Glacier National Park Operating Hours & Seasons

going to sun road in glacier national park

going to sun road in glacier national park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Glacier National Park is open year round, every single day of the year, but the facilities are not – that’s down to the winter weather! You will usually find that the facilities are open between late on in May until early in September, welcoming the flocks of summer visitors, but some people do prefer to visit Glacier National Park during the off-season when they tend to get the place a little more to themselves.

Late September and October is a fantastic time to visit Glacier National Park, but be warned that you’ll have to be a little more self reliant ‘cos many of the facilities will be closed.

Winter time is the favorite time to visit Glacier National Park for many people, the place is covered in a blanket of snow making for some great cross-country skiing, if that’s your “thing”.

Spring time at the park often arrives a little later than you might expect and doesn’t always last too long, but can provide visitors with a fantastic experience, with Glacier National Park still being pretty quiet before the summer visitors begin to arrive.

Glacier National Park Visitors Centers and Facilities

Remember that these opening dates and times are weather permitting, it’s just for a guide so if you struggle through the snow expecting to find somewhere open just ‘cos I’ve said it will be and it ain’t – don’t blame me!

Apgar Back Country Permit Office

  • May 1 through to end September – 7am to 4pm
  • End September through to end October – 8am to 3.30pm

Apgar Visitor Center

  • May 1 through to mid June 9am to 5pm
  • mid June through to beg September – 8am to 6pm
  • beg September through to end September – 8am to 5pm
  • beg October through to end October – 9am to 4.30pm
  • end October through to end April – 9am to 4.30pm weekends only

St. Mary Visitor Center

  • 22 May through to 16 June – 8am to 5pm
  • 17 June through to beg September – 8am to 9pm
  • beg September through to end September – 8am to 5pm

Many Glacier & Two Medicine Ranger Stations

  • 27 May through to 21 September – 7am to 5pm

Logan Pass Visitor Center

The opening date of Logan Pass Visitor Center is very dependent on the weather.

  • From whenever the weather allows the visitor center through to 3 September – 9am to 7pm
  • 4 September through to 30 September – 9.30and to 4.30pm

Glacier National Park Headquarters

  • Open Mondays to Fridays – 8am to 4.30pm all year round (except closed on holidays)
  • During the fall, winter and spring closed for lunch between 12 noon and 12.30pm.

Glacier National Park Roads

Parts of the Going-to-the-Sun Road do stay open all year round providing access to lots of the locations and activities. This is the ten mile stretch from West Glacier, Park Headquarters to Lake McDonald Lodge, which means that access is available to the many winter recreations at the head of the lake. However . . .

Plowing these roads (including Going-to-the-Sun Road) is an enormous challenge faced every year, and unpredictable snow storms during the spring, or indeed at any other time of the year can seriously slow down the progress of the plows. Sometimes the plowing crews need to re-plow sections of road due to unexpected weather challenges. This means that the opening days and hours of the Going-to-the-Sun Road are, at best, unpredictable. It’s important that you check the status of the roads during the plowing season, before setting off for a winter visit to Glacier National Park.

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