Winter is slowly but surely releasing its icy grip on Glacier National Park, but there’s still plenty of snow standing in the way of opening the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road.
As of last week, the Bowman Lake, Many Glacier, Two Medicine and Chief Mountain roads in Glacier National Park had been plowed and were open to the public. The Bowman Lake campground is open with limited services. The Two Medicine and Many Glacier campgrounds remain closed due to snow.
Meanwhile, plow crews are still slowly but surely working on clearing the Sun Road across the park. As of May 21, the west side plows had reached Big Bend and the east side crews were quickly approaching Siyeh Bend, 2.8 miles below Logan Pass.
As of May 21, 17 miles of the Sun Road are open in Glacier Park; 11.5 miles from the West Entrance to the Lake McDonald Lodge and 5.5 miles from the St. Mary Entrance to Rising Sun. Weekday hiker and biker access is currently available on the west side to Packers Roost, about 12 miles past the Lake McDonald Lodge. On weekends, when plow crews are not working, visitors can venture as far as their legs will take them.
As to when the iconic Sun Road will open to traffic, spokesperson Lauren Alley said it all depends on weather. “It’s hard to say,” Alley said. The road typically opens in late June and early July.
For the latest information, visit https://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm