Glacier tops 3.276 million visitors for the year

Continuing a yearlong trend, Glacier National Park visitation in October was up over last year by 11 percent. The Park saw about 84,000 visitors in October and has seen more than 3.276 million visitors for the year — an all-time record.

Last year Glacier saw 75,797 visitors in October. Last year through October Glacier saw 2.902 million visitors, which was a record at the time.

All entrances to the Park were up in October, except for the West Entrance, which was down due to the Sprague Fire and road construction on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The west entrance was down about 11 percent, with just under 41,000 people going through the gate.

There were some big changes in overnight stays, however. Tent overnight stays were down 90 percent, RV overnight stays were down 86 percent and backcountry use was down 30 percent. The Sprague Fire had several popular campsites closed, which likely impacted the backcountry. Also the closure of the Sun Road on the west side also likely impacted overnight stays at Apgar.

The Sun Road on the west side is now open to Avalanche Creek. On the east side, it is closed at St. Mary.