- Where
- Glacier National Park
north-west Montana, United States - Start / end
- West Glacier (Apgar) to St. Mary
- Length
- 50 mi (NPS directions page); see the field notes
- Highest point
- Logan Pass, 6,646 ft / 2,026 m (NPS)
- Season
- Ends open all year; alpine section about late June–third Monday of October
- Fees
- Park entry $35 per private vehicle, 7 days (NPS, 2026)
- Status
- Alpine section closed for winter weather (NPS, 13 Oct 2026)
- Advisory
- United States
(no State Department level)
Up and up along a ledge cut into a wall of grey rock, with a knee-high stone parapet between me and a great deal of air, water coming down the cliff and straight across the tarmac, and at the top white goats grazing beside the car park as if they owned it. Snow in the hollows in high summer. I said good morning to a goat.
Route facts
- Route
- West Glacier (Apgar) to St. Mary
- Length
- 50 miles (about 80 km); the Park Service gives about two hours without stoppingChecked · National Park Service, Glacier: Going-to-the-Sun Road general information
- Season window
- Lower ends open all year; the full road usually opens in late June or early July and the alpine section closes around the third Monday of OctoberChecked · National Park Service, Glacier: directions and road conditions
- Closures
- Partly closed as read The alpine section between Avalanche and Jackson Glacier Overlook was closed for winter weather on 13 October 2026; both ends were open.Live alert: National Park Service, Glacier: road status map (directions and road conditions)
- Fees
- $35 per private vehicle for 7 days ($25 from 1 November to 30 April); non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an extra $100 each in 2026Checked · National Park Service, Glacier: fees
- Cost to enter
- $35–$100
- Anchor point
- Logan Pass
48.70° N, 113.72° W
The short answer
Going-to-the-Sun Road is the road across Glacier National Park in north-west Montana, from West Glacier on the west side to St. Mary on the east, over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, 6,646 feet (2,026 m) up. The Park Service puts it at 50 miles and about two hours without stopping. The lower sections near the west entrance stay open all year; the full road over the pass opens only when plowing is finished, “late June at the earliest” on the park’s directions page and “typically… by early July” on its road page, and the alpine section usually closes around the third Monday of October, earlier if winter comes first. In 2026 no vehicle reservation was needed; Logan Pass parking was limited to three hours and its shuttle was ticketed from 1 July to 7 September. On 13 October 2026 the park reported the road closed between Avalanche and Jackson Glacier Overlook for winter weather.
Why it's worth knowing
Fifteen switchbacks or one. In 1924 the first Park Service director, Stephen Mather, rode up the west side of Logan Pass with two men who disagreed. The engineer George Goodwin had planned a climb up Logan Creek with fifteen switchbacks; the landscape architect Tom Vint wanted a route with a single one. Mather rode off without deciding, and two days later handed the survey to the Bureau of Public Roads, whose engineer Frank Kittredge laid out the present line, the Historic American Engineering Record’s history of the road says. It has one switchback west of the Divide, called the Loop, and a steady six percent climb from there to the pass, then the steepest grade recommended, because a car of the 1920s had to drop into second gear at seven.
Built to look as if it grew there. Park Service landscape architects insisted that bridges, retaining walls and guard walls be built of native stone, most of it rock blasted from the mountainside beside them, and contractors were told to use many small blasts rather than a few large ones. Crews on the east side carried the rock of the East Side Tunnel out by hand. The first car crossed the whole road in the late autumn of 1932, and the park formally opened it at Logan Pass on 15 July 1933, with more than 4,000 people present and a ceremony of peace among the Blackfeet, Flathead and Kootenai tribes. Three men died building it. The road was paved end to end by 1952 and is one of six National Historic Landmarks in Glacier.
A season set by the plows. The Park Service says no date can be given for the road to open over Logan Pass, because spring storms and avalanches can bury sections the crews have already cleared. Its own table of Logan Pass opening dates shows how wide the window is: between 2015 and 2022 the pass opened as early as 16 June (2016) and as late as 13 July (2020 and 2022).
The field notes
How long is it?
The Park Service gives three lengths on three pages: 50 miles from West Glacier to St. Mary (its directions page, and its road page’s “full 50 miles”), 48.7 miles from Apgar Visitor Center to Divide Creek (its historic places page), and 51 miles in the 1990 engineering history. They measure from different points; this entry uses 50.
The 2026 rules, and 2027
For 2026 the park dropped the vehicle reservation it had used in earlier summers. Instead it piloted three-hour timed parking at Logan Pass, with a free timestamped permit from a kiosk, from 1 July to Labor Day, 7 September, and replaced its first-come shuttle with a ticketed Logan Pass shuttle, booked only on Recreation.gov for a $1 processing fee, part 60 days ahead from 2 May and the rest at 7 p.m. the evening before. The park says both pilots did not continue past Labor Day 2026. As of 13 October 2026 it had not published its plans for 2027.
Size limits
Vehicles or combinations longer than 21 feet, including bumpers, or wider than 8 feet, including mirrors, may not drive between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun. Vehicles over 10 feet tall may struggle west of Logan Pass because of rock overhangs. The speed limit is 40 mph on the lower road and 25 mph in the alpine section. There is no fuel inside the park.
