Glacier Park closes to visitors

Glacier National Park will be closed to visitors until further notice beginning Friday evening in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be no visitor access permitted to the park, however U.S. 2 inside the park boundary will remain open.

“The National Park Service listened to the concerns from our state, county, and tribal partners and, based on current health guidance, temporarily closed the park,” said Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow. “We will continue to work with our state, county, and tribal partners as this crisis continues and we will coordinate with them on when it will be safe to reopen the park.”

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Tuesday sent a letter to the superintendent of Glacier National Park, requesting the immediate, temporary closure of the park.

Bullock’s letter stated “early season visitation to Glacier National Park is promoting unnecessary travel that both undermines our efforts to reduce exposures and exacerbates risks for all Montanans” and that visitors are “also straining local grocery and other facilities at a time when local officials are attempting to curtail gatherings and meet the need for essential services.”

Bullock issued a statewide stay-at-home directive on Thursday afternoon to combat the spread of COVID-19. The directive will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday and will last until at least April 10.