Park's Inside Road won't fully open this year

Glacier National Park’s Inside North Fork Road won’t fully open to vehicles this summer. The road has suffered washouts and water problems near Logging Creek and other reaches, making it impassable by motor vehicles.

Park spokeswoman Denise Germann said the road will remain closed between Camas and Logging creeks, although hikers and bikers can still use the road. That section of road serves only one trailhead, the Dutch Lake Trail.

Germann said Park officials are looking at some initial designs and engineering for a possible fix to the road.

The biggest problem in recent years has been at Anaconda and Logging creeks, which braid during high water events in the spring, washing out the road. In some years, Logging Creek has flooded the nearby Logging Creek Campground.

The road also suffers from erosion by the North Fork of the Flathead River between Quartz and Logging creeks.

The road is the oldest road in Glacier. The unimproved road, also known as Glacier Route 7, was constructed as a wagon road in 1901 by the Butte Oil Co., running from the foot of Lake McDonald to the company’s oil well at the foot of Kintla Lake.