Glacier National Park is making steady progress opening roads this spring. The Inside North Fork Road is now open north of Logging Creek Ranger Station, making Bowman and Kintla Lakes accessible on the west side of the park. Also, another section of Going-to-the-Sun Road opened up, permitting public access as far as Avalanche on the west side and to Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east.
See the park’s road status page for details, as well as information on hiker/biker access.
According to Glacier Park’s road status page, Going-to-the-Sun Road is now open to general traffic as far as Avalanche Campground on the west side and to Rising Sun from the east.
Here’s the official write-up:
Currently 21.0 miles of the Going-to-the-Sun Road are open for travel.
Visitors can drive 15.5 miles from the West Entrance to Avalanche, and 5.5 miles from the St. Mary Entrance to Rising Sun.
The section of the road between Avalanche and Rising Sun is closed due to plowing. On the West Side, Hiker/Biker access is to Packers Roost, approximately 6 miles from the Avalanche Gate – while the road crew is working. On the weekends, there are no restrictions. On the East Side Hiker/Biker access is to Jackson Glacier Overlook, approximately 8 miles from the Rising Sun Gate – while the road crew is working. On the weekends there are no restrictions.
Glacier National Park has posted this year’s campground schedule. The first to open is Apgar on May 4, with most of the rest following fairly soon thereafter.
Glacier Park will be hosting two information meetings to discuss upcoming park activities. Superintendent Chas Cartwright will be there, as will Assistant Superintendent Kym Hall. If you’ve got questions for those people, these meetings are a good opportunity. Here is the official press release:
Glacier National Park is hosting two community meetings to share information about park activities and provide an opportunity for personal dialogue between park management and local community members and neighbors. A west-side meeting will take place Tuesday, May 15, 5:30-7 p.m. at Discovery Square in Columbia Falls and an east-side meeting will be Wednesday, May 16 from 3-4:30 p.m. at the Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier.
The format of the meeting will include presentations by Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright and Deputy Superintendent Kym Hall. Following the presentations, there will be a question and answer period and opportunity for informal conversations.
Cartwright and Hall will share updates regarding 2012 park programs, including Going-to-the-Sun Road Rehabilitation, spring plowing, Apgar Transit Center Parking Lot Expansion, aquatic invasive species management, Lake McDonald Cabin Management Plan, and the role of social media with the park. Community members are encouraged to attend and learn more about what’s happening at the park.
Glacier National Park is a climate change poster child . . .
Against the backdrop of a warming world, Glacier National Park and its waning namesakes have for years stood out as one of the most tangible manifestations of climate change.
And because the park’s administrative brass consistently marches at the vanguard of research, education and climate-friendly initiatives, Glacier Park has assumed a dual role, serving both as a poster child for the perils of global warming and a trailblazer in the efforts to mitigate its effects.
Looks like the worst of the remaining Going-to-the-Sun Road maintenance in Glacier National Park should be wrapped up by next spring . . .
Glacier National Park visitors again can expect traffic delays on Going-to-the-Sun Road this summer due to a long-term road reconstruction project.
But the $137 million Sun Road rehabilitation project’s most difficult phase on the road’s alpine section is expected to be almost entirely finished by this fall.
“The most expensive, most difficult construction areas, the ones with the adverse weather and short seasons, our plan is to have that done at the latest by spring of 2013,” said Jack Gordon, the park’s landscape architect.
According to Glacier National Park’s road status web page, Camas Road is now officially open. This will be nice for those folks who prefer to avoid the lower part of the North Fork Road, especially in the spring.
Snow removal in Glacier Park seems to be proceeding nicely . . .
Glacier National Park plow crews made good progress last week, clearing the Going-to-the-Sun Road on the west side of the Park from Lake McDonald Lodge to beyond Red Rocks.
Hikers and bikers can use the full length of the plowed section when crews aren’t working. Last weekend, a number of visitors biked to Avalanche Creek and beyond. The road has a few icy patches but is mostly clear.
For more information, see Glacier Park’s “Going-to-the-Sun Road Information and Transit System” web page.
More information on this year’s snow removal challenges in Glacier Park . . .
The chorus of whirring snowplows in Glacier National Park joined western Montana’s spring interlude this week as crews began the annual work of forging through deep snow along Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Plowing on the 50-mile Sun Road began April 2, according to park spokeswoman Denise Germann. Crews immediately encountered between 12 and 30 inches of snow and up to a half-foot of ice on the first two miles of road beyond Lake McDonald Lodge . . .
“The region around Glacier National Park has definitely been making gains in the last month,” Domonkos said.
Measurement data show that as of April 1, basin totals for the entire North Fork of the Flathead River are 111 percent of average . . .
Glacier National Park is starting to dig out from under the past season’s snowfall . . .
Glacier National Park snow plows started churning their way through snow on Going-to-the-Sun Road this week.
Plows on the west side reached just beyond the Avalanche Creek area to the Red Rock slide.
Plows encountered 12 to 30 inches of snow on their path from Lake McDonald Lodge.
The road surface from the lodge to Avalanche remains covered with 2 to 6 inches of ice, while Camas and Fish Creek roads have 1 to 4 inches of ice . . .