Ptarmigan Tunnel

Ptarmigan Tunnel
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Glacier National Park, Glacier County, Montana, USA
Nearest city	West Glacier, Montana
Coordinates	48°50′57″N 113°42′28″W
Built	1930
Architect	Ole Westman
MPS	Glacier National Park MRA
NRHP reference No.	86000360
Added to NRHP	February 14, 1986

The Ptarmigan Tunnel was built in 1930 through the Ptarmigan Wall at an elevation of 7,200 feet (2,200 m) in Glacier National Park, near Many Glacier, in Montana, US. The 250-foot (76 m) manmade tunnel allows hikers to avoid a strenuous climb over very steep terrain between Many Glacier and the Belly River valley. Two opposing steel jackhammers drilling from either side of the tunnel and a series of ten-hole rounds of dynamite gradually broke through the mountain in less than three months.

Ptarmigan Tunnel inside

A wide area, originally for guide and tourist horses, extends from each portal with a masonry retaining wall. Natural rock lines the interior walls. Heavy iron doors were hung across the tunnel adits during the summer of 1975. They remain open from mid-July until October 1, weather permitting. Designed by Ole Westman, this trail tunnel embodies exceptional qualities of landscape architecture and engineering in a pedestrian-scaled tunnel, cut through a sheer mountain wall.

See also

• Ptarmigan Lake
• Burro Schmidt Tunnel