based on bookings they get for later in the Fall. Many of them will stay open for as long as they can. Call those to find out about how late they are open. **St Mary Lodge complex does close on the 26th Sept. Try to obtain lodging in St Mary at one of the Independents.those tend to remain open longer than park owned lodging to accommodate avid hikers, locals and retirees later in Fall's nice hiking season. You will not be able to hike to Grinnell Glacier with the assistance of the boat shuttle.that adds time to hike all the way along the lakes and back. Say on October 1, sunrise 7:34 am and sunset 7:14 pm The hikes you list are long and beautiful but daylight hours are short in late September/October. Not ideal and frustrating after the first time you drive it. If you stay in West Glacier during the closure you will have a 3 -3.5 hour ONE WAY drive minimum just to get to and back from Logan Pass or Many Glacier Valley. ![]() There is also a big construction project between East Glacier Park and St Mary on the 89.involving delays but making it frustrating to drive more than once. You for sure don't want to have to drive the long way around every day from West Glacier. Moving your visit by 4 days will not make a huge difference in the weather but would give you total access to the GTTSR once it re-opens. They have been very reliable about re-opening the roads after contract issued/scheduled closures. So I would assume the temporary full closure between Avalanche and Logan Pass will happen. So far we have not seen any official announcements about cancelling the work. Glacier has such short seasons that road work involving hot pavement products has to be done before it gets too cold and while equipment has full access to the road. I would bet that "Likely" to be in effect will occur. Sometimes we have only minimal snow at end September/early October and at other times, the first significant snow occurs a little early. That snow issue is nearly impossible to predict. Thanks for any and all insights!Ĭlosure of the GTTSR will occur on October 21st unless an early and heavy snow closes it a little early. I know it is not usually until late October, but can that change? Also, since we might want to hike Grinnell Glacier, and given the possible closing (apparently GTTS is accessible from the east side to Logan Pass), should we stay on the east side of the park somewhere? I have never been that way, so I am clueless about those options this late in the season. What would you recommend? We definitely don't want to miss GTTS but don't know if the closing will happen for sure - and also don't know when they will close GTTS for fall/snow. But given the "likely" (how likely is likely?) closing of GTTS between Avalanche and Logan Pass, we might delay our trip until 9/30-10/3. We originally planned to fly into Kalispell and stay 9/26-9/29 and wanted to get lodging near West Glacier. We want to stay near the park for 3 days/nights and want to drive GTTS as well as possibly hike Grinnell Glacier and the Highline (hikes TBD). A friend and I are trying to plan a trip for late September-early October 2019. You are a font on knowledge, and I have been reading your many helpful posts re: Glacier trip planning. 21, depending on the weather." Edited: 4 years ago 30, 2019 before its routine winter closure scheduled for Oct. The road is anticipated to reopen in its entirety on Sept. Traffic control will be in place at Logan Pass so pavement preservation can occur in the Logan Pass parking lot. Logan Pass will remain accessible from the St. 16 - 29 between Avalanche and Logan Pass. **A FULL CLOSURE will likely be in place again from Sept. 2 on the Going-to-the-Sun Road with traffic control and intermittent night closures. In the FALL of 2019, night work for pavement preservation is planned to begin on Sept. Weather and plowing conditions typically allow for a road opening to Logan Pass sometime between mid-June and mid-July. ![]() Road and snow conditions vary from year to year, and these dates "should not be relied upon to anticipate the actual road opening date". Going-to-the-Sun Road will not open to Logan Pass before June 21 this year, AND in 2020, the road will not open before June 22 if necessary in order to complete pavement preservation activities. "Pavement preservation will impact spring hiker and biker access and restrictions will likely be in place on both sides of the pass between Avalanche and Rising Sun. But I believe its good to re-visit the topic now when more visitors are planning this year's and next years' vacations. ![]() The following notice about Going to the Sun Road preservation projects this year AND Spring of 2020 was posted by the park quite a long time ago this Winter.
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