Cracker Lake

Cracker Lake effort & difficulty

GoatBeam summarizes Cracker Lake (Glacier National Park, Montana) effort from verified route geometry and DEM elevation — planning context, not a fitness or safety rating.

Trip distance is about 12.4 mi with roughly +2638 ft of elevation gain on this out-and-back.

Difficulty from verified grades

Along-trail grade distribution (by distance): 53% mostly level, 35% gentle, 11% moderate. Bands describe slope magnitude from the DEM profile, not trail difficulty labels from guidebooks.

Average climbing grade on ascent samples is about 4.7%.

The steepest rolling uphill grade in the verified profile reaches about 14.6%.

The steepest sustained climb spans about 0.1 mi near 8.4 mi into the trip (mean ~12.9%, peak ~14.6%).

Verified DEM grades show climbing concentrated later in the trip.

Elevation & elevation gain

Cracker Lake elevation gain is about +2638 ft on the published outing.

The verified elevation range runs from roughly 4822 ft to 6063 ft.

Elevation loss along the trip is about 2638 ft.

Elevation profile

The GoatBeam elevation profile charts distance against DEM elevation for Cracker Lake, so you can see where gain accumulates before you hike.

Use the profile together with the grade callouts above to locate the steepest verified section and where climbing concentrates.

3D map & trail map

GoatBeam’s interactive 3D map and trail map for Cracker Lake show the verified corridor on terrain — spin and beam tools help you read the landscape before you go.

Immersive Beam imagery is not yet available here; the 3D trail map, elevation profile, and effort tools still are.