Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Montana / Glacier National Park

Dawson-Pitamakan Loop

Glacier National Park, Two Medicine (No Name Lake, Dawson Pass, Pitamakan Pass, Oldman Lake)

The Dawson-Pitamakan Loop circles Rising Wolf Mountain and Flinsch Peak from Two Medicine Lake, on Glacier National Park’s southeast side. Enjoy Your Parks lists it at 19.0 miles with about 2,939 feet of climbing and calls the stretch along the Continental Divide “one of the most scenic hikes in Glacier Park”; Backpacker describes a 17.6-mile loop with a timberline traverse of the Divide.

Two backcountry campgrounds, No Name Lake and Oldman Lake, make it a two- or three-day trip.

The hike

Enjoy Your Parks starts at the North Shore Trailhead near Two Medicine Campground and hikes the loop clockwise. The North Shore Trail follows Two Medicine Lake to a junction at mile 3.3, where you stay right toward Dawson Pass. Taking the concession boat across the lake, when it’s running, can cut about 3 miles.

The No Name Lake spur comes at mile 4.8. Enjoy Your Parks says the campground sits among trees on the lake’s east shore, below the north cliffs of Pumpelly Pillar, and that some hikers stay here so they can tackle Dawson Pass in the morning. The climb is the hardest part of the loop: nearly 2,750 vertical feet over 3.6 miles, which Enjoy Your Parks calls “brutal.” Dawson Pass is at 7,603 feet, around mile 6.9.

From the pass, the trail traverses the Divide past the Pitamakan Overlook to the route’s high point, about 8,099 feet, near mile 9.7. Backpacker mentions views of Flinsch Peak and Mount Stimson along this stretch. After the Cut Bank junction, Pitamakan Pass (7,551 feet) comes at mile 10.3, and the trail descends, with Pitamakan Lake in view below, to Oldman Lake at about mile 12.2.

Backpacker writes that “A large headwall frames the indigo waters of Oldman Lake” and notes cutthroat fishing. Enjoy Your Parks places Oldman Lake campground at mile 13.1, with Rising Wolf Mountain towering to the south. The final miles follow the Dry Fork valley, reaching the Dry Fork junction at mile 16.8 and returning to the trailhead. Enjoy Your Parks notes that a forest fire in recent years burned the valley below the Divide.

Backpacker recalls that before Going-to-the-Sun Road opened in the 1930s, Two Medicine was one of the park’s most crowded areas. In fall 2026, the bigger issue is access: the NPS has closed Two Medicine Road for construction, so check the notice above before planning.

For another Glacier trip that crosses the Continental Divide, see the Gunsight Pass Trail.

Tips

Camping

Glacier requires a wilderness use permit for all overnight camping, and you may camp only at the campground and on the date listed on your permit. Advance reservations cover about 70% of sites for trips from June 15 to September 30, through spring lotteries and a general on-sale on Recreation.gov; the NPS sets aside about 30% of sites parkwide for walk-up permits, available in person no more than a day before your trip. With the Two Medicine permit office closed after September 8, 2026, use another open permit office. Each permit allows up to four people per campsite.

Hang food and scented items from the provided food poles or use the bear boxes, with your own bags and at least 25 feet of rope. Recreation.gov says wood fires are allowed only at a few select campgrounds, and the NPS’s 2008 guide listed No Name Lake and Oldman Lake as no-wood-fire camps with a one-night limit in July and August.

Inside Intel: Enjoy Your Parks describes Oldman Lake as a base camp below Flinsch Peak with a dramatic view from the east shore, and suggests No Name Lake for hikers who want to start the Dawson Pass climb early.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Resting up at No Name Lake:

Some hikers camp at No Name Lake to start the Dawson Pass climb early. If you sleep on your side, these tips can help you get a better night before the big day.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.