WEST GLACIER - The iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road is finally open and visitors are pouring into the park
Wednesday marks one of the latest openings in park history. The park opened on the 13th in 2011 due to snow levels and in 2020 due to covid. The late opening this year was due to late winter weather and extended avalanche danger.
“The weather helped us out this last week. Our road crews were able to make some much-needed progress on getting the road open. It was a big relief getting the road open this year," said Glacier Nation Park spokeswoman Gina Kerzman.
Many tourists visited the park earlier in the season with hopes that the road would be open but Wednesday was the first day and visitors were thrilled to find out they could access the entire road.
“I'm super excited that it opened while we were here. We were we weren't sure they were gonna get to open it or not. So we're excited," said Mallory Ratcliff.
For the second year in a row, vehicle reservations are required to access Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Reservations are released 24 hours in advance at 8 a.m. the day before the effective date on recreation.gov. The lucky visitors who get to go up on the first day are excited for the Gpoing-to-the-Sun Road experience.
“Just the views and having fun," said Cameron Dusek.
"Ya just the views and seeing a glacier in the middle of the summer," said Hans Williamson.
Park visitors should monitor and be aware of the nightly closures due to construction and some trail closures due to snow.
The current conditions and closures can be found on Glacier National Park’s website.
With the road open, park rangers are ready for the season, and relieved the hard work of clearing the road is done.
“We're always excited to get the road open because that means our visitors can see and access more areas of the park. It's always a big stress trying to get the road open. Our road crews worked really hard," said Kerzman.
