KALISPELL – Glacier National Park officials say more than 325,000 people visited the park in September — an increase of about 24 percent from a year ago.
The spike happened despite construction closures on the upper reaches of the historic Going-to-the-Sun Road. Last September, 262,782 people entered the park.
So far this year, nearly 2 million people have visited — a 13.4 percent increase from the same period last year. The year-to-date total for 2009 is 1,955,393 visitors, compared to 1,724,862 a year ago.
Glacier also has seen increases in traffic at several park entrances as well as spikes in overnight stays.
It has been the park’s busiest year since 1994.