Sun Road, North Fork reservations selling out in a couple of minutes; Many Glacier reservations available now

Going, going, gone.

Glacier National Park’s advanced reservations for the Going-to-the-Sun Road from the west side as well as the North Fork sold out in about two minutes, the Hungry Horse News found when it attempted to get one on Friday, March 1.

The newspaper recently tried to purchase a ticket for the Sun Road right at 8 a.m. Mountain Time to no avail — the recreation.gov site at first said it was trying to make the reservation, but traffic volumes were higher than normal, and then, after refreshing, the site simply said none were available.

Demand has surged as the advanced reservations enter the summer season. Glacier releases the slots on a rolling window 120 days in advance.The Park Service will release more reservations 24 hours in advance  as well, but that makes it tough to plan ahead. Reservations are good for one day.

The site said about 347 reservations for the west side of the Sun Road were available.

Park spokeswoman Gina Icenoggle said the advanced reservations were probably going quickly because of the July 4 holiday. In addition, visitors were likely expecting the full length of the Sun Road to be open by then. It typically opens by late June, early July depending on the weather. Earlier this year, some reservations were available for hours, even a day after they were released, she noted.

This year the snowpack in Glacier is only 75% of average to date, so crews likely won’t be dealing with as much snow as normal, though it’s fairly common for Glacier to see snowstorms well into spring and even early summer, which can delay the opening.

Motorists only need a Sun Road reservation from the west side this summer — the St. Mary entrance does not require a reservation, the Park Service announced last November.

Folks will also be able to access Apgar Village without a reservation this summer  as well. 

The move came after a series of meetings with the public, plus a bit of political pressure from Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, who inserted language into an Interior Department spending measure that would have defunded the reservation program entirely.

So this year, Glacier is requiring a reservation from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily to enter the Sun Road’s west entrance May 24 to Sept. 8. The same for the North North Fork.

Visitors to Many Glacier also require a reservation beginning July 1. Those become available March 3, at 8 a.m. 

The reservation requirement for Many Glacier runs through Sept. 8,

People who walk into Glacier do not need a reservation. Same with bicyclists, but they still have to pay a reservation fee. Folks with reservations to other amenities, like guided hikes, hotel stays, most backcountry camping and some campgrounds also do not need a road reservation.