Glacier Park visitation still ahead of last year

Visitation to Glacier National Park through February is up 9.6 percent compared with last year.

Park Superintendent Jeff Mow expects the National Park Service’s centennial to post a third consecutive year of record-breaking attendance, after last year’s 2,366,056 visitors topped the record set in 2014.

Early-season visits represent little of the overall picture, however, and the combined 29,174 visitors during the first two months of 2016 equals a little over 1 percent of the typical year-end total.

In February, 13,500 visitors entered Glacier, a 7 percent decrease from last February. Of those, 11,991 came through the entrance at West Glacier, 1,033 entered at St. Mary and 326 rolled through Polebridge.

Weather permitting, crews will begin plowing the popular Going-to-the-Sun Road April 1. Last year, Logan Pass opened to vehicles June 11.