{"id":2850,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:15","latitude":48.6491892527066767115684342570602893829345703125,"longitude":-113.78183365602438925634487532079219818115234375,"title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","subtitle":"National Historic Landmark","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/de1b5cbc116ea9d1d8b7fe8f925d2130.jpg","address":"Glacier National Park, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":13,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"In the 1920s and 1930s, private automobiles replaced railroads as Americans’ primary means of long-distance travel. This meant that, among many other things, Glacier National Park was transformed from a private playground for the relative few who could afford train fare into a true “public pleasure ground.” Thousands of miles of highways had to be built to bring tourists to Montana, but the most spectacular feat of roadbuilding was the construction of Going-to-the-Sun Road, dedicated in 1933. The road crosses the “backbone of the world,” as the region’s original inhabitants, the Blackfeet, called the Continental Divide. The 52-mile-long road—48.7 miles of which have been recognized as a National Historic Landmark road— offers tourists some of the most stunning vistas found anywhere. Designed by highway engineer Frank Kittredge, the route includes a grand loop carved directly into a cliff known as the Garden Wall. It took eight years and $2.5 million to achieve this engineering marvel. Three men died during construction and many more resigned in the face of difficult and vertigo-inducing work. Hauling in supplies and equipment provided its own logistical challenge, often requiring the construction of new trails. Laborers moved mind-boggling quantities of trees, stumps, and rocks while skilled masons used native stone to build bridges, retaining walls, and guardrails that blended into the surrounding environment. The road they built—and that we still enjoy—truly fulfils its purpose: “making available to people the most and best of Nature's creation.”","sponsor":"Montana Historical Society","accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm","related_resources":["Read more about Going-to-the-Sun Road"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/de1b5cbc116ea9d1d8b7fe8f925d2130.jpg":{"id":4781,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"View along the Garden Wall, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Glacier County, MT","description":"Snowdriffts at the 6,644-foot summit can reach 60 feet deep in wintertime. Here a tourist stands on her car to touch the sides of a snowbank near Glacier's Garden Wall in midsummer. | PA 956-638; Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. | ca. 1925 | E. T. Scoyen, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/de1b5cbc116ea9d1d8b7fe8f925d2130.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/458179a8bbe624d84d3364123e1e396b.jpg":{"id":4782,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Building Granite Peak retaining wall, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Glacier County, MT","description":"Road workers defied their fear of heights to build the Granite Peak retaining wall. | Glacier National Park Association | ca. 1925 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/458179a8bbe624d84d3364123e1e396b.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/4ded3ade29e2ff24d2b5b5199f33bc07.jpg":{"id":4783,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Heavy construction equipment, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana","description":"Tight maneuvering room and sheer drop-offs taught construction workers to operate with precision while building the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Here workers pose with their equipment in 1932. | Glacier National Park Association | 1932 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/4ded3ade29e2ff24d2b5b5199f33bc07.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/46413804537d649d41ff8071929563db.jpg":{"id":4747,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Going-to-the-Sun Road. View of the road, facing north to northeast towards the Garden Wall closest to Logan Pass. | Montana Historical Society | July 2019 | Michael Connolly","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/46413804537d649d41ff8071929563db.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/2cf60b4507996e319082e3ba5ddc69d2.jpg":{"id":4748,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Going-to-the-Sun Road. View of the road, facing north at the Weeping Wall. | Montana Historical Society | July 2019 | Michael Connolly","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/2cf60b4507996e319082e3ba5ddc69d2.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/b1d83c14b0b6cbcf7b6fb044047b1843.jpg":{"id":4749,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Going-to-the-Sun Road. View of the road, facing northeast just past the Weeping Wall, out towards the direction of Logan Pass. | Montana Historical Society | July 2019 | Michael Connolly","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/b1d83c14b0b6cbcf7b6fb044047b1843.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/40fb995d1d290a62a340babdbf81dda6.jpg":{"id":4750,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the Sun Road","description":"Going-to-the-Sun Road. View from the road of Mount Oberlin near Logan Pass, facing west to southwest. | Montana Historical Society | July 2019 | Michael Connolly","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/40fb995d1d290a62a340babdbf81dda6.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/5b90f8e30155c9ea1a173140c3bf1386.jpg":{"id":4751,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Going-to-the-Sun Road. View of the road near the Weeping Wall, facing northeast. | Montana Historical Society | July 2019 | Michael Connolly","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/5b90f8e30155c9ea1a173140c3bf1386.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/1d9c4f5d87170339b7db3eac23d1af1f.jpg":{"id":4752,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Going-to-the-Sun Road. View of the road from Logan Pass, facing northwest towards The Loop. | Montana Historical Society | July 2019 | Michael Connolly","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/1d9c4f5d87170339b7db3eac23d1af1f.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/668645adf6896207c958287d473a6040.jpg":{"id":6132,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Photo of road through mountain tunnel. | Montana Historical Society | 18 September, 2022 | Tom Ferris, Photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/668645adf6896207c958287d473a6040.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/31c99dd5029f94d1776481657dcafced.jpg":{"id":6133,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Photo of road through mountain tunnel, mountains in background. | Montana Historical Society | 18 September, 2022 | Tom Ferris, Photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/31c99dd5029f94d1776481657dcafced.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/011ba7e44f000c865c757504044c3048.jpg":{"id":6134,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Photo of road in mountains. | Montana Historical Society | 18 September, 2022 | Tom Ferris, Photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/011ba7e44f000c865c757504044c3048.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/b7c1abcbf0c5feabeb37c309337fe493.jpg":{"id":6135,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Photo of tunnel interior. | Montana Historical Society | 18 September, 2022 | Tom Ferris, Photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/b7c1abcbf0c5feabeb37c309337fe493.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/b079e5203eccca8adf3d18223eee0b61.jpg":{"id":6136,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Going-to-the-Sun Road","description":"Photo of road surrounded by trees. | Montana Historical Society | 18 September, 2022 | Tom Ferris, Photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/b079e5203eccca8adf3d18223eee0b61.jpg"}}}