Road to Avalanche open until Tuesday

Snow has been scarce in Northwest Montana, meaning people may still have a chance to get to Glacier National Park’s popular Avalanche trailhead by vehicle until road gates are closed at Lake McDonald Lodge on Tuesday.

Park spokeswoman Denise Germann said Tuesday that Going-to-the-Sun Road would remain open to motorized traffic through Dec. 15, barring ice or snow that makes driving unsafe.

The road segment to Avalanche closed temporarily Friday due to icy conditions on the road but reopened over the weekend. Hikers venturing to Avalanche Lake over the weekend found icy conditions on the trail but no snow except for the final trail portion near the lake.

Warm weather this week has pushed snow accumulation to higher altitudes, but the National Weather Service was forecasting snow in West Glacier today, with a chance of snow showers continuing into next week.

Camas Road is also still open, and Germann said it would remain so until Jan. 1 unless weather conditions force it to close early.

Updated road status in Glacier National Park can be found by visiting http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm.