Glacier among 401 national parks reopened today

PUBLIC LANDS — Glacier National Park in Montana is open and welcoming visitors today after a 16-day federal government shutdown that closed all national parks across the country.

All 401 national parks that have been closed since Oct. 1 are being reopened today, including the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area .

At Glacier, approximately 250 park employees were furloughed during the shutdown while 20-30 employees continued to work during the shutdown to manage the park closure and provide for protection of federal lands, waterways, buildings, equipment and other property owned within park.

The park’s website and social media sites were reactivated today and barricades at park entrances and throughout the park were removed.

Park road crews began monitoring roads, including conducting a sweep of the Going-to-the-Sun Road to clean debris/rocks from the road.   When the road is clear of debris, public access will be available to Big Bend through Sunday, Oct. 20.

Apgar, Bowman Lake, Kintla Lake, Quartz Creek and St. Mary Campgrounds are open to primitive camping.

• See Current campground status .

The Apgar Visitor Center is open every weekend, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Info: 406-888-7800.