Park road open to Avalanche Creek

After sufficient melting and additional plowing, Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road was opened to Avalanche Creek for vehicle traffic on Wednesday. Temporary parking is available at the Avalanche Picnic Area and Campground.

With warmer temperatures this week, plow crews on the west side of the park cleared snow in the lower elevations due to the increased avalanche danger along the road’s higher stretches.

Avalanche danger persists throughout the park. Avalanches along the Sun Road can occur at any time in the spring. During high avalanche danger, park officials do not advise hiker-biker travel on the Sun Road beyond Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun on the east side of the park.

There are, however, no planned restrictions for hikers or bikers on the Sun Road, Many Glacier or Two Medicine roads this weekend. Visitors are encouraged to have significant knowledge of traveling in avalanche terrain. Stopping in avalanche paths is not recommended.

This week, eastside crews widened initial plowing on Two Medicine Valley Road. On Sun Road, HK Contractors, the Going-to-the-Sun Road rehabilitation contractor, plowed behind the vehicle closure at Rising Sun. HK will be joined by park plow crews next week. Two Medicine Road remains open to Running Eagle Falls, the Sun Road to Rising Sun and the Many Glacier Road remains closed at the park boundary.

Chief Mountain Road, in the northeast corner of the park, opened on Thursday. Chief Mountain Customs, the seasonal port of entry, will commence operation on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. On June 1, the port will resume extended summer hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The Camas and Quarter Circle Bridge roads are open for vehicle traffic. In the North Fork, most roads remain closed to vehicle traffic with the exception of eight miles of the Inside North Fork Road from the Polebridge Ranger Station to Big Prairie.                    

Apgar Campground opened to visitors on May 6 and Sprague Creek Campground opened Friday. St. Mary Campground remains in primitive status and is the only campground on the east side available for camping. The Apgar Visitor Center shifted to a summer schedule from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and St. Mary Visitor Center is scheduled to open on May 22 for the season from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both visitor centers will extend hours on June 19. Starting this weekend, Sun Tours is available for guided bus tours with a Blackfeet perspective. Glacier Guides Inc. is open for guided day hikes and backpacking. Some privately owned facilities are open in Apgar Village.