Looking west from the East Tunnel toward Logan Pass, August 2013.
Photograph: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Snowmelt pools at Logan Pass in early summer.
Photograph: National Park Service, Glacier National Park · Public domain (PD-USGov, US National Park Service)
A yearling mountain goat near Logan Pass, July 2006.
Photograph: David Restivo, National Park Service · Public domain (PD-USGov, US National Park Service)
The road from West Glacier over Logan Pass to St. Mary, on Tom Patterson’s shaded-relief map.
Map: Tom Patterson, National Park Service · Public domain (PD-USGov, US National Park Service)
- Be at the top before the sun is, or come back after supper. The middle of the day belongs to everybody else.
- Leave every stone and every flower where you found it. These mountains were somebody's long before there was a road.
- Keep well back from the goats, however friendly the goats are being.
- Fill the tank before the gate. (Underlined. Remembered at the gate, for once.)
- Stop at the overlook where the ice is in sight, and stay until it starts to look like it might move.
The East Side Tunnel. A bore through the flank of Piegan Mountain, east of Logan Pass, cut by the Colonial Building Company in 1931 and 1932. No power equipment could reach the site, so the laborers carried the excavated rock out by hand, and the contractor advanced about five feet four inches a day. The Historic American Engineering Record’s history gives its length twice, as 405 feet and as 408 feet; it is the longer of the road’s two tunnels (the West Side Tunnel is 192 feet). The old tote road the builders used to reach it still shows on the mountainside about 200 feet above the road, and can be seen from the Logan Pass Visitor Center.
Tally, in the marginA hole through a mountain, and I drove through it in the time it takes to say so. Only at the far end did I wonder where all that mountain had gone, and then I could not stop picturing the arms.
Getting there
How to get there. From the west, US Highway 2 reaches West Glacier, about 33 miles from Kalispell; Glacier Park International Airport, near Kalispell, is about 30 miles from the west entrance. From the east, the St. Mary entrance is reached by US 89 through Browning. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops at West Glacier all year (all from the Park Service’s directions page).
When to go. The whole road is usually open from early July to the third Monday of October, subject to weather. The park calls May to September its busiest period and July and August the busiest of all; the Logan Pass car park usually fills by sunrise. Outside the alpine season, the lower road near Lake McDonald stays open.
What to arrange ahead. A park entrance pass: $35 for a private vehicle for seven days ($25 from 1 November to 30 April). In 2026 the Park Service also charged non-US residents aged 16 and over an extra $100 a person unless they held an annual or America the Beautiful pass. Check the year’s parking and shuttle rules before booking; in 2026 the shuttle needed a ticket and Logan Pass parking was limited to three hours.
Safety. The State Department’s travel advisories cover other countries, so none applies here. The park asks drivers to stay at least 25 yards from wildlife and 100 yards from bears and wolves, says water is the leading cause of death in Glacier, and warns that wildfires are common each summer.
Mark this place
Common questions
When does Going-to-the-Sun Road open?
The lower ends of Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park are open all year, but the alpine section over Logan Pass opens only when plowing is done. The Park Service says it is typically fully open by early July; between 2015 and 2022 Logan Pass opened between 16 June and 13 July.
When does Going-to-the-Sun Road close?
The alpine section of Going-to-the-Sun Road typically closes for the winter around the third Monday of October, or earlier in bad weather, the Park Service says. On 13 October 2026 it was closed between Avalanche and Jackson Glacier Overlook because of winter weather.
Do you need a reservation for Going-to-the-Sun Road?
Not in 2026. Glacier National Park required no vehicle reservations in 2026, but it limited private parking at Logan Pass to three hours from 1 July to 7 September and required tickets for the Logan Pass shuttle, booked on Recreation.gov. Rules for 2027 had not been published by 13 October 2026.
How long is Going-to-the-Sun Road?
The Park Service gives Going-to-the-Sun Road as 50 miles from West Glacier to St. Mary, about two hours without stopping. Its historic places page gives 48.7 miles from Apgar Visitor Center to Divide Creek, and its 1990 engineering history gives 51.
How high is Logan Pass on Going-to-the-Sun Road?
Logan Pass, the highest point on Going-to-the-Sun Road, is 6,646 feet (2,026 m) above sea level, on the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park. It is 32 miles from the west entrance and 18 miles from the east entrance.
What vehicles are not allowed on Going-to-the-Sun Road?
Vehicles longer than 21 feet or wider than 8 feet, including mirrors, are prohibited on Going-to-the-Sun Road between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun. The Park Service warns that vehicles over 10 feet tall may have difficulty west of Logan Pass because of rock overhangs.
How much does it cost to drive Going-to-the-Sun Road?
Driving Going-to-the-Sun Road needs a Glacier National Park entrance pass: $35 per private vehicle for seven days, or $25 from 1 November to 30 April. In 2026 non-US residents aged 16 and over also paid $100 each unless covered by an annual or America the Beautiful pass.
When was Going-to-the-Sun Road built?
Construction on Going-to-the-Sun Road began in 1919; visitors could reach Logan Pass about ten years later, and the first car crossed the whole road in late 1932. Glacier National Park formally opened it on 15 July 1933, and it was fully paved by 1952.