Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor Management Plan Approved

Yesterday, the National Park Service finalized its Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor Management Plan to manage and support visitor use along the Going-to-the-Sun Road within Glacier National Park.

The plan identifies a range of management actions throughout the corridor and at specific locations to manage congestion. Potential actions include expanding the existing shuttle system by creating new stops with additional buses, adding a hiking trail and a bike trail, and managed entry for the Highline Trail. Many of these potential actions are focused at popular locations such as Logan Pass, Avalanche, and key trailhead areas.

“The range of potential actions represents tools in a toolbox that the park can implement when certain triggers are met” said Superintendent Jeff Mow, “There is no intention that the park would implement all the proposed actions at once or even implement them all over time. The rapid nature of change in visitor use patterns, visitor demographics, technology, and conditions in the park calls for a much more adaptive and flexible set of management actions.”

Some of the changes that could impact hikers include:

• If conditions exceed thresholds and/or capacity, designate one-way travel along the Highline Trail (from Logan Pass to the Big Bend cutoff) during peak season. Construct an approximately 3-foot-wide and 3-mile-long exposed soil footpath from Big Bend to the Highline Trail for two-way travel during peak season.

• Logan Pass: Assign volunteers during peak season to conduct foot traffic control at the cliff area on the Highline Trail. Designate one-way travel on the Highline Trail to Big Bend and implement a timed-entry permit system for hiking this trail to manage use levels. Establish a group size of 25 people for commercially guided hikes and a maximum of two trips per day per operator along the Highline Trail (exempt concessioner-guided hikes from this hiking permit requirement). Construct a backcountry toilet near Hidden Lake Overlook and another at Haystack Butte on the Highline Trail. Enlarge Hidden Lake Overlook by approximately 15 square feet.

• Siyeh Bend: Construct a backcountry toilet in the first mile of the trail and another at Preston Park. Adaptive Management Option: If conditions exceed thresholds and/or capacity, construct a one-mile trail from Siyeh Bend to Lunch Creek (4-foot-wide soil footpath) using an existing unmaintained horse trail.

• Gunsight Pass Trailhead at Jackson Glacier Overlook: Manage the trail for a lower level of use to offer opportunities for solitude in the corridor. Promote use of the trail from Jackson Glacier Overlook to Sun Point during peak season and consider implementing a day hike permit system.

• Sun Point: Promote and maintain trailhead to Three Falls hike and Sun Point Nature Trail.

• St. Mary and Virginia Falls Trail: Construct a backcountry toilet along the trail about 0.5 mile from the trailhead. Establish a group size of 25 people for commercially guided hikes and a maximum of two trips per day per operator along the St. Mary Falls Trail.

Planning began in 2013 prompted by unprecedented visitor use within the corridor and included public and stakeholder outreach. In 2019, the NPS solicited formal public comments on the draft plan and associated environmental assessment. A summary of comments and responses is attached to the finding of no significant impact for the plan.

With the plan now final, NPS will examine when and where to use these tools and take action. Some actions require minimal preparation such as adding bike racks or restriping existing pullouts while others will require additional time and planning such as adding parking and additional shuttle stops. Similarly, many of the actions are meant to be adaptive, and will be evaluated regularly.

Visitation at Glacier National Park grew 40 percent between 2015 and 2017. In July 2017, visitation hit more than 1 million in a single month. Total visitation that year was 3.3 million, the highest on record. In 2019, NPS recorded the second highest year for visitation with just over 3 million visitors.

A copy of the Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor Management Plan Finding of No Significant Impact, as well as additional information about the planning process, can be found at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=47660.


Jeff
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