Glacier Park gives more details into Monday’s reopening

Glacier National Park is lending more details into Monday’s reopening. The gates at the west entrance will open at, or possibly before, 8 a.m. The park has been closed since late March due to the coronavirus crisis.

There will be no fee collection initially, though staff will be at the entrance to answer questions and guide traffic, park spokeswoman Gina Kerzman said Friday. Folks can buy passes online through the recreation.gov website, which should begin accepting payments on June 8.

The entrance stations will eventually require people to pay, Kerzman noted.

The Camas Road will not be open next week because the road will see pavement sealing and other work. The sealing is part of the ongoing effort to seal all the paved roads in the park. The Polebridge entrance to the park will not be open.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road will be open up to Lake McDonald Lodge and people can hike and bike beyond that.

The gates will close at 4:30 p.m. The park will not sweep trails and force people to leave, it’s just that it won’t let more people in, Kerzman explained.

Backcountry camping will not be available initially, though it should be available on or around June 20, according to the Park’s website.

Kerzman explained that the early closure is a staffing issue — they still have seasonal rangers that are in quarantine status before they can start work. As seasonal staff come off quarantine, the park will expand services on the west side. The east side will remain closed until at least the end of the month.

The Blackfeet still have a travel restriction in place until June 30 and the park has deferred to the tribe and its health concerns by closing east side roads, trails and campgrounds.

Trails accessible from U.S. Highway 2, like those at Walton and the Autumn Creek Trail at Marias Pass will also be open. But the same 4:30 p.m. closure is in effect. Folks should keep in mind that bathrooms at Walton may not be open. Bathrooms at Marias Pass are outside the park.

Trails at Marias Pass will be posted that hikers should not exit east of the divide.

The park has also canceled campground reservations at the Many Glacier campground due to the lack of staffing. The Fish Creek Campground and the group sites at Apgar Campground have been canceled through June 25. Reservations at the St. Mary Campground have been canceled through June 30 to align with the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council’s proclamation against non-essential travel. The Apgar campground might not open at all this summer due to staffing issues.

Glacier is also dealing with impacts from a thunderstorm on May 31. The park was without power for three days, Kerzman said. It also had numerous trees down.

Plows are making progress on the Sun Road. Crews are at Rimrocks, which is about a mile below Logan Pass.