Glacier Park will require reservations at all major entrances this summer

Glacier National Park will require reservations at all of its major entrances during the summer of 2023, the park officially announced Friday.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road via the West Entrance and the North Fork area of the park will require a reservation from May 26 through Sept. 10, 2023, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

New this year the park will also require reservations in Two Medicine and Many Glacier Valleys as well as St. Mary from July 1 through Sept. 10, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Park Service has rolled back the open time for non-reservation holders to 3 p.m. for all entrances.

Reservations will only be available online.

New for the 2023 season, vehicle reservations will be available through two types of booking windows, the park said in a release. A portion of reservations will be available approximately four months or 120 days in advance, using a block-release system.

The first block of advanced reservations will be available through Recreation.gov at 8 a.m. Mountain Time on Feb. 1, 2023. This round of reservations will be available to enter Going-to-the-Sun Road or the North Fork for May 26 through June 30. The next release will occur on March 1, 2023, for July 1 through July 31, including the reservation areas for Going-to-the-Sun Road, North Fork, Two Medicine, and Many Glacier. On April 1, 2023, reservations will be available for all areas for Aug. 1 through Aug. 31. On May 1, 2023, reservations will be available for all areas for Sept. 1 through Sept. 10. 

Like last year, a portion of reservations for all areas of the park will be available on a rolling basis at 8 a.m. 24 hours in advance. Those last-minute reservations, however, can prove extremely difficult to get. The Hungry Horse News tried last summer with a standard high-speed Internet connection and was never successful. They typically sold out in a minute or two.

Last year the park turned away about 400 vehicles per day on average trying to access the Sun Road without a reservation, park spokeswoman Gina Kerzman said.

Vehicle reservations will be available on Recreation.gov. Each of the specified areas of the park will require a separate reservation. Like last year, visitors will need to set up an account on Recreation.gov to obtain reservations. The only cost associated with booking a reservation is a $2 Recreation.gov processing fee.

Reservations for the Sun Road west entrance and east entrance after July 1 are good for three days. Other entrances are good for one day.

Reservations will not be required on the east side of the Sun Road before July 1, though it cautions that the entrance, as well as Many Glacier and Two Medicine, could close if they become too congested.

There are some caveats to all of this. Folks with reservations to hotels or campgrounds or guided tours do not need a reservation, for example. Vehicle reservations are not required for tribal members throughout the park or landowners inside the park.

Hikers and bikers can also walk into Glacier without a reservation, though they will need a valid entrance pass.

Adding to this is construction on the Going-to-the-Sun Road from the foot of Lake McDonald to Lake McDonald Lodge.

Folks should anticipate up to a 30-minute wait due to construction on Going-to-the-Sun Road along Lake McDonald starting in early June.

The road in that stretch is currently closed to all use, including hiking and biking and will remain that way until the utilities project is completed, likely in late May.

That means there will be no hiker/biker access to the west side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road until at least June, which is a popular activity in the park.

Additional details about construction will be posted on the park website as they become available. Entry to Going-to-the-Sun Road from the West Entrance before the 6 a.m. reservation period will not be possible due to construction activities. To avoid congestion-related delays, visitors are encouraged to use the St. Mary Entrance to access Going-to-the-Sun Road, including popular attractions such as Logan Pass and Avalanche.

“Through the pilot process, the park is engaged in continued learning about the various strategies used. The park has also engaged with stakeholders and local communities to inform the design of the pilot each year. This information will help inform long-range visitor use management planning, which the park is expecting to begin in 2023. Through the long-range planning process, there will be opportunities for public input once the planning process is initiated,” the park said in a release.