Date: January 9, 2012
WEST GLACIER, MONT. - The 2012 Glacier National Park Annual Pass is available and features a mural that includes artwork from over 700 visitors and park staff.
The annual pass allows unlimited entry to the park for one year from month of purchase and admits the pass owner and any accompanying passengers in a private vehicle. The cost is $35. The pass is for entrance into the park only and does not apply to any other user fee. The pass can be purchased from park headquarters 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, from the west entrance station on weekends during the winter or by calling 406-888-7800. Without an annual park pass, the park's seven-day winter entrance fee is $15 for vehicles and $10 for single entrants (hiker /bicyclist /motorcyclist), and during the summer the fees are $25 for vehicles and $12 for single entrants.
The 2012 annual pass includes an image of a mural titled "Touched by Glacier" that was created by park volunteer Sheryl Mink and painted by more than 700 park visitors and staff during the summer of 2011. The project was located in the park's 1913 Historic Ranger Station near St. Mary on the east side of the park. Mink created the basic layout of the St. Mary Valley and others added layers of detail and color. The original mural is located in the park's St. Mary Visitor Center.
Glacier National Park and all 397 national parks across the country will offer free admission from January 14 through 16 to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The National Park Service will also waive admission fees on 14 other days in 2012 - National Park Week (April 21 to 29), Get Outdoors Day (June 9), National Public Lands Day (September 29), and the weekend of Veterans Day (November 10 to 12).
Next year, the Glacier National Park Annual Pass for 2013 will include artwork from a local high school student. Glacier Association hosted an art contest this past fall and the winning art will be featured on next year's pass, and on postcards that will be available throughout the park this summer. The winning artists and their artwork will be announced in February. Glacier Association is an officially recognized part partner supporting the park's educational, interpretive, cultural and scientific programming needs with aid generated by sales at bookstores in visitor centers and ranger stations throughout the park, as well as sales at their webstore. Visit http://www.glacierassociation.org for more information.
There are several other passes available through the America the Beautiful-National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Program. The annual and lifetime passes provide U.S. citizens and visitors an affordable and convenient way to access or enter more than 2,000 federal recreation sites.
An annual pass is available for $80.00 and provides entrance to most units of the National Park Service and many U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Areas. A senior pass is available for U.S. citizens and permanent residents 62 years of age or older for $10.00. This pass is valid for the lifetime of the pass owner. An access pass is available free of charge for U.S. citizens and permanent residents that have a permanent disability and is valid for the lifetime of the pass owner. Both the senior and access pass may provide a 50% discount for some other fees such as camping or boat launch fees.
Participants are encouraged to research sites for exact discount information. The pass program is managed by five federal agencies that operate under different regulations and charge different types of fees and it can be confusing to sort out fees, terminology, and to distinguish between a federally-managed facility/activity versus a concession-managed facility/activity.
Approximately 80% of the revenue from the passes sold at Glacier National Park is used to improve and enhance visitor recreation services at the park. Please contact Glacier National Park at 406-888-7800 for more information about the America the Beautiful Program or to purchase a pass.
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