Glacier Park sets new October visitation record
A backcountry camper's tent in Glacier National Park in October. With little snow, even high country travel was possible most of the month, as highs were often in the 60s and 70s.
Chris Peterson photo
Like September, Glacier National Park had its busiest October ever, with 165,018 visitors for the month.
That breaks the previous mark of just under 139,000 set last year. September 2024 was the busiest month ever as well, with just over 602,000, which broke the previous mark of 553,565 set in 2023.
That brings the park’s total visitation for the year to 3.166 million, the second busiest ever. Visitation is up about 9.5% over last year.
The busiest year was 2017, with 3.305 million visitors. This year is unlikely to eclipse that, as the weather in November and December took a decided turn, with snow before Thanksgiving closing all but a few roads.
October, on the other hand, was warm and sometimes downright summer-like, with some days seeing highs in the 70s and ample sunshine. On Oct. 20, for example, the high was 75 in Kalispell.
It didn’t cool off until late October, when snow fell at the end of the month.
At present, Glacier’s roads are closed to winter levels, with the Going-to-the-Sun Road closed at Lake McDonald Lodge on the west side and Rising Sun on the east side.
The Camas Road is open but typically closes by month’s end for the winter as well. All other secondary roads are closed for the winter, but open to hikers and skiers.
Bicyclists are restricted in winter to open roads.