The heavy winter snows and steep, avalanche-prone valleys of the park have been a major obstacle to transportation, necessitating much railway engineering and avalanche control measures.

Due to the major transportation routes that bisect it, Glacier National Park sees large numbers of visitors.

The Selkirk Mountains were first noted by Europeans when explorer David Thompson of the North West Company skirted around them on the Columbia River in 1811.

In 1865, Canadian Pacific Surveyor Walter Moberly led an expedition up the Illecillewaet River (which he named, using the Okanangan word for "swift water").

Following a trip by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his wife Agnes through the Rockies on the newly completed Trancontinental Railroad, he returned to Ottawa inspired, and led the creation of Glacier and Yoho National Parks, both established on October 10, 1886.

This added to a collection of CPR-owned hotels across Canada, including Mount Stephen House in Yoho National Park, built in the same year and with the same floor plan.

William Spotswood Green was the first European climber to make note of the excellent climbing possibilities of peaks near the CPR line.

[9] Arthur Oliver Wheeler, a cartographer, climber, and founding member of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC), came to Glacier House in 1901.

This started a thirty-year relationship with the northern Selkirks, which saw Wheeler map the region, publish large reference works on its geography, and explore much of the park's terrain.

[13] The new tunnel bypassed Glacier House's siding, and the resulting lack of rail passengers spelled the end for the once-popular hotel.

With the planned inundation of much of that valley by hydro projects outlined in the Columbia River Treaty, a new highway route was needed.

The topography of the park varies between rounded mountains and ridges in the east, north, and west, and sharp, steep-sided peaks in the central and southern regions.

[17] Most names are from historical figures, including explorers, surveyors, mountaineers, and railway and Hudson's Bay Company executives.

The park's glaciers have a variety of appearances, with high altitude features smooth and uniform, cracked and riddled with crevasses on the slopes, and black with debris on the valley bottoms.

In the summer months, these rivers have noticeable diurnal cycles; they run high in the afternoons as the snow and ice melt is at its peak, then drop considerably with lower nighttime temperatures.

[27] From Rogers Pass, layers of quartzite and slate are visible, revealing the fact that the range was part of a large, silty continental shelf 600 million years ago.

185 million years ago, successive plate movements from the west began to crumple and compress this material, driving some of it deep underground, and some into the heights of the Selkirks.

[28] Although erosion and the effects of the glaciers are constantly grinding down the mountain peaks, the pressure of the underlying rock continues to drive them upward.

[29] The limestone strata in the park is subject to water erosion by Cougar Brook, a process that has formed the Nakimu Caves.

[33] Glacier National Park covers a range of habitats, from lush temperate rainforest in the western valleys, to inhospitable ice- and rock-covered alpine areas, to drier fir and pine forests on the eastern boundary.

Animal life in the park ranges from large mammals like caribou and grizzly bear to bird species such as Steller's jay and the golden eagle.

At higher elevations, this forest opens up to meadows and slide chutes, which are covered in a lush growth of grasses, herbaceous shrubs, and alpine wildflowers.

[36] Bears dominate the snow zone; the berry-rich avalanche slides provide an important food source for both black and grizzly species.

The deep snows of winter drive most ungulates out of the park into the lower elevations of the nearby Rocky Mountain Trench and Columbia valleys.

Several species of squirrels are found in the lower forests, and alpine mammals include pika, hoary marmots, and martens.

The 30 species who are year-round residents include woodpeckers, golden eagles, owls, ravens, Steller's jays, and golden-crowned kinglets.

The mean annual precipitation in subalpine areas is 1.995 metres (6 ft 6.5 in)[40] This contributes to the large icefields and glaciers that cover much of the park's high elevations.

The Royal Canadian Horse Artillery operate 105mm Howitzer cannons, based at circular gun positions along the highway.

The highway is closed to traffic, shells are fired at trigger points identified by Parks forecasters, and smaller, more controlled avalanches are started.

It includes a theatre, an exhibit hall with railway models, natural history displays and wildlife specimens, and a bookstore.