The road begins in a village that exists because of a railway. West Glacier and the neighbouring Apgar area sit at the southern foot of Lake McDonald, where the Great Northern Railway once dropped passengers to a string of park hotels, and the park's west entrance is still here. In the 1910s the railway company promoted the new national park as a kind of American Switzerland, building chalets across the mountains, and that image of alpine adventure still hangs over the place.
Before you ride, a few facts worth knowing. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is about fifty miles long, and it took more than a decade to build, opening in 1933. It crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, but only for part of the year, because the snow on the top is deep enough that crews spend weeks each spring ploughing it. The full road typically opens around late June or early July and closes again in the autumn, depending on the weather, so check the park's current status. There is also a vehicle entry fee, and in recent years the park has experimented with timed reservations for the busiest months, so look at the current rules before you go.
Fuel is not available along the road. Fill up here or in Columbia Falls, about twenty kilometres to the west, which has several stations and supermarkets, and Whitefish is a short way beyond. The village has a handful of shops, a visitor centre and places to eat, so use it to pick up food and warm layers, because the temperature on the pass can be twenty degrees lower than down here.
The first miles are gentle. The road runs along the shore of Lake McDonald under tall cedars and hemlocks, with the water showing through the trunks, and the surface is smooth and fairly flat. It is a good place to settle into the ride before the serious climbing starts. The lake is the largest in the park, ten miles long, and its colours are remarkable on a calm day, with pebbles of red and green argillite glowing under the clear water.
Aim to start early, because the middle of the day brings heavy traffic and long lines of cars, and the pass itself fills up by mid-morning. Be patient with the speeds, keep an eye out for cyclists on the shoulder, and remember that the park's rules limit the size of vehicles on certain sections.