According to their website, Glacier Park opened the Camas Road entrance today. It’s the latest opening of the past five years.
Enjoy!
Camas Road is open
Tag Archives: Camas Road
Camas Road opens
Glacier Park’s Camas Road opened to the public at around noon today.
Enjoy!
Glacier Park still on schedule to begin plowing snow April 1
Glacier Park is still on-schedule to begin snow removal on April 1, starting with Camas Road. The Flathead Beacon has a good write-up . . .
The true mark of spring’s arrival in the Flathead Valley, the plows in Glacier National Park are rumbling to life this week to embark on the monumental task of clearing Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Park crews are slated to start April 1 with the Camas Road before turning their attention to the park’s iconic 52-mile thoroughfare. Clearing the narrow two-lane road is a challenging task that usually takes 10 weeks depending on weather conditions and snowpack levels. The mountain highway is considered one of the most difficult roads in America to plow. In years past, crews have been hampered by avalanches and significant obstacles, such as the Big Drift, a one-mile section of Sun Road near Logan Pass where typically over 100 feet of snow accumulates in winter.
The current snowpack levels are at 96 percent of average, according to the Flattop Mountain SNOTEL site, a U.S. Geological Survey site sitting at 6,300 feet elevation in the park.
To monitor road status: http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm
To see where the plows are: http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/gttsroadplow/gttsroadplowstatus.cfm
Glacier Park to start plowing; Camas Road is first
Glacier Park will fire up the snowplows on April 1, with the Camas Road being first in line for attention on the west side.
Since they will likely be able to plow it with a push broom this year, Camas Road should be open in very short order.
To monitor road status: http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm
To see where the plows are: http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/gttsroadplow/gttsroadplowstatus.cfm
Elk are on the move
By all reports, the elk are on the move. Greg Evans caught this group fording the North Fork just above the Camas bridge last Friday.
Camas Road is open
Just thought you’d like to know that Camas Road is officially open. They probably didn’t even have to plow it this year — just sent someone down to open the gate.
Glacier Park starts plowing out Camas Road first
Glacier Park has turned the snowplows loose, starting with Camas Road . . .
Spring in Glacier National Park means firing up snow plows in the annual effort to clear park roads of snow.
Park plow crews hit the road Tuesday, starting with Camas Road on the west side of the park. When that’s completed, they will start work on Going-to-the-Sun Road, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said.
On the east side, plow crews began work on the Chief Mountain Road. They will move on to the St. Mary, Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas next before heading up Sun Road.
Note: You can keep an eye on plowing status and road openings by visiting this page: http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm. Click on the “more…” link in the “Road Status” section. (Don’t try going to the “Road Status” page directly as it may not update correctly.)
Camas Road opens
Those wishing to indulge in a little pothole avoidance take note: I checked Glacier Park’s web site this morning and Camas Road is now listed as being opened.
Camas Road is open through Glacier Park
According to Glacier National Park’s road status web page, Camas Road is now officially open. This will be nice for those folks who prefer to avoid the lower part of the North Fork Road, especially in the spring.
2011 Spring plowing is underway in the park
They’re starting to move snow in Glacier National Park and they have plenty extra this year. Don’t expect Logan Pass access before mid-June at best and, as usual, they are letting Camas and the inside North Fork Road melt out on their own. Read the press release for all the gory details . . .
Glacier National Park road crews have begun spring snow plowing on the park’s roads and are finding substantial amounts of snow. Flattop and Many Glacier Snotel sites, snow measuring stations, are showing between 20 and 40 percent above normal snow water equivalent. Last week, USGS snow survey crews recorded 100 inches of snow on the ground at Siyeh Bend, two miles east of Logan Pass, and 140 inches of snow at the 7,500 foot elevation nearby.
Park crews began plowing the Chief Mountain Road, near the park’s northeast corner on Tuesday, March 15. The crews then focused their efforts on the Two Medicine Road. Instead of the three foot drifts they normally encounter at this time of year, the crews were plowing drifts up to eight feet deep. As soon as weather and road conditions permit, visitors will be able to drive to Running Eagle Falls. The Many Glacier Road will be the focus of east side plowing efforts this week. At present, crews are encountering drifts over ten feet deep. The Many Glacier Road will not open to motor vehicles until the third weekend of April at the earliest, to reduce stress on wildlife in critical winter range.
On the west side, the crews have completed plowing Apgar Village and one lane on the Camas Road. The Camas and Inside North Fork Roads will be allowed to melt out prior to opening. Plowing of the Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) began on Friday, April 1, beyond the Lake McDonald Lodge. Crews are encountering 12-36 inches of snow with two to six inches of ice on the road surface. Once the crews plow beyond Avalanche Creek, HK Contractors will continue rehabilitation of the Sun Road along Upper McDonald Creek and on both sides of Logan Pass.
Because of the contract to rehabilitate the Sun Road, the earliest possible opening of the road in its entirety would be June 17, weather and road conditions dependent. Spring snow storms play a large factor in safely opening the Sun Road to two-way motor vehicle traffic. Once the plow crews are working in the higher elevations, visitors will be able to drive to Avalanche Creek on the west side and Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east side.