Park study looks at crowds, noise

Glacier National Park has compiled more than 400 comments on how best to manage the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor in the future, but the report does not come without its ironies.

Most comments centered on the Park’s free shuttle service, with most urging the Park to maintain the service, but almost in the same breath, people complained that trails are overcrowded, wildlife is stressed and the wilderness feel along popular trails has vanished as thousands of hikers use them every summer.

The Loop Trail has seen a 759 percent increase in hikers from 1988, when there were no shuttle buses, to 2011, according to Park numbers, while the Highline Trail saw a 45 percent increase.

About 1,800 hikers used the Loop Trail and 13,300 hikers used the Highline Trail in 1988 from May 21 to Sept. 5. Total Park visitation that year was 1.817 million.

In contrast, about 15,652 people hiked the Loop Trail and 19,299 hiked the Highline Trail in 2011 from July 1 to Sept. 5, 2011. Total Park visitation that year was nearly the same — 1.85 million.

Park officials note the shuttle system does not have long-term funding to keep operating. The $7.50 from every entrance fee that goes toward the shuttle is not enough to maintain the fleet in the future, they say.

Many comments suggested the Park charge shuttle passengers to keep it viable. One comment noted an ice cream cone cost $4 in Apgar Village and a shuttle ride was worth at least as much.

Most comments called for an expanded shuttle fleet, with more shuttles and stops to other parts of Glacier Park. Others suggested the Park go to a shuttle system for all travel on the Sun Road.

“When will we discontinue cars and permit shuttle only? It needs to happen, but hopefully not in my lifetime,” one person said.

But the shuttle, combined with other vehicle traffic, has made the Sun Road corridor a busy and noisy place, several comments noted.

“In the past, we have often sat (on the Highline Trail) for a long time and watched distant sheep, goats and golden eagles; but now we are reduced to counting passing people by the dozens — it feels like a sidewalk café in New York or Los Angeles,” one comment read.

Others said the Park should simply acknowledge that Logan Pass is a popular place and will always have crowds.

Noise was another common complaint, particularly from motorcycles and helicopters.

“I recently hiked into Granite Park Chalet from Logan Pass. Six miles and the only man-made sound I could hear over the waterfalls, wind and wildlife was the sound of loud motorcycles on the Going-to-the-Sun Road,” one comment read. “Solitude in the Park is a precious public commodity that a few visitors have taken away.”

One party commented that they completed a 70-mile hike in the Park only to hear helicopters flying overhead every half hour.

The Park will continue the Sun Road study this summer, with more surveys of Park visitors and monitoring of traffic noise levels.

Several alternatives for managing the Sun Road will be released later this year, with a formal environmental impact statement coming in 2015 and a final decision expected in 2016.