The Monumental Task of Plowing the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT

Liam Abbott | | Post Tag for BrainsBrains
A wide view of the immense plowing operation across the continental divide. Image courtesy of Glacier National Park.

Every single year since 1933, Glacier National Park has been home to an extraordinary task that must be complete each summer by its park staff and contractors: clearing the Going-to-the-Sun road.

If you have not heard of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, it is a 32-mile (51.5km) road that runs through the mountains across Glacier National Park in Montana. The road, which was an engineering marvel when constructed, set the standard for design and procedure when constructing roads in National Parks by being minimally intrusive to the environment and incorporating the natural resources surrounding it into the design.

A map outlining the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Image courtesy of Glacier National Park.
An image of the construction of the road in 1932. Image courtesy of NPS.

Plowing the Going-to-the-Sun road varies each year. With unpredictable spring weather, 60′ snowdrifts, and working on dangerous roads require immense time and energy. The road usually opens in June or early July, although the park will never guarantee an opening date due to unpredictability.

This looks more like an excavation project than a simple snow clearing. Image courtesy of Glacier National Park.

The Going-to-the-Sun road plowing has become iconic. Glacier National Park has a website dedicated to tracking the snowplows’ progress, and they have published a photo album of some of the best pictures of the plowing.

If you ever have the chance to go on this iconic roadway, you now know how much work has gone into it, both when it was built and the hundreds of hours that are put in yearly to plow it.

Image courtesy of Glacier National Park.

Related Articles

One thought on “The Monumental Task of Plowing the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT

  1. Some very nice information within your article I am able
    to put to good use in my upcoming plans. Thanks
    for finding the time to share this, I know it may help other individuals as it has helped me personally.

Got an opinion? Let us know...