Updated: May 25, 3:45 p.m.
The National Park Service reopened the west side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park to Avalanche Creek on Wednesday afternoon. The iconic road was previously closed due to flooding.
Park officials urged visitors to travel with care, noting that only one lane of the road was open in some places.
The west side of the trans-mountain highway was closed near the foot of Lake McDonald on Monday after a washout was discovered north of Apgar. Heavy rain also caused a small mudslide that covered parts of the road with debris, logs and sludge.
The east side of the Sun Road from St. Mary to Jackson Glacier Overlook is also open.
Anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across the valley on Sunday and Monday. The rain event resulted in minor flooding around Columbia Falls and some roads, including the North Fork Road, were closed. All county and state roads have since reopened.
For the latest information about the Sun Road, visit Glacier National Park’s website.
The heavy rains and runoff are creating numerous road problems on the Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger Districts, prompting temporary closures of roads.
The U.S. Forest Service said Canyon Creek Road #316 is closed to all motorized traffic from the Canyon Creek snowmobile parking area; west 7 miles to the intersection with Forest Road #316C (South Fork of Canyon Creek). This includes tributary Forest roads #316G Crystal Creek and #316D Nine Mile.
The Westside South Fork Rd. #895 is now open. It was closed for two days so heavy equipment could remove debris and open the culvert in a slide area just three miles south of the Hungry Horse Dam. Additionally, numerous culverts were cleared of debris and fallen rock was removed from the road.
The public is asked to slow down and use caution when traveling on soft rain saturated road surfaces.