Glacier National Park Setting Pace for Record Year

Glacier National Park had record high visitation last year, and Park Public Information officer Denise Germann says this year is shaping up to be even better.

"We're seeing lots of visitors at Glacier National Park," Germann said. "So, comparatively from June last year to this year is about a 24 percent increase in visitation. And overall for the year, it's almost a 26 percent increase that we are seeing. So, definitely seeing more visitors this time of year, and anticipate it to be a banner year for visitation."

Germann says it’s hard to pin down exactly why visitation is skyrocketing.

"A lot of it I think is weather dependent, some of it depends on the price of gas, there are lots of variables that contribute to it but we are definitely seeing a busy summer thus far," Germann said. "The highest visitation numbers were last year in 2014 and that was about 2.3 million visitors for the year. I think this year to date we have about 640,000."

Both Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park are pushing for record visitation numbers this year and nearby communities are hoping that means record profits for local businesses too.