Paradise Point
What to Expect
Safety Advisory
The rocks at Paradise Point can be slippery when wet — watch your footing near the water's edge, especially if you're scrambling out for a better photo angle.
This is grizzly country even on short trails. Make noise on the forested sections and carry bear spray — the dense forest between the trailhead and the point limits your sight lines.
Trail Details
- 1
Hit this trail early morning or at golden hour — Lake McDonald turns into a mirror when the wind dies down, and Paradise Point is one of the best spots on the south shore to catch it. Midday wind chop ruins the reflection.
- 2
This trail connects to the longer South Shore Trail, so if you're feeling ambitious after reaching the point, you can keep going along the lakeshore for a more extended lakeside walk without retracing your steps.
- 3
Bring a camp chair or sit pad — the rocks at Paradise Point are flat enough to hang out on, and this is one of the better spots to just sit and watch the light change on the peaks across the lake without fighting for space at the busier pulloffs along Going-to-the-Sun Road.