Frequently Asked Questions
What's happening in 2024?
How did previous vehicle reservation pilots work?
Why was Glacier National Park piloting a temporary vehicle reservation system?
The park is reporting around 3 million recreation visits each year. The number of vehicle reservations being released does not represent this number. Why is that?
Why can’t the vehicle reservation checkpoint be positioned to allow visitors to access shuttles at Apgar Village? Why isn’t the park looking at a more robust shuttle system?
How many vehicle reservations were being released per day?
How did Glacier National Park determine the number of reservations to make available during each release?
Where did reservations sell out the fastest and how quickly?
How many people attempted to secure reservations for each block release date, including all areas of the park?
Can you tell me the dates that sold out fastest?
How long did it take for all July reservations throughout the park to sell out?
What's happening in 2024?
We are accepting feedback on potential strategies to manage visitor access for 2024 through September 30, 2023. Submit your comments! Public input will help inform summer 2024 visitor use strategies. Information about summer 2024 will be shared later this fall after we have heard from the public.
Find out more about these efforts here: 2024 Visitor Use Management Strategy - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
How did previous vehicle reservation pilots work?
A summary of previous vehicle reservation system pilots can be found here.
Press releases announcing procedures for each year:
Why was Glacier National Park piloting a temporary vehicle reservation system?
There are two issues driving the previous pilot: impacts to resources and impacts to visitors. These impacts became more apparent with the dramatic increase of about 1.5 million annual recreation visits from 2008 to 2017.
Resource impacts like vegetation loss and braiding trail systems are common in areas of high use. Visitor experience quality is also being affected as sustained, high levels of use become common. Visitor access to the park, parking areas, and trailheads has been unpredictable and frustrating for visitors as the park implements unplanned closures to address these issues. Visitor safety becomes an issue when emergency vehicles are not able to respond efficiently due to congestion. The pilot vehicle reservation system spreads visitation throughout the day during peak hours and provides a measure of certainty and safety to visitors.
We will gather visitor use data and refine strategies throughout the summer. These data will help to inform future public and stakeholder engagement as we work towards long term strategies and solutions to balance resource protection and quality visitor experiences at Glacier.
The park is reporting around 3 million recreation visits each year. The number of vehicle reservations being released does not represent this number. Why is that?
Glacier National Park stats report 1.9 million recreation visits parkwide in June through August 2022 when the vehicle reservation system was in place. Recreation visits are determined based on a formula that averages the number of visitors per vehicle and includes all vehicles entering the park during and outside reservation hours; therefore, the number of vehicle reservations versus the number of total recreation visits is not a sufficient comparison. The park’s Visitor Use Counting Procedures can be found here.
Why can’t the checkpoint be positioned to allow visitors to access shuttles at Apgar Village? Why isn’t the park looking at a more robust shuttle system?
The National Park Service strives to maximize opportunities and benefits for visitors while achieving and maintaining desired conditions for resources and visitor experience, doing so is inherently complex. It requires that NPS managers analyze the number of visitors, where they go, what they do, their impacts on resources and visitor experience, and the underlying causes of those impacts.
The park is analyzing the use of the shuttle system as a management tool. There are certain things that must be considered such as where people will park, how many visitors will use trails, restrooms and facilities, the cost associated with purchasing additional shuttles, etc.
In 2023, as in 2022, the checkpoint on the east side of Going-to-the-Sun Road was at Rising Sun during the pilot program, allowing visitors to park at the St. Mary Visitor Center and access the free shuttle without a vehicle reservation. Park officials evaluated moving the checkpoint on the west side of Going-to-the-Sun Road beyond Apgar Village to facilitate access to shuttles from the Apgar Visitor Center, but heavy construction on Going-to-the-Sun Road on the west side made that unachievable for 2023.They also looked at extending shuttle service to beyond the west side checkpoint but determined that there are not adequate parking facilities on privately owned lots in West Glacier to make that feasible in 2023.
How many vehicle reservations were being released per day?
