Park visitation up in October overall
A grizzly bear pauses as it digs up a stump in a driving snow in Glacier National Park earier this month. Photo was taken with a 600 mm lens.
Visitation statistics for the month of October in Glacier National Park show some surges and some recessions compared to last year.
Visitors to Polebridge numbered 8,738 last month, up 94.5 percent over Oct. 2015, which saw 4,493. By contrast, visitor numbers to Walton/ Goat Lick took a steep plummet, decreasing 92.2 percent from last year’s 645 to this year’s 50 for the month.
Saint Mary’s also saw a decrease of 25 percent, with visitors in October totaling 7,395. The St. Mary entrance was closed part of the month.
The number of park goers coming through the West Entrance was up 1.7 per cent at 45,690, compared to 44,939 last year.
Two Medicine saw an increase from 2,212 last year to 3,317 this year, up 50 percent. Many Glacier saw a comparable increase of 48.9 percent with 3,924 visitors last month. Many Glacier saw 2,620 visitors in October 2015.
The total number of recreation visitors was 74,972, up from October 2015’s count of 71,297 for a 5.2 per cent increase.
Year to date, the Park’s visitation is up 19.9 per cent, with 2,797,628 visitors so far.
Overnight stays in tents, RVs, and in the backcountry all saw decreases from last year’s October count, likely owing to the wet month the Park saw this year. Total overnight stays were down 13 percent, numbering 3,831. Backcountry overnights took the sharpest decrease of 31.3 percent, with 309 recorded last month. Tent and overnight stays were down 9.9 and 11.8 percent from last year, respectively.