Free entrance days to our National Parks are awesome. They're even better when the place is not a zoo, with bumper-to-bumper traffic. November is that time so plan now for the last fee-free day of 2021.
Park officials in Montana have unveiled a temporary ticket entry system for the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor this summer in an effort to manage congestion and avoid potential closures because of the coronavirus pandemic and road construction. Glacier National Park officials announced Wednesday that visitors will need ticketed reservations starting May 28 through Sept. 6 to enter the park. The tickets are scheduled to be made available on April 29. Tribal members and people who own property within the park's boundaries are exempt from buying tickets. The park made the announcement several weeks after holding a community discussion on a proposed ticketing system.
Governor Steve Bullock last week rejected a proposal that would have generated over $15 million in rural commerce when he denied a joint Montana Outfitters and Guides Association and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks proposal to issue additional non-resident licenses to unsuccessful applicants who had previously booked through an outfitter.
One of the reasons why Missoula has become such a hot spot for meetings, conferences and athletic events is due to the efforts of an organization called Destination Missoula.
Over 12.4 million nonresident visitors spent $3.5 billion in Montana in 2016, according to a new report just released by the Institute For Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana.