Opening of Sun Road Dependent on Weather

The opening of Glacier National Park’s iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road will depend on crews’ progress installing safety infrastructure, as well as the weather, park officials said this week.

As of June 1, the Sun Road was only open for 15.5 miles on the west side, up to the Avalanche Campground. Beyond avalanche, only hikers and bikers have access to further up the road, which has been largely cleared of massive snowdrifts.

On the east side, the road is still closed from St. Mary due to construction crews working on the roadway. It will be closed at least until June 19.

Katelyn Liming, a public affairs assistant for the park, said the park administration doesn’t have an opening date in mind yet, because the weather will play a major role this week in determining how fast crews can work.

“A fair amount is cleared, but they still have to put posts in,” Liming said.

Once sections of road are cleared, workers must then install the guardrails running along the road for the safety of drivers.

A major storm was expected to hit the park on June 1, with officials at the National Weather Service in Missoula predicting heavy rain that could bring more than half an inch of rain in less than an hour.

Such precipitation could amount to up to 2 inches from Monday to Tuesday, NWS officials said, with rock and mudslides possible in Glacier. The sudden onset of rain could also cause flash floods, the NWS warned.

Such weather events would only hamper crews on the alpine road, Liming said.

“(Opening the road) really is weather dependent,” she said.

As of June 1, the park reported that snowplows were continuing work at the apex of the road at Logan Pass.

Meanwhile, other roads in the park are open for travel, including the Camas Road, Chief Mountain Road, Many Glacier Road, and Two Medicine Road.

For daily and hourly updates on Going-to-the-Sun Road’s status, visit www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm.