Sacred Dancing Cascade and the McDonald Creek Overlook

Glacier National Park / Lake McDonald, Montana, USA

About Sacred Dancing Cascade and the McDonald Creek Overlook

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Sacred Dancing Cascade, I believe, pertained to the wide river waterfall we saw just upstream from a footbridge spanning McDonald Creek.

There’s some confusion as to whether the waterfall you see pictured above is indeed the Sacred Dancing Cascade or if it’s McDonald Falls while some obscure cascades and boardwalks even further upstream were thought to be the cascade.

Glacier_NP_17_181_08052017 - Sacred Dancing Cascade
Sacred Dancing Cascade

However, according to my waypoint markings on my handheld GPS and comparing them to my Topo! map, it appears that the waterfall pictured here is indeed the Sacred Dancing Cascade.

Moreover, the smaller cascades further upstream at a different pullout were recognized by the park service as the McDonald Creek Overlook.

Meanwhile, the officially-named McDonald Falls was further downstream between Sacred Dancing Cascade and Lake McDonald’s north end.

Of the waterfalls near the north end of Lake McDonald, it turned out that this was the easier waterfall to view cleanly.

That was because we were able to pull over to a roadside parking area (see directions below, and we could take a short two-minute trail alongside McDonald Creek to a sturdy bridge spanning the McDonald Creek.

Glacier_NP_17_125_08052017 - Context of the McDonald Creek Overlook upstream of the Sacred Dancing Cascade
Context of the McDonald Creek Overlook upstream of the Sacred Dancing Cascade

It was from that bridge that I was able to get a clean upstream view of the Sacred Dancing Cascade.

In good weather (which we were fortunate to have on a second visit here in August 2017), this cascade was also backed by shapely mountains that were typical of Glacier National Park.

Authorities

Sacred Dancing Cascade resides in Glacier National Park near Kalispell in Flathead County, Montana. It is administered by the National Park Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: glacier, kalispell, flathead, montana, waterfall, rocky mountains, going-to-the-sun, lake mcdonald, mcdonald creek overlook, red rock point, mcdonald creek, apgar



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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