Almost there: Road opens to Big Bend

Logan Pass won't open until July 1

Going-to-the-Sun Road won't be open from the west entrance to Logan Pass until July 1, but it will open to the Big Bend area today, Glacier National Park's facility manager said Friday.

"It's our plan to open up to Big Bend," said John Kilpatrick.

The park planned to open the gate at Avalanche by noon today and allow motorists to go as far as Big Bend.

There will be a vehicle closure at Big Bend, halfway between the Loop and Logan Pass. Big Bend is 29 miles from the park's west entrance.

"It's the best we can do right now," Kilpatrick said.

When park plows cleared snow from the road just below the pass, at Oberlin Bend and in the Rimrock area, three areas damaged by a severe rainstorm last November were discovered.

"One of them is going to take about 350 tons of rock to fix," Kilpatrick said. "It's a real similar failure to the others we've had along the road."

Because of those repairs, Kilpatrick said, "It's my guess that it's going to prevent us from opening to Logan Pass until July 1."

But opening the full length of the 50-mile alpine highway was expected to be delayed until that date anyway because of extensive repairs under way east of Logan Pass.

Those repairs are proceeding on schedule, with contracted construction crews working seven days a week on two 10-hour shifts daily. The park has long targeted having those repairs finished and the road opened east of the pass by July 1.

Within the next four days, a temporary bridge will be installed over the worst of the washouts - a 110-foot gap in the road below the East Tunnel where both lanes were lost. The bridge will provide visitors access during the summer, while work to fill and repair the gap will carry on beneath the bridge.

Currently, visitors entering Sun Road at St. Mary can travel as far as Jackson Glacier Overlook. Hikers and bikers cannot travel beyond that point because of construction activity.

Kilpatrick said hikers and bikers at times will be able travel beyond the Big Bend, depending on construction activity, but they will not be able to go past Logan Pass until the road is completely open.

This weekend, hikers and bikers will only be allowed to go about a half-mile beyond Big Bend because of road work.

Elsewhere in Glacier Park, the Camas Road, Many Glacier Road, Two Medicine Road and the Cut Bank Road are open to vehicular traffic. The Inside North Fork Road is open from the Polebridge Ranger Station to Logging Creek.

Park visitor centers in Apgar and St. Mary are open daily. Limited interpretive programs begin on Sunday. The complete array of programs begins June 24. The schedule of activities can be found in The Glacier Explorer, which is available at visitor centers or online at www.nps.gov/archive/glac/pdf/explorer-01-2007.pdf.

Glacier campgrounds are available at Apgar, Avalanche, Bowman Lake, Fish Creek, Kintla Lake, Many Glacier, Rising Sun, Sprague Creek, St. Mary and Two Medicine. Primitive camping, with no water provided, also is available at Cut Bank.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com