Construction on Many Glacier Road to begin in April
The Many Glacier Hotel.
A major two-year road construction project on Many Glacier Road is slated to begin April 1, 2020, Glacier National Park announced Friday.
April 1 through May 17 and Sept. 21 through Dec. 16 next year the Many Glacier Road will be closed to visitor traffic at the park boundary due to large-scale road construction projects. Officials with Glacier National Park say the large-scale construction project will “significantly increase travel times to the Many Glacier area,” and visitors should “expect travel delays up to 40 minutes each way from Babb to the Many Glacier Hotel.”
Park management is encouraging visitors to explore other areas of the park if they wish to avoid significant delays. The press release says visitors traveling through construction zones Monday through Friday between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. may experience delays of up to three hours due to night construction.
For the duration of the project, the entire Many Glacier Campground will transfer to “reservation only” in order to reduce congestion in the area during construction. Once construction is complete, a portion of Many Glacier campsites will revert back to “first-come, first-served” as usual, but in the meantime, the spots can be reserved for $23 per night at www.recreation.gov starting in March 2020.
In anticipation of long delays and congestion in the popular Many Glacier Valley in 2020 and 2021, backcountry campers are encouraged to select alternative hiking routes that do not begin or end in Many Glacier. Similarly, backcountry campers are encouraged to pick up their permits (advance reservations or walk-in permits) at one of four other permit issuing stations in the park, including Apgar, St. Mary, Two Medicine, and Polebridge.
Park officials also encourage boaters to recreate on park waters other than waters around Many Glacier to avoid congestion due to construction.
All commercial visitor services at Many Glacier, including lodging, food and beverage, retail, boat tours and horseback rides, will be operating as normal during construction.