Plowing crews on Going-to-the-Sun Road are now working on clearing The Big Drift. Located just east of 6,646′ Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana, this one-mile stretch of the road can be covered in up to 80 feet of snow due to its location on the side of a large arête. Sitting just below the Continental Divide, strong westward winds blowing over the ridge deposit a massive amount of snow on this face, and drifts here can even reach up to 100 feet deep in some places, taking up to a month to clear.
With the National Water and Climate Center reporting the snowpack at 43% of the seasonal average, the plowing crews hope to open the road earlier than they did last year. Last year, the park opened the road on June 24, and on June 13 in 2023. In 2022, July 13 was one of the latest dates since 1933. The last time the road opened in May was 2005.
Crews still have many complex tasks to complete before the road can reopen, including clearing avalanches and rockfall. Crews also need to remove any boulders that have fallen onto the road and restore utilities. Furthermore, they still need to reinstall the wooden guardrails and repair the stone walls before the road can open.
Currently, Going-to-the-Sun Road is open to Avalanche Creek on the west side and to Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east.
This summer, starting June 13 through September 28, sections of Going-to-the-Sun Road which are open to motor vehicles are closed to bicycle use between Logan Pass and the Apgar turnoff at the south end of Lake McDonald during the following times: eastbound (uphill) cycling between 12:00 p.m. and 6 p.m. and westbound (downhill) cycling between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Visitors can hike and bike on Going-to-the-Sun Road past the gate closure on weekends, as far as the posted pedestrian closure. During the week, the road crew sets the closure based on where they are working and existing hazards.
The park sends out text alerts, notifying the public about where the road crew and avalanche closures are set each week, as well as general updates on road openings and closures. Be the first to know by signing up for text alerts by texting the message “GNPROADS” to the number 333111. For information about additional text alerts available from the park, visit the park’s website.
Going-to-the-Sun Road is a scenic mountain road in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States, in Glacier National Park in Montana. The Sun Road, as it is sometimes abbreviated in National Park Service documents, is the only road traversing the park, crossing the Continental Divide through Logan Pass at an elevation of 6,646 feet, the highest point on the road.
