Glacier National Park broke records in the shoulder seasons, but stays on par for annual visits in 2023

More than 2.9 million people passed through the entrances of Glacier National Park in 2023, marking the park’s sixth busiest year in its history.

Recreational visits were up nearly 1% from 2022, according to statistics released by park officials Wednesday. Monthly records were set for May and September, when warmer-than-normal conditions inspired more people to visit earlier or later than usual. 

In May 2023 there were over 200,000 visitors to the park and in September there were nearly 554,000 visitors. That’s up from more than 181,000 and 544,000 visitors, respectively, in 2022. 

Glacier National Park has consistently hosted around 3 million visitors each year for the last five years, aside from 2020 when it grappled with pandemic-induced closures.

There were 2,933,616 visitors in 2023; 2,908,458 in 2022; 3,081,656 in 2021; 1,698,864 in 2020; and 3,049,839 in 2019. The dip in 2020 is owing to the closure of the entire park during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The east side entrances remained closed through the rest of that season.

While Glacier remains one of the most visited parks in the nation — this year it’s in the top 15 — officials said that the past three years of the vehicle reservation pilot program have successfully spread visitation throughout the day during peak hours on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. That’s resulted in fewer closures, better traffic management and a more enjoyable park experience during peak season, officials said. 

During peak season, which is June through August, there were 869,026 visitors entering through the West Glacier entrance. It’s by far the busiest entrance, with 821,332 visitors in 2022 and 916,491 visitors in 2021. In 2019, there were over 1 million visitors that came through the West Glacier entrance.

The Saint Mary entrance saw 435,710 visitors in 2023, up from 388,686 in 2022. But the entrance hasn’t reached pre-pandemic numbers. In 2019, 481,298 visitors came through the gate. 

Visitation data also shows when different entrances implemented the pilot vehicle reservation system. It was put in place at the Polebridge entrance in 2022 after high visitation to the area brought more than 70,000 people through that gateway in 2021. That number dropped to 53,607 after the reservation system was implemented in 2022. 

Similar declines can be seen for Two Medicine and Many Glacier. The entrances saw 179,716 and 262,469 visitors, respectively, in 2022. After the vehicle reservation system was extended to those entrances in 2023, visitation dropped to 141,570 for Two Medicine and 223,275 for Many Glacier. 

Park officials opted to drop reservations at the Saint Mary, Two Medicine and Many Glacier entrances in 2024. This decision came after a public comment period where officials heard from stakeholders and visitors. Superintendent Dave Roemer has previously said that park officials will monitor these areas for overcrowding and can close entrances if necessary. 

Visitor use statistics are collected in all but a handful of parks and rolled up to a national database used to create a series of reports available to park managers, employees and the public, according to the release. National Park Service social scientists coordinate visitor use statistics and work with parks to develop data collection procedures. More information about park visitation, visitor statistics and detailed information about reporting, history and policy is available on the NPS Stats website.