and around the blowdowns and rock slabs will enjoy relaxing, picnicking and sunbathing near the creek just a short distance from the parking area. Others can enjoy shaded viewpoints and scenery while still on the short trail.

Rock Slabs of McDonald Creek

Navigating the slaps and climbing over and around any blowdowns requires a bit of attention. But nimble visitors of all ages should be able to handle the rocks. The creek is fairly rapid and quite cold during heavy spring and summer snow melts. Parents of young children should be particularly watchful of their youngsters venturing near the creek. Wet rocks at the water's edge can by slippery. A careless step and one could find themselves caught by the fast moving creek and carried several yards before he or she could gain the shore or be helped ashore by others.

Photographers Will Find a Variety of Scenes

Frothy White Water of McDonald Creek

There are several good spots for capturing images of frothing white water. For photos that show silky water, shoot from a tripod at a relative high aperture preferred setting that will produce a slow shutter speed. The scene above was shot at ISO 50, f/20.0 at 1/4th of a second with camera mounted on a tripod. Shoot the same scene using a fast shutter speed and freeze the water.

Silky water at McDonald Creek

As a professional photographer once said, after you shoot the scene you want; stop, take a breath and look around for a shot you might have otherwise missed. Step to the edge of the creek, for example, where it pours into a large pool, and you can look down stream and see the peaks of several mountains beyond the trees further downstream.

Beautiful scenery at McDonald Creek

Go Northwest!®    gonorthwest.com (tm)

Go Northwest!® gonorthwest.com (tm) and GoNorthwest.com (tm) are trademarks of Go Northwest, LLC
All original text, maps, photographs, and other images on this web site, as well as the compilation and design thereof, are
Copyright © 1997-2019 Go Northwest, LLC.   All rights reserved.

Revised: