By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

Even though Logan Pass wasn't open in June, visitation to Glacier National Park was up about 5 percent over last year, according to Park Service figures.

Total visits for June were 343,359 compared to 326,642 last year.

Overall, visitation to Glacier is up 18.25 percent over 2006.

The busiest entrance in Glacier was the west side entrance, with 168,820 visits in June. That amounted to more than half of all visits for the entire year through the west entrance.

Saint Mary saw about 47,000 visits and Many Glacier saw almost as many — about 40,000 visits.

Concessionaire lodging was also up, with 23,821 guests this year compared to 21,305 guests last June.

The Park opened Logan Pass on July 1— one of the latest ever. But the weather wasn't bad in June and people seemed to simply go to other destinations inside the Park.

Jan Metzmaker of the Whitefish Visitor Center and Convention Bureau, which is the marketing arm of the city, said there was a concerted effort by tourism groups to market more of Glacier than just the Sun Road.

In particular, groups would tell folks about other regions of the Park, like Two Medicine the Goat Lick and Many Glacier.

Glacier National Park, they note, is never closed.

That effort, she noted, appears to be working. The center tracks numbers like resort tax receipts, and while June numbers weren't available yet, she said in speaking to merchants and lodging establishments their numbers appear to be up.

Numbers in Glacier Park's less publicized places were up. In Two Medicine, for example, there were 29,000 visits this year, about 3,000 more than last June.

In June, folks could drive as far as Avalanche Creek Creek on the west side of the Sun Highway and Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east side of the Sun Highway.

The Sun Road's alpine section was closed because extensive flloding last fall damaged the road, making it impassable near the east side tunnel and damaging it on extensively on west side as well.

The Park was able to get it repaired, however, by July 1.

The weather, which plays an important role in visitation as well, was pretty good in June. While a lack of rain probably made the fire situation here worse, sunshine is always better for tourism than rain and June was a sunny month.

Last year Glacier saw just under 2 million total visits.