'St. Mary Lake' is the second largest
lake in
Glacier National Park,
Montana,
United States. Located on the east side of the park, the
Going-to-the-Sun Road parallels the lake along its north shore. Located at an altitude of 4,484 feet (1,367 m), St. Mary Lake's waters are colder and lie almost 1,500 feet (455 m) higher in altitude than
Lake McDonald, the largest lake in the park, which is located on the west side of the
Continental Divide. Here, the
great plains end and the
Rocky Mountains begin in an abrupt five thousand foot (1,500 m) altitude change, with Little Chief Mountain posing a formidable southern flank above the west end of the lake. St. Mary lake has a surface area of 3,923 acres (15.8 km²).
The lake is 9.9 miles long and three hundred feet (100 m) deep. The waters of the lake rarely rise above 50°F (10°C) and is home to various species of
trout. During the
winter, the lake often is frozen completely over with
ice up to four feet (1 m) thick.
External links
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Glacier National Park
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St. Mary Lake webcam
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