August visitation down in Glacier
An October sunrise in Glacier National Park.
Hungry Horse News
Glacier National Park saw fewer visitors in August than it did the year before, but it wasn’t off by that much — just 3.1%.
All told, the park saw 649,687 visitors, about 30,000 less than 2021. It was the lowest August numbers since 2015. The higher price of fuel may have played a role. Also, construction closed the West side at 10 p.m.
All told, Glacier visitation is down 7.5% for the year compared to last year, but the Going-to-the-Sun Road didn’t fully open until mid-July this year. Glacier implemented a reservation system for the Sun Road again this year as well as one at its Polebridge Entrance.
Through August, visitation to Polebridge was down 20.9%.
People did travel more to the east side of the Park, where folks could drive the Sun Road without a reservation to Rising Sun.
St. Mary was up 15.6% and Many Glacier was up 12.1%.
The reservation system for the Sun Road was extended this year to the weekend after Labor Day.