Hike Whitefish Mountain via the Danny On Trail

The Danny On Trail starts from the base area of Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort and zig zags its way up to the summit. The trailhead is near the Chalet building/Hellroaring Saloon upper parking lot (there's a big sign). The trail passes through Douglas fir, western larch, spruce and fir trees. The sloping fields of grass and wildflowers in summer, spring and fall are covered with snow and shredded by boarders and skiers in the winter.

From the trail you an see views of the Flathead valley and the mountains of Glacier National Park. At the summit on a clear day you'll get a full view of the area around, including the Canadian Rockies and the Bob Marshall, Great Beat, Scapegoat and Cabinet wilderness area. There are bears in the area so clap or shout occasionally to alert them you're coming down the trail.

Whitefish is awesome and runs the lifts for a few months during the summer(usually mid-June to early September), so you can pay a fee and ride the lift up to the summit or down depending on which way you want to hike. There's a cafe, The Summit House, at the top to enjoy a drink when the lift is running as well. 

The Forest Nature Center is located at the Summit House, which is good for kids. You can check out a learning tree named Sally Snag, a wildflower display, and 20 different types of animal skins. 

The Danny On Trail connects near the summit to other trails including the short East Rim loop (0.4 miles) and the longer and less-travelled Flower Point Trail (5.6 miles from base area to summit).

The pictures here are from June and we unfortunately didn't make it all the way to the top this day because there was still a lot of snow on trail. 

For those wondering about the name: Danny On was a Forest Service silviculturist and nature photographer, conservationist and Whitefish Mountain ski legend. He died in ski accident on The Big Mountain at 55 years old.