Glacier Park sets visitation record
Chris Peterson For Pilot | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 10 months AGO
Glacier National Park set a record for visitation in 2010, the year of its centennial celebration. The final tally for the year estimates 2,226,757 recreational visits to the Park.
That’s a 9.6 percent increase from 2009, and the 2010 numbers eclipse the previous record for visitation in 1983.
The record numbers don’t mean that 2.2 million people actually turned the gates. For example, a single person that visited Glacier several times would get counted as multiple visits. The Park also uses a multiplier when counting vehicles that go through the gates, which makes the numbers a bit of a guess.
Hard numbers from 2010 include:
• 101,600 people stayed overnight in tents, an increase of 0.2 percent from 2009.
• 104,832 people stayed in recreational vehicles, a decrease of 1.4 percent from 2009.
• 30,680 people stayed in backcountry camps, a 6.3 percent increase over 2009.
• 133,068 people stayed in the Park’s lodges and hotels, an increase of 2.7 percent from 2009.
ARTICLES BY CHRIS PETERSON FOR PILOT
XC standout to run from Lakeside to Glacier
Flathead High School cross-country runner Zach Perrin will run from his home in Lakeside to the west entrance of Glacier National Park this Saturday, Dec. 17. Perrin will take on the 50-mile run to raise money for Jamie Founds. The 11-year-old girl from Marion has leukemia, and her family has no health insurance, Perrin said.
Breast cancer survivor urges women to be proactive
Last spring, Dawn Platke noticed a lump in her chest. She thought she’d pulled a muscle, but just to be sure she went to the doctor and had a mammogram.
Backcountry areas get avalanche beacon check stations
Three people died in avalanches last winter on the Glacier View-Hungry Horse Ranger District. The Forest Service, in partnership with the Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol, is hoping to change that.