All 52 miles of the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier National Park are open.
On Friday morning, park officials allowed vehicle access on the east side of the road from St. Mary to Logan Pass.
The opening of the entire road comes just over a week after the park allowed vehicle traffic from West Glacier to Logan Pass. The annual date that the entire route opens varies and this year’s opening comes two weeks earlier than 2014.
Park officials say that the last day to drive all 52 miles of the road will be Sept. 20, when the east side will be closed for road rehabilitation. Road work is still underway on the east side and officials tell visitors to be ready for construction delays. Park officials expect the west side of the road will stay open to Logan Pass at least until the third week of October.
This year is already turning into a banner one for the park that annually attracts more than 2 million people. Visitation for 2015 is already up 29 percent over last year’s record, when 2.3 million people came through the gates. Just last week, Becky Janssen of California, became the park’s 100 millionth visitor in its 105-year history.
For more information about the road, visit www.nps.gov/glac.