On July 13, the road opened from West Glacier to Rising Sun (about 6 miles west of the eastern boundary), where cars were turned around. Mow said the tribe’s decision to close the eastern border was a “surprise.” Park staff had to change gears and figure out how to do something that had never been done before: open and operate the Sun Road from only one end. But the Blackfeet Nation threw a curveball at that plan in late June when it announced it would close its border to the park for the remainder of the summer, cutting off access to popular areas like Many Glacier and Two Medicine Valley, essentially closing half the park. When it reopened to the public on June 8, one of Mow’s top priorities was to make sure the Sun Road, a major tourism draw, was plowed and open to traffic. Glacier closed in late March as COVID-19 cases began to increase in Montana and nationwide. “This has been a summer like no other, and I hope it stays that way,” Mow said, adding that the summer of 2020 could provide lessons for the future as the park faces ever-increasing visitation. Managing a national park that attracts more than 3 million people annually from around the world is never an easy task, and it was even harder during a global pandemic that has upended normal life and sparked renewed interest in outdoor recreation, said Superintendent Jeff Mow. When the 50-mile alpine highway through the park did finally open on the morning of July 13, the parking lot at Logan Pass was nearly full at 5:30 a.m., a stark sign that this was not going to be a normal summer in the beloved national park. While summer officially starts on June 20, most people in northwest Montana would say it doesn’t really begin until Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road is open. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription.
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