Plows closing in on remaining Sun Road snow

The remaining days are dwindling for bicyclists and hikers to have 21 miles of Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road all to themselves this summer, as park crews near completion of the annual, months-long effort to prepare the scenic highway for motorized traffic.

Plow crews have removed much of the remaining snow from the roadway on the west side of Logan Pass and on Friday worked to continue clearing the parking lot atop the Continental Divide. On the east side, Glacier’s “Hudson Bay Road Crew” continued punching through the Big Drift.

The official opening of the road to cars and other motorized traffic is likely at least another week off, as park crews still must finish installing scores of temporary guardrails along the winding, high-elevation portions of the road. The barriers are dismantled at the end of each season in anticipation of avalanches that periodically crash onto the road throughout the winter.

For now, the vehicle closures remain in place at Avalanche on the west side, and at Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east side. Beyond those points, bicyclists and hikers can venture up the Sun Road until they hit the closure signs when crews are working. Outside weekday working hours or on weekends, non-motorized access is unlimited.

The full Going-to-the-Sun Road typically opens between mid-June and early July, depending on the severity of the winter or high-elevation snowstorms in early summer.

Last year the Sun Road opened to traffic on June 17, following a relatively early June 11 opening in 2015. In 2014, a brutal, snowy winter kept cars off the now-closed portion of the highway until July 2.

For updated road status in Glacier, visit home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm.