Glacier Has No Reservations About Slow Start

Glacier National Park’s new system of reservations for backcountry camping is off to a slow start, but officials say it just needs time and some fine-tuning.

They had estimated 2,000 reservations by this time, but only about 400 have come in. The reservation system will continue through October, but the busiest part of the season is past.

At its peak, said park wilderness manager Roger Semler, about 50 requests a day were coming in, but now the number has dropped to four or five a day.

Semler said the park will reevaluate some parts of the operation to improve it and its appeal.

As of this summer, from June 15 to Oct. 31, half of all campsites in the backcountry campgrounds are available only by reservation, and the fee is $20. The other half are still available for walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis, but growing numbers of disappointed hikers are the main reason for the reservation system.

Hikers who planned to camp overnight have long been required to get a free permit, lay out their itinerary and specify what campgrounds they planned to use. The permits could not be approved more than one day in advance, and visitors from far away often arrived only to be refused their first choice, or any choice at all, because the campgrounds were full.

The reservation system is part of a pilot program authorized by Congress to let national parks raise some money. They get to keep part of the fees. About 12,000 individuals stay in Glacier’s backcountry campgrounds each year and average 2-1/2 nights.

Jerry Nelson, park film and fee coordinator, blames the low response on too little time to advertise the reservation system before the hiking season. He believes next year will see much greater use.

Semler, however, believes the park did an excellent job of getting the word out, with ads in both local and national media and on the Internet.