Glacier popular in July

by The Daily Inter Lake
| August 17, 2012 9:05 AM

Visitation to Glacier National Park was up 9.6 percent compared to last July, and for the year it is up 14 percent compared to the first seven months of last year.

During July, the park had 630,093 visitors, compared to 574,660 in July 2011.

So far this year, 1,120,873 people have entered the park compared to 983,486 during the first seven months of last year, according to a visitation report issued by the National Park Service Public Use Statistics Office.

Overnight stays in the park were up 9.5 percent for July and 15 percent for the year. Visitation has increased at all entrance stations.

Most notably, the number of visitors entering at St. Mary increased 34 percent for the month of July and 35 percent for the first seven months of the year.

At the West Glacier entrance — the most popular entrance station — the visitor count was up 3.8 percent for the month of July and up 7.6 percent for the year.