North Forkers could see Camas Road access

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

Glacier National Park officials released a few more details on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and Polebridge Entrance reservation system last week.

North Fork residents could see a “non recreational” access for the Camas Road, which, in the summer months, is a popular route to town.

Reservations are required from May 27 to Sept. 11 to enter the west entrance of the Sun Road and to go beyond Rising Sun once the road is plowed across Logan Pass.

The Polebridge Entrance will also require a reservation during the same time period. To be clear, a reservation is not needed to go to the Polebridge townsite, just to enter Glacier Park.

Park staff wouldn’t say how many reservations would be available for Polebridge because there’s a caveat to the system — folks who arrive before 6 a.m. don’t need a reservation.

The number of people who arrive early will impact the reservations, noted deputy superintendent Pete Webster during last week’s North Fork Interlocal meeting, because the North Fork has a limited number of parking spots.

A trip to Bowman Lake, for example, is an in-and-out affair, with limited parking once a person gets there. If it’s filling up very early in the morning, then the park may have to restrict access in order for people with reservations to be assured a spot.

Folks can also get in after 6 p.m. without a reservation. The park made it later in the day to avoid a surge of people in the late afternoons.

On March 2, reservations for the Sun Road and for Polebridge from May 27 to June 30 will be released all at once. After that, they’ll be released on a 120-day rolling window.

The park plans on making more Polebridge tickets, however, available on the day before. Sun Road reservations will also be available the day before — last year it was two days before. The Sun Road can be accessed before 6 a.m. as well, but folks can also access it after 4 p.m. this year without a reservation, which is an hour earlier than last year.

The reservations will become available beginning March 2 on the Recreation.gov website.

Glacier is also considering a non-recreational access to the Camas Road area, as locals brought up concerns that they couldn’t get to their homes without a reservation.

This year the park has a new entrance on the Camas Road near Fish Creek, so going “the back way” into Glacier without a pass or reservation is no longer possible. The non-recreational travel would be for North Fork residents and employees. Details on that are still being worked out.

Glacier plans on staffing an informational trailer near the Camas Road-North Fork intersection to help provide travelers with information on both the Polebridge entrance and the Sun Road.

Complicating matters will be utility work this summer on the Sun Road from Apgar to Lake McDonald Lodge from June to September.

That could mean night closures on the road from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

So even if someone shows up early to Glacier from the west side, they won’t have access to Logan Pass until the construction zone opens.