Glacier's plan to expand ticketed entry gets mixed reviews - The Western News

Glacier National Park volition grow its conveyance registration programme to bounds entree and trim crowding during the engaged summertime months.

But a determination to see east-side destinations similar the Many Glacier and Two Medicine valleys is getting mixed reviews from residents and concern owners connected that broadside of the park.

Beginning successful 2021, Glacier Park required visitors hoping to thrust the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road to bargain 1 of a constricted fig of $2 tickets on with their regular parkland walk for entry.

The strategy is akin to admittance strategies utilized successful different nationalist parks and was implemented to mitigate a “perfect storm” of increasing visitation and large operation projects wrong and extracurricular of parkland boundaries. In 2022, it was expanded to see the North Fork portion of the parkland adjacent Polebridge.

Starting successful summertime 2023, a summons volition beryllium required to thrust into the parkland during astir daytime hours successful highest visitation months astatine West Glacier, Polebridge, Two Medicine, St. Mary and Many Glacier.

Tickets volition beryllium needed astatine West Glacier and Polebrdige from May 26 to Sept. 10 betwixt 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. Beginning July 1, tickets volition beryllium required to participate the Two Medicine and Many Glacier valleys and the St. Mary entranceway to Going-to-the-Sun Road. Visitors arriving astatine immoderate of those gates earlier 6 a.m. oregon aft 3 p.m. volition not request a ticket.

“The determination to adhd Many Glacier and Two Medicine valleys to the preservation strategy was based connected a reappraisal of information collected during the 2 erstwhile years,” parkland officials said successful a property merchandise past week. “Patterns amusement an accrued request to restrict postulation erstwhile parking capableness was surpassed.”

Tickets volition beryllium disposable online astatine Recreation.gov, with immoderate being released astir 4 months successful beforehand and others being released conscionable 24 hours successful advance. People who person reservations wrong the parkland for tours and lodging volition beryllium capable to usage those reservations arsenic their introduction ticket.

Susan Higgins, an proprietor of Two Sisters Cafe successful Babb, has lived connected the eastbound broadside of the parkland for years and has often visited Many Glacier connected summertime evenings. But past summertime she made the 15-mile thrust conscionable twice, erstwhile astatine the opening of the summertime and erstwhile astatine the end.

She said she was dissuaded by the agelong lines of postulation trying to get successful during the remainder of the summer. In galore instances, parkland rangers were forced to adjacent the roadworthy successful and retired of the Many Glacier Valley for hours astatine a clip due to the fact that parking tons successful the parkland were full.

“You could virtually ne'er get in,” she said. “I truly don’t cognize what they could realistically bash close present too [the summons system].”

One solution Higgins thinks the parkland work should look into astatine Many Glacier specifically is having radical parkland successful Babb and past shuttle them successful and retired of the park. She said she’s mentioned the program to parkland officials but understands that uncovering onshore for each that parking could beryllium challenging.

Whether the caller strategy volition interaction her java store and edifice is unclear. In her opinion, the biggest interaction connected her concern successful caller years has been the nightly closures of the Canadian borderline crossing owed to staffing shortages, and of Going-to-the-Sun Road for construction.

Because of those 2 things, She said day-trippers from the westbound and northbound are hitting the roadworthy earlier to debar those closures and missing retired connected her meal service.

Farther south, astatine East Glacier Park, Skip Swogger is 1 of the lone employees near this precocious successful the twelvemonth astatine Glacier Park Trading Co., a market store and deli connected U.S. Highway 2.

Swogger said he’s disquieted that less radical volition travel to the store if they can’t get tickets to participate the adjacent Two Medicine Valley. But helium is besides disquieted astir however he’ll get into the parkland during the summer.

He spends astir each time disconnected successful the lukewarm months exploring the park, but that could go a situation if helium needs to get a summons each clip (the $2 reservations for Two Medicine, Many Glacier and Polebridge are bully for 1 day; Going-to-the-Sun Road reservations are bully for 3 days).

“We already wage taxes for the park, and present we’re going to person to wage more,” helium said. “It’s frustrating.”