Though this Monday afternoon shot from Apgar Village doesn't reflect it, visitation to Glacier National Park in June set a record/NPS
During the past decade, June visitation to Glacier National Park in Montana has nearly doubled, with this year's crowd estimated at 620,962, according to park staff.
That tally reflects a 28 percent increase from last June. Back in 2007, June visitation was estimated at 341,317.
Not surprisingly, the park has experienced extremely crowded conditions in all areas of the park this summer season.
“We had thought the park seemed much busier than last year, even before we saw the official numbers,” said Superintendent Jeff Mow. “In the past, much of our visitation has been attributed to the opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road. However, this year, the Going-to-the-Sun Road opened 12 days later than in 2016 and we still saw a dramatic increase.”
Park rangers initiated a one-hour emergency temporary closure of the Many Glacier Valley for the first time over the Fourth of July weekend due to gridlock conditions in hotel and trailhead parking areas and access roads.
Bowman and Kintla Lake parking areas are routinely filling by 10 or 11 a.m. Logan Pass parking is routinely filling between 9 and 10 a.m. Avalanche Creek, Apgar Village, and the Apgar Visitor Center parking lots are also regularly filling in the morning or early afternoon.
In the North Fork area and other areas of the park, rangers are temporarily restricting traffic as needed to ensure that roads and parking areas remain accessible to emergency vehicles and do not become gridlocked.
Park shuttle ridership has also increased. As of July 10, ten days into the shuttle’s operational season, ridership had increased by 6,829 over 2016 levels, for a total of 30,644 riders.
Visitors should plan for crowded conditions and waiting periods for parking, particularly during peak times of day. Early morning and later evening continue to offer less-crowded opportunities to visit the park during the summer.
People can learn more about when campgrounds have filled in the past day by visiting the park website. The park is also posting when parking lots fill and other information about real-time park conditions on its Twitter feed.
Comments
I agree. I could even get summer reservations back in March. the last time I. Went there three years ago I had no problem obtaining reservation in March for a July visit. I had the same problem with Yellowstone this year. It makes it hard for people traveling long distances to get there in time to get the non-reservable spots. I come from Las Vegas which is about a 15 hour drive to Glacier. I hope something can be done. Staff needs to be increased. Parking lots need to be improved. Reservations need to make sure that groups aren't buy up all the weekends and then reselling them. I enjoy the parks but the amount of people especially from this bus tours are just to much. man times they are noisy and disrespectful. they have not invested much in their trip other than money. They don't plan and reserve, or drive they simply pay thier money and back a bag. Sit on a stupid bus all day and run around each stop for like 15-30 minutes then get back on the bus. Maybe we should stop the bus tours.
Disagree about cancelling bus tours.
We are two senior citizens from Florida. We planned this trip a LONG time ago. We will be on unfamiliar turf in an unfamiliar car in uncertain conditions. We have scheduled a bus tour on our second day for safety reasons and so we can both enjoy the ride. We also hope to learn from the narrative.