Glacier National Park has millions of visitors every year and that number is only increasing thanks to social media and increased awareness of the park. Rightfully so, it is incredibly gorgeous and worth visiting. It is one of our favorite national parks in the United States.
Due to the huge numbers of visitors every year, Glacier National Park has an enacted a reservation system to be able to enter the park. While the reservation system used to only be for part of the park, now you need a reservation to go to any part of the park at peak times in the summer.
As you can imagine, it can be difficult to get a reservation since so many people are also trying to visit during the peak season. However, there are still some ways for you to visit Glacier National Park even if you’re unable to score a reservation. We have done this several times and have the tips and tricks for getting to visit Glacier National Park without a reservation in advance.
About the reservation system at GNP
Glacier National Park originally started their reservation system for the Going-to-the-Sun Road only, but as of 2024 they are requiring reservations for most areas of the park. Different than 2023, in 2024 a reservation is not required for Two Medicine or St Mary entrance. There are a few ways to get out of this, which I talk about later in this post below.
The GNP website has all of the official in depth information on the reservation system, but I have included the highlights in this post. For all of the specific nitty-gritty information on the reservation, check out the GNP website.
Highlights of the reservation system
The sections of the park all have different time periods that reservations are needed.
The time of day that reservations are needed is the same for all areas of the park. During the time periods that reservations are needed, the reservation is needed 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Each reservation lasts one day only, which is also different than in previous years.
Each area requires a separate reservation, meaning that if you plan on visiting Many Glacier, North Fork, and Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor from the west side, you will need 3 separate reservations.
| Park Entrance | Dates Reservation is Needed |
| West Glacier (Going-to-the-Sun Road) | May 24 to September 8 |
| North Fork | May 24 to September 8 |
| Many Glacier | July 1 to September 10 |
Note: Going-to-the-Sun Road Corridor will likely not be fully open until July, so to see both sides prior you will need to see the western side then drive all the way around the park to see the eastern side. I discuss this more in my Going-to-the-Sun Road post.
Reservations are all booked through Recreation.gov (the same place you can book national land campsites or permits).
Note that the reservation to visit Glacier National Park is different than having a “park pass” aka the “America the Beautiful Pass.” Even with a reservation to the park, you will still need to pay the park fee or have the annual “America the Beautiful Pass.”
Pros and Cons of the Reservation System
Cons
The reservation system makes the park less accessible
I am all for making the outdoors more accessible to everyone. National parks are made for everyone and I think that all people should get to experience national parks. If there is only a limited amount of people that are allowed in at a time, it means that some people are not allowed in. Also, since the reservations are completely sold out 5-6 months in advance, many people are unable to get reservations because many people do not plan their trips so far in advance.
It can be difficult to plan a trip to Glacier National Park
You may want to visit Glacier National Park, but were unable to get a reservation. Do you still book the trip and hope that you’re able to get a last minute reservation? Or do you plan a trip to a different national park (which may also require reservations)? It can be difficult to plan a trip if it is so difficult to get reservations for the park. At the time of writing, reservations are completely booked 5 months in advance.
Pros
People that do have reservations are able to have a better experience
Since the reservation system controls the amount of people that enter the park, it is less crowded within the park. This means that it may be easier to find parking spots at the small parking areas throughout the park. It also means that the trails will be less crowded and you won’t have to sit in traffic while enjoying the nature in the park.
Less environmental damage to Glacier National Park
With high volume of people, comes high impact on the environment. National parks are built so that the nature is preserved as much as possible, so there are often small parking areas or less facilities. Lowering the number of people in the park helps control the impact on environment and makes the destruction of nature by overcrowding less likely.
Ways to enter Glacier National Park without a Reservation
Use an entrance that doesn’t require a reservation
As of 2024, Two Medicine and St. Mary entrance of Going-to-the-Sun Road does not need a reservation to enter. This is new as in 2023 a reservation was needed at these entrances.
Two Medicine only allows you to enter the specific Two Medicine area. St. Mary entrance will allow you to go on the entire Going-to-the-Sun road however this entrance usually doesn’t open until later in the season, often times in late June or early July.
Book an excursion or lodging inside the park
This is the main way to get a reservation to get in the park if you were not able to get one through the reservation system. If you have a reservation for an excursion in the park, such as a boat ride, you will get a reservation to enter the park at the nearest entrance on the day of your excursion. For example, if you book the boat ride at Lake McDonald, you will be able to enter the West Glacier entrance and spend the whole day, even if your boat ride only lasts an hour.
Another option is to book lodging in the park, such as a campsite or hotel room. Having a campsite or hotel room at one of the lodges in the park will allow you to have a reservation to get into the parks on the days of your lodging.
If you plan on staying in the park, be prepared to book MANY months in advance as there are not a ton of options for the amount of people visiting the park. Rooms and campsites book up very quickly.
Visit outside the hours of 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Reservations are only required at any of the entrances from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. This means that you can enter the park without a reservation outside of those hours. We have done this previously (both in 2021 and 2022) when we wanted to enter the park, but did not have a reservation. Since the sun sets so late in the summer, even if entering after 3 p.m., you will still have a lot of daylight to explore the park.
