Enjoy Glacier Park this weekend
More Glacier National Park services and facilities will be available going into the Fourth of July weekend, but high water has prompted some closures in the park.
The park’s free transit system now is operating on Going-to-the-Sun Road and will continue through Sept. 2. Limited shuttle routes, stops and times are offered along Sun Road. Visitor vehicles can travel as far as Avalanche Creek on the west side of the park, but shuttles will depart from Avalanche to go to the Loop every 10 to 15 minutes until 4 p.m. daily.
Additional openings for the holiday weekend are horse rides at the Lake McDonald Corral and camping at Quartz Creek primitive campground. Granite Park Chalet will open today, with guests reaching the chalet using the shuttle system and then hiking the Loop Trail.
Due to high water, there are a few closures in Glacier:
n Prominent among those is the popular Avalanche Creek Trail that is closed due to the creek running over the trail.
Trail crews are attempting to mitigate the flooding so the trail can be reopened this weekend. Visitors are asked to inquire about current trail conditions at a visitor center or ranger station to receive the most up-to-date information.
n The Quarter Circle Bridge Road is closed because of water over the road from the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Logging Creek Campground will open July 8 at the earliest due to water in the campground.
n The Inside North Fork Road remains closed at Fish Creek and Logging Creek because of flood damage in three separate areas.
n Due to lingering snow at Two Medicine, there will be fewer picnic sites available, but most of the campground will be available for camping.
Meanwhile, plowing continues on Sun Road, the main highway linking the east and west sides of Glacier.
The west-side plows have reached Logan Pass and are at the Big Drift, the last snow obstacle to be cleared on Sun Road.
This year the drift is estimated between 50 to 60 feet, a depth normally seen on Memorial Day weekend. Crews will begin to pioneer the Big Drift from the west so they can be joined by the east-side crews to punch through the final section of deep snow covering Sun Road.
Parking is limited at Avalanche Creek, so visitors are urged to use the transit system from the Apgar Transit Center.
On the east side, the transit system will operate from the St. Mary Visitor Center to Sun Point.
Visitors should inquire at a visitor center, ranger station or transit center to obtain more information.
Hiking and biking beyond the vehicle closures on Sun Road is allowed for about 11 miles from Avalanche Creek to Bird Woman Falls Overlook. On the east side, hikers and bikers can go about two miles from the gates at Jackson Glacier Overlook to Siyeh Bend.
Hikers and bikers should be alert for transit shuttles and construction vehicles.
Construction work on Sun Road will resume on July 5. Night work from Big Bend to Logan Pass will be from Tuesday night through Friday morning from 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and no travel will be allowed through the construction zone.
Rivers, streams and creeks are flowing close to flood stage this weekend across Glacier.
Visitors are reminded to use caution around water and to view creeks, streams and rivers from a safe distance. Undercut banks, slippery logs and rocks all present dangers.
Drowning is the most prominent cause of death in Glacier National Park.