Glacier to resume shuttle service with reservation tickets
Glacier Park employee Mark Boles prepares to install hand sanitizers in Glacier National Park shuttles as part of COVID-19 mitigations for a park shuttle. (Courtesy photo)
Glacier National Park announced Friday it will resume shuttle services after halting them last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shuttles will run from July 1 through Labor Day weekend with limited capacity and numbers of stops due to virus precautions, according to a news release from the park. Riders will be required to wear face coverings; a mask will be provided to any rider who doesn't have one. Social distancing measures also will be in place.
Shuttle users also will need to purchase $1 ride tickets. Most tickets will be available at recreation.gov starting July 1, released two days in advance on a rolling basis. Tickets will be reserved for one-hour increments between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. They will be nonrefundable and can't be transferred to other passengers.
The ride tickets will double as reservations for motorists looking to use the Going-to-the-Sun Road this season.
When visitors purchase tickets online, they will select a visitor center in the park — either Apgar near the west entrance or St. Mary near the east — where they will have to validate their tickets before boarding.
Passengers will have access to shuttle stops at both visitor centers as well as Lake McDonald Lodge, Avalanche, Logan Pass, Sun Point, Rising Sun and the Rising Sun boat dock. To reach Logan Pass, riders will have to transfer shuttles at either Avalanche or Sun Point, as only smaller vans can access the high alpine sections of the Sun Road.
Once their tickets have been validated at a visitor center, riders will receive wristbands allowing them to board or disembark at any of those stops during the day. Advanced check-ins up to 72 hours before riding will be available for visitors staying in the park overnight.
Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com