Does anyone know about the pending construction work to be done in Glacier Natl. Park? Heard it was possible that The Going to the Sun Road might be closed to private passenger automobiles and only accessible by bus tour. We are scheduled to be there mid to end of June. Just wondering how restricted we might be in doing that part independently. Also, anyone been to Great Falls and know any good places to eat there? Appreciate any input.

From the offical Glacier National Park website:

"Major reconstruction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road has been proposed. If funding becomes available, road reconstruction would not begin until after 2004. It is not known at this time, how this reconstruction would be implemented and what affect it will have on vehicular travel across the Going-to-the-Sun Road."

http://www.nps.gov/glac/faq.htm#11

Utahtea

Hello from Northwest Montana.
The park started to plow the snow on the Sun highway last week. Hopefully will be open by the end of June. Typical opening is mid-June barring any late snowstorms or avalanches. It is raining in the valley today(much needed) and snow flurries in the higher elevations but not much accumlation is expected so clearing the road should continue at a normal pace.
Utah tea is correct of course. Though the road is in much need of repair we dread the closing as it will hurt the local economy. The rumor now has it starting in 2005 and leaving it open but with long delays. I can think of worse places to be stuck in traffic!

IMHO the ONLY restaurant in Great
Falls is Jakers Steak, Ribs and Fish house located 2 blocks east of the holiday mall on 10th ave. south.
Come on out and have a great trip!

Yikes. We were thinking of Glaicer in July 2005. Could you kind people provide updates when more info is released? What is the road that parallels the park's southern boundary like? Is it scenic?

KARENS
Nothing is certain yet. Part of it depends on whether the highway bill passes the senate as all the money for the construction is in this bill. Quite frankly I personally think it is 4 to 5 years away. To keep informed just plug into www.gov/glac/home.htm
The southern part of the park is U.S. highway 2 and is scenic but nowhere near as scenic as the sun highway. In fact, the highway is in the park for only a couple of miles.
The Many Glacier area on the east side of the park should NOT be torn up and is quite scenic with super hiking trails.
Just stay tuned to the website and you will be in touch with the latest.

Thanks for the website, John. I would never skip Going to the Sun, but was thining maybe taking Hwy. 2 back would be an option if road construction created severe delays. We would be flying into Kalispell if we come. The last time we visited Glacier it was only for 2 days, and there's so much more in the area we'd like to see!

John - just tried that website and it doesn't work for me. Is there a typo in it? thanks.

KARENS
Yup, typo. Should be
www.nps.gov/glac/home.htm
Sorry about that

The correct URL is

www.NPS.gov/glac

To reach the main URL for any part of the National Parks Service, start with

www.nps.gov/

then add four letters. If the name of site is only one word (like "Glacier") use the first four letters of the name. If the name of the site is more than one word (like "Rocky Mountain"), use the first two letters of the first two words (in this case, 'romo')

It doesn't matter if the place is a national park, monument, seashore, recreation area, etc.

PAULRABE
Soooooory. works for me. Not computer literate just know the park!

I fully agree that the work on the Sun Road is needed. Some of the reworking is for safety. As much as we want to see the park, none of us wants to learn that a tourist like ourselves was fatally injured in a preventable accident.

I have been in Yellowstone when sections of the major roads have beene closed for repairs. A good analogy for keeping a major road open during the high season is having your cake and eating it too.

I know when sections of the road from Madison Junction to Old Faithful were closed, the delays were considerable, but people still got to visit the park.
It will be an unfortunate economic impact, but the building season is short and there is absolutely no place to route a detour. There is no Canadian alternative to get from one side of the park to the other that I know of.