Glacier visits dip slightly

The Daily Inter Lake

A protracted winter, a later-than-normal opening of Going-to-Sun Road and record-high gas prices were among the influences that led to a slight decline in Glacier National Park visitation in 2008.

The National Park Service Statistics Office reported that Glacier's visitation dropped about 2.5 percent, from 2,083,328 in 2007 to 2,030,502 last year.

Winter conditions in the park dragged on well into June, complicating the annual snowplowing effort on Sun Road.

The road opened over Logan Pass on July 2.

Gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon also had an impact as the summer season progressed.

Park visitation was down 8.5 percent for the first seven months of the year. But then there was a significant jump in visitor traffic, with a 17 percent increase in August compared to the same month the previous year.

For the year, there were double-digit percentage declines at all park entrance stations except for two: The visitor count at the busy West Entrance was down 9 percent while there was a 32 percent increase in visitor traffic through the St. Mary entrance station.

There was a 4 percent increase in tent overnight stays across the park, but there was a 13 percent decline in group campers and a slight decline, about .2 percent, in concession lodging stays.