Glacier Park plows run into 25-foot wall of snow at Big Bend from previous avalanche
Visitors watch wildlife at Big Bend on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in summer, 2024.
Glacier National Park snowplow crews continued to work in the Big Bend area of the Going-to-the-Sun Road over the past week.
The area saw an avalanche before road crews arrived that sent about 25 feet of snow over the roadway, which isn’t uncommon for that stretch.
Big Bend, as the name implies, is a curve in the road just before Haystack Butte. It's about three miles from Logan Pass.
Park spokeswoman Gina Icenoggle said the comfort station at the Big Bend parking area was completely buried. The bathroom is built into the side of the mountain and is designed to take the brunt of an avalanche.
More secondary roads opened last weekend, including the Many Glacier Road to the T intersection and the Cut Bank Road to the ranger station, but not to trailheads or the campground. The Chief Mountain Road opened as well, but the border crossing doesn’t open until later in May.
The Many Glacier Road is closed into the Swiftcurrent Valley because of construction and utility work.
On the west side, the Camas and Fish Creek roads are open to motor vehicles.
The Sun Road on the west side is closed to vehicles at Lake McDonald Lodge. Hikers and bikers can go as far as the Loop on the west side and Grizzly Point on the east side.
The weather this weekend is supposed to nice, with highs approaching 70 , though there’s a chance of rain on Sunday, so take a rain jacket if you’re heading out.