The Sun Road Plan, a quick look

Editor’s note: Comments on the Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor Management Plan are due on Nov. 6. The plan has been out for a couple of months now, but we bring you reference guide and map to highlight some of the key elements of the plan. Comments can be submitted electronically at the following link: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkID=61&projectID=47660

The numbers on the map correspond to the numbers in the story:

1) West Entrance: Redesign the west entrance with its current footprint to included automated technology and an improved design to enable one lane to provide entry for two or more cars.

2) West Side Construction Area: Widen the Quarter Circle Bridge Road and convert what is now a construction staging area to a 100-space parking area. That would include a shuttle stop and parking for oversized vehicles.

3) Apgar Visitor Center: Install bike racks and two hard-wired electric vehicle charging stations.

4) Fish Creek Campground: Add a shuttle stop.

5) Johns Lake Trailhead: Add a shuttle stop.

6) Avalanche Developed Area: A multitude of changes, including moving the shuttle stop to the south side of the road and closing parts of the campground during peak season for more parking. Construct a secondary road to connect an abandoned loop to Loop A. Do not allow commercially guided hikes during peak season, and harden 2.5 miles of the Avalanche Lake Trail. Formalize the trail that extends around the lake for .5 mile to the head of the lake.

7) The Loop: Install bike racks.

8) Big Bend: Add bike racks, reorganize the parking stripes, install a removable pit toilet and if conditions exceed the thresholds, create a trail from the Highline Trail down to Big Bend. The Highline would be one-way from Logan Pass to Big Bend. Parking there would be day use only.

9) Oberlin Bend: Install bike racks to support bicycle use.

10) Logan Pass: More bike racks. During peak season, day use parking only by a permit system. Create a volunteer group to educate visitors about human-wildlife interactions. Limit commercially guided hikes. Add a pit toilet at Haystack Butte and at the Hidden Lake Overlook. If thresholds are exceeded, implement a timed-entry permit system to hike the Highline Trail to Big Bend.

11) Lunch Creek: If conditions exceed thresholds, establish a one-mile long footpath from Lunch Creek to Logan Pass.

12) Siyeh Bend: Modify shuttle drop-off schedule to distribute use on the trail. Install bike racks. If conditions exceed thresholds, construct a one-mile trail from Siyeh Bend to Lunch Creek. Construct a backcountry toilet in the first mile of trail and another at Preston Park.

13) Gunsight Pass Trail at Jackson Glacier Overlook: Designate parking area for day use only during peak season and promote hikes from the trailhead to Sun Point.

14) St. Mary and Virginia Falls: During peak season, parking would be day use only with a permit system. Construct a backcountry toilet about a half-mile from trailhead. Limit commercially guided trips to 25 people per group, twice a day.

15) Sun Point: Install bike racks, promote hikes to Three Falls and Sun Point nature Trails.

16) St. Mary Visitor Center: Add 10 parking spaces, extend operating hours and the open season in spring and fall. Construct a 12-foot wide under the road crossing for pedestrians and bikes that would also be designed for floodwater passage during high water events.

17) 1913 Ranger Station: Widen the road 20 feet and expand parking to accommodate 40 more spaces, including oversized vehicles. Construct a 1.5 mile long bike trail from the ranger station to the St. Mary campground and the St. Mary townsite.