Glacier National Park records one of busiest Junes

Glacier National Park had one of its busiest Junes on record last month, with more than a half-million visits despite a new reservation system aimed at easing congestion on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Park officials tallied 502,581 visits during the month — more than they recorded in June 2015 (414,671) or June 2016 (485,017), according to preliminary data.

And that total is incomplete, as traffic counters in the Many Glacier area weren't functioning last month, and the entrance station was unstaffed due to a large road construction project. The total number of park visits last month was probably closer to the high marks set in June 2017 (620,962), June 2018 (556,304) and June 2019 (544,088).

June traffic counts in Many Glacier topped 23,000 in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

For pandemic-related reasons that might seem obvious by now, 2020's low visitation doesn't make for good comparisons. Park officials have instead looked to 2019 and the record-smashing 2017 visitor season when analyzing the data.

Other takeaways from the June visitation numbers:

• Traffic counters at the West Glacier entrance recorded 88,374 vehicles, topping the previous monthly record of 87,014 in 2019.
• The monthly traffic count was 20,682 at Goat Lick, topping the previous record of 19,455 in 2018.
• The Camas Road entrance saw a traffic count of 9,173, just shy of the high mark set in 2019.
• The Polebridge entrance tallied 8,807 vehicles, smashing the high mark of 7,310 set in June 2017.
• Traffic counters at Two Medicine recorded a new high of 23,580, blasting away the 2017 record of 15,723.

Park officials say the ticketed entry system for the Sun Road is only being tested out this year, though they also have said it's working as intended, preventing gridlock, forced closures of the West Glacier and St. Mary entrances, and long traffic jams that have spilled onto U.S. 2 in years past.

Tickets cost $2 and are made available on a rolling basis at recreation.gov. They are released in batches every morning at 8 a.m.

Assistant editor Chad Sokol may be reached at 406-758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com.