The vehicle reservation system allowed for adjustments for changing conditions such as seasonal changes, congestion, construction, and parking availability. The 24-hour release window is where the park can adjust and adapt to meet desired conditions. We made adjustments in an attempt to maximize visitor access while still protecting resources and visitor experience quality. The pilot systems allowed us to continuously learn about and improve the system; therefore, the total number of daily reservations for 2023 is not an exact number.
In 2022, using the same real-time conditions, 180,832 total vehicle reservations (169,456 for Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor and 11,376 for North Fork) were released for Going-to-the-Sun Road and North Fork areas. This represents approximately one-third of the 560,000 vehicles that entered the park in vehicle reservation areas during the reservation period. Only one vehicle reservation was required per vehicle.
Vehicle reservations are only one way to access the park. Visitors have always had alternative options to visit Glacier with the vehicle reservation system in place. In 2022, alternative options included entering the park with a valid camping, lodging, or commercial service reservation in lieu of a vehicle reservation; entering before 6 am or after 4 pm when a vehicle reservation was not required; and riding the free park shuttle on Going-to-the-Sun Road via the St. Mary Visitor Center. Vehicle reservations were only required May 26 – September 11, 2022, and visitors could also enter the park pre or post reservation period.
The past two years of the pilot program have spread visitation throughout the day on Going-to-the-Sun Road and in the North Fork area resulting in fewer closures, better traffic management, and a more enjoyable park experience during peak season.
How did Glacier National Park determine the number of reservations to make available during each release?
There are several factors that helped determine how many vehicle reservations were released including, but not limited to:
- The number of vehicles entering the system with a valid camping, lodging, or commercial service reservation
- Vehicles entering each area before 6 am
- The return rate for Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor, which is up to 3 days per reservation
- Changing conditions such as the opening of Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is only partially open in May and June
- Construction within each of the managed access areas
- Decrease in availability of commercial services in late summer
The park manages Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor, the North Fork, Two Medicine Valley, and Many Glacier Valley to improve visitor safety, protect sensitive resources, provide a quality visitor experience, assure predictable visitor access, and eliminate the need for temporary closures.
The goal of managing Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor under these pilots is not to limit visitation, but to spread out visitation throughout the day in the most visited area of the park. Areas outside of Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor are managed for a different set of desired conditions. For example, the North Fork is managed as a “wilderness threshold zone” with an emphasis on solitude, a sense of history, difficulty of access, and limited support facilities.
Where did reservations sell out the fastest and how quickly?
In 2023, reservations for the areas outside of Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor sold out quickly, sometimes in minutes. Areas outside Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor are much smaller and provide different types of experience for visitors. The result of this is that the reservations for these areas can sell out much quicker than Going-to-the-Sun Road.
How many people attempted to secure reservations for each block release date, including all areas of the park?
Currently, this information cannot be accurately collected from the reservation system; however, the visitor use management team is tracking unique page views on Recreation.gov. This number is based on how many individual users viewed a given page and does not take into consideration instances when a user or a group is using multiple devices and/or viewed multiple pages. On February 1, 2023, over 12,000 unique users viewed the North Fork and Going-to-the-Sun Road reservation pages on Recreation.gov for May and June reservations. Reservations for Many Glacier and Two Medicine valleys were not released in February due to not being required until July 1, 2023. On March 1, 2023, over 48,000 unique users viewed all four vehicle reservation pages for July. Data is not yet available for the April 1 release. The next block release will be May 1 for September reservations.
Can you tell me the dates that sold out fastest?
Although not official data, by monitoring releases live during release days, park staff have observed that reservations for 2023 went quickly across each month with no specific date selling out sooner. For Going-to-the-Sun Road, Fridays typically sell out quickly, and it is assumed that this is because the reservation was good for three days and covered the weekend.
How long did it take for all July 2023 reservations throughout the park to sell out?
As expected, demand for vehicle reservations for July 2023 was high because of peak season. The available vehicle reservations for Going-to-the-Sun Road were distributed within 30 minutes. Vehicle reservations for all other areas were distributed within 10 minutes of posting.
