Tips for Getting into Glacier National Park

The Basics

• Vehicle reservations are required for the west entrance of Going-to-the-Sun Road and the North Fork entrance from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• The vehicle reservation season is June 13 – Sept. 28.

• Vehicle reservations will not be required at the St. Mary or Two Medicine entrances in 2025.

• New in 2025, visitors will reserve a time block when they can enter using their timed entry vehicle reservation.

• Also new in 2025, access to Many Glacier from July 1 – Sept. 21 will require a service reservation or a shuttle ride with a reservation.

• Vehicle reservations are available only at recreation.gov.

• Official park information is available on the NPS website: www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/vehicle-reservations.htm

Last year, Glacier National Park surpassed 3.2 million visitors for only the second time in its 115-year history. And yet, many of the classic summertime symptoms of over-visitation never emerged.

According to park officials, that’s due in large part to the visitor-use management strategy they’ve been refining since the park’s “summer like no other” in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic upended a visitor-use system that had already exceeded its carrying capacity, especially along its famed alpine travel corridor, the Going-to-the-Sun Road. 

Over the past two decades annual visitation to the park has doubled, from approximately 1.5 million to 3 million people, and, for many, severe congestion has come to define the Glacier experience.

But as Glacier’s administrators fine-tune the tension between visitor access and resource protection, inching closer to striking a “sweet spot” in their visitor-use management game plan, they’re confident that the Glacier experience will both endure and improve for visitors.

Superintendent Dave Roemer said the park’s management team has been working to distribute motorists more evenly across Glacier’s entry points to ease congestion during the height of summer, a goal they’ve accomplished with varying degrees of success by launching a vehicle reservation requirement. The evolving pilot program completed its fifth consecutive season last year, when administrators described locating “a sweet spot,” which they hope to refine again in 2025.

How to Get Into and Around Glacier this Summer

While previous summers required vehicle reservations to access all of the park’s six entrances, visitors this year only need advanced reservations to access the North Fork area beyond Polebridge and the West Glacier entrance to the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which are some of the most congested areas during peak summer months. Due to construction closures in the Swiftcurrent Valley, they’ll also need an advanced shuttle reservation to travel beyond the Many Glacier Hotel at the T-intersection.

The reservation requirement is in place at the West Entrance to the Going-to-the-Sun Road and the North Fork between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. The vehicle reservation season for 2025 extends from June 13 to Sept. 28.

New this year, the park has introduced a timed entry program at the two locations. Multiple time blocks will be available and, once the visitor enters Glacier, they can remain in the park for as long as they like on the day of their reservation. Visitors who miss their reserved time block can enter after 3 p.m.

The entry time blocks for Going-to-the-Sun Road and the North Fork will be in two-hour increments; 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. 

There are two booking windows for visitors planning trips to Glacier in 2025: A 120-day booking window for people who need to plan their park visit in advance or coordinate with other plans or services in the area, which became available on Feb. 13, and a next-day entry, which will be available starting June 12 at 7 p.m. Next day booking is a good option for people who are already in the local area or are more spontaneous with their plans. 

Reservations can only be purchased on Recreation.gov.

As in 2024, visitors will be able to access Apgar Village, Two Medicine, and the East Entrance to Going-to-the-Sun Road at St. Mary without a timed entry vehicle reservation. While visitors can access Going-to-the-Sun Road from the St. Mary Entrance without a reservation, visitors should be advised that if they drive west through the Apgar checkpoint into Apgar Village, they cannot reenter through the checkpoint driving east without a timed entry vehicle reservation for the appropriate time block or until after 3 p.m.  

Like previous years, visitors with lodging, camping, transportation, or commercial activity reservations can access their intended service within the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor with proof of their reservation. Only commercial reservations that originate beyond the Apgar vehicle reservation checkpoint and west of Logan Pass will provide entry in place of a vehicle reservation. Lodging, camping (including Fish Creek and Apgar campgrounds), and commercial activity reservations originating in Apgar will not provide access beyond the Apgar vehicle reservation checkpoint. 

Due to extremely limited parking during construction in the Swiftcurrent area, the park will restrict personal vehicle access into Many Glacier and provide a temporary shuttle service under a separate reservation system for a limited number of hikers to access Many Glacier and Swiftcurrent from July 1, 2025, to Sept. 21, 2025. Visit the Road Construction and Infrastructure Project Work page to learn more.   

In addition to a timed-entry vehicle reservation, each vehicle entering the park is required to have an entrance pass for any entry point into the park. These passes could include any of the following: a $35 vehicle entrance pass, good for seven days; a valid Interagency Annual/Lifetime Pass; or a Glacier National Park Annual Pass. A timed entry vehicle reservation does not include an entrance pass, and the park entrance pass does not serve as a vehicle reservation.     

Pursuant to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, vehicle reservations are not required for tribal members throughout the park.   

As in past years, entry may be temporarily restricted in areas of the park that don’t require reservations, such as Two Medicine, if they become too congested for visitor safety and resource protection. Visitors with commercial service reservations (e.g., boat tours, lodging, horseback ride, guided hikes) in these areas will be permitted entry during temporary restrictions. Sign up for text alerts to receive updates on temporary restrictions. 

Parking at Logan Pass, Apgar Village, and other areas may be congested or temporarily unavailable. Free shuttles for hiker access to Logan Pass are available, although waits for shuttles may be long depending on the time and location. Visitors should check the park website frequently for updates and additional information.   

Many Glacier Construction Restrictions

The road past Many Glacier Hotel at the T-intersection will be closed due to construction on the Swiftcurrent Water Distribution System and Swiftcurrent Spur Road rehabilitation. The construction area is closed to vehicles, bikes, and foot traffic. Construction began in the fall of 2024 and will continue through mid-May 2026.

Trail access will still be allowed for trails such as Ptarmigan Tunnel (and points beyond), Iceberg Lake, and Swiftcurrent Pass. However, due to extremely limited parking during construction in the Swiftcurrent area, the park will restrict personal vehicle access into Many Glacier and provide a temporary shuttle service for hikers to access Many Glacier and Swiftcurrent. From July 1 to Sept. 21, no general public entrance will be allowed in Many Glacier without a shuttle, commercial service or lodging reservation. The only parking available during the closure will be at Many Glacier Hotel, and will be set aside for visitors with lodging, horseback riding, and boating reservations.

To use the hiker shuttle service, hikers will need to obtain a timed ticket for their party to board the shuttle at designated pullouts along the Many Glacier Road. These tickets will be available on Recreation.gov beginning on June 24, 2025. More details on the Many Glacier hiker shuttle service are available on the National Park Service website.

Camping at Many Glacier Campground will not be available in 2025 due to construction. 

Glacier Journal is the Beacon’s annual guide to summer in Northwest Montana. Pick up a copy on newsstands across the valley or read a digital version here.