Visit during the non-peak season
Since reservations are only required between certain dates in the summer, with all need for reservations ending September 8, you can plan your trip on a date that reservations are not required. See the chart above for more about the dates that reservations are required at each entrance.
If choosing to go this route, I recommend planning your trip on the latter end of this, like in mid-September. While reservations are not required in many of the areas for most of June, large portions of the Going-to-the-Sun Road may be closed all the way until the end of June depending on how much snow the higher elevations has.
Alternatively, you could plan your trip in June, but focus your trip on the areas that do not require reservations. Going is an option, but you would likely miss the Going-to-the-Sun Road and it is the most stunning area of the park. If possible, try to visit when you can experience Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Try to get a last-minute reservation
The last option for you is to try and get a last-minute reservation. There is a certain (unknown) number of reservations that are released only 24 hours in advance at 8 a.m. the day prior to the day of reservation. This would allow you to make a last-minute reservation. Last minute reservations can be reserved on Recreation.gov.
One problem with this is that it is hard to plan a trip around knowing or not whether you will be able to go into the park. See the Glacier National Park website and recreation.gov for more information on the last minute reservations.
Planning a trip to Glacier National Park? Check out my different posts on Glacier National Park:
Two Medicine, Glacier National Park
Many Glacier, Glacier National Park
Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park Ultimate Guide
I hope that this guide helps you to visit Glacier National Park, even if you’re unable to get a reservation! Let me know any comments or questions you have below!
Thanks for reading!
-Liz
It’s almost like these locations are constantly being advertised or something. Can you think of any possible contributing factor to this phenomenon of recreational land overexposure and overuse?
Hi! Thank you so much for your comment! It really got me thinking about this important point.
I would agree that it seems that some areas like this, especially Glacier National Park, have had huge increases in tourism in recent years. I am not 100% sure of the cause, but I am sure that there are likely many contributing factors. Likely the increase of social media use (especially including video) contributes to the increase in tourism. Many people who have never considered a vacation to an outdoor location, have seen viral videos of national parks across different social media platforms and realized that it could be a beautiful place for a vacation. Another factor than contributes to certain popular parks such as Glacier National Park or Yosemite is that they are more accessible than many other national parks, which likely also increases the amount of people that visit. These parks allow people to see beautiful mountains and lakes without having to leave their car. Other parks, such as North Cascades or Denali are also gorgeous, but have less visitors, likely in part due to the decreased level of accessibility. It is great that people are getting to experience the beautiful outdoors, but as you mention land overexposure and overuse can be a problem.
I think educating park visitors (and potential park visitors) can help lessen this overuse and overexposure for several reasons. Educating people new (and not so new) to the outdoors about the impact that our usage of the outdoors have can help us all to be more conscious about the impact we’re having. Secondly, educating about the land and different ways of enjoying nature can be useful to lessening the impact in one particular place. For example, Glacier National Park is surrounded by many gorgeous national forests and wildernesses, yet they are significantly less visited than the national park itself. I am not sure of a solution, but I think that educating people on overuse could help to lessen the impact long term.
These are just my thoughts at the moment! I would be interested of what you think on this subject!
Hello, my group is doing long day hikes in glacier. We do not need to park as we will hike in and out of the park each day. We are staying in west side (whitefish). We plan to enter before 6:00 AM. Can we do this and where do you recommend we start our hike into the park to catch a shuttle? Thank you
Hi! Thanks for your comment!
I probably wouldn’t recommend walking into the park if you’re staying in Whitefish, but in the case that you still would like to walk into the park, here is the info you should know:
-Parking outside the park on the West Side will likely be an issue. There is not any major parking areas that I know of outside the park. The only possibility to have somewhere to park close to the entrance is if you are staying at one of the hotels or camping areas close to the entrance of the park. It is possible that there are parking lots in West Glacier, but I haven’t found any personally.
-The shuttle stop closest to the West Side entrance is Apgar Visitor Center which is around 1.7 miles+ from the West Side Entrance. Here is a map and times of all of the shuttle stops on the GNP website: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm . Depending on when your trip is, the shuttle stops could be limited as the shuttle service decreases after Labor Day (also on the previous link). Also, the full shuttle doesn’t begin to run until 8AM (the express shuttle to Logan Pass begins at 7am), so if you are wanting to go in the park around 6AM, you will have to wait for the shuttle.
Probably the best option if you are wanting to take the shuttle around the park to do day hikes, is to enter the park before 6am and park at the Apgar Visitor Center (instead of walking there from outside the park which would add almost 4 miles to your hiking for the day). Another option if you are wanting to enter the park after 6AM is to register for a boat tour or something that will allow you in the park without a specific vehicle registration.
Not sure when you’re going, but if it is after September 10, then you don’t need a reservation for your car and you can drive in an park at the Apgar Visitor Center and take the shuttle.
I hope this helps! And hope you have a wonderful trip!