Aspen (c91) News

WILD bILL

Time to Re-Think Glacier’s Bicycle Restrictions

By Bill Schneider, 9-21-06

I've ridden the Going-to-the-Sun Highway up to Logan Pass many times, and it might be the best bike ride in the New West. But every time I travel up to Glacier to enjoy this premier bike ride, I struggle with trying to understand the regulations imposed on cyclists by the National Park Service (NPS).

It's easy to understand the basis for most regulations. Good examples in Glacier would be prohibiting large mobile homes on Logan Pass because there's no room for two of them to meet or limits backcountry camping permits to reduce overuse of fragile landscapes. But I can't see any reason for these restrictions.

I suspect this regulation is like many other bicycle restrictions, written and imposed by people who don't regularly ride road bikes. I'm positive there are no bad intentions by the NPS, but from a cyclist's point of view, these restrictions are not only unnecessary and discriminatory, but they might have opposite the intended impact. They're supposed to protect cyclists, but they may make riding to Logan Pass more hazardous.

This regulation probably went on the books long ago because of some perceived need to do something, and nobody has looked at it decades. Now would be a good time for the NPS to carefully look at the situation and come up with a new plan that allows cyclists to more conveniently and safely ride Going-to-the-Sun Road and help booster the local tourism economy.

Specifically, the NPS allows cycling on all paved roads in Glacier with two exceptions: No bicycles on Going-to-the-Sun Road from June 15 to Labor Day between Apgar to Sprague Creek Campground (about ten miles along Lake MacDonald) and from Logan Creek to Logan Pass (last 12 miles up to the pass) between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. This regulation leaves a stretch in the middle of the 32-mile route to Logan Pass, the stretch from Sprague Creek to Logan Creek (about ten miles) open to cycling.

When you're on that road with your bike, it's hard to see any difference between the open stretch in the middle of the route than the two closed stretches at each end. The entire road is narrow and curvy, which is part of the appeal, of course. The entire route has no or minimal shoulder, but this is really not a problem because traffic moves slowly; speed limits vary from 25 to 45 mph. On the descents, cyclists commonly go the same speed as motorists.

The restrictions are unnecessary, and they discriminate against people who want to see Logan Pass in what might be the best way you can see it i.e. on a bicycle.

In addition, though, I really wonder if these regulations accomplish the goal. Instead of making the scenic road safer for cyclists, I wonder it the regs don't make it more hazardous.

If the NPS policy is to keep cyclists safer by keeping them of the roads in Glacier Park, well, then the restrictions make the roads safer from bicycling. However, I have been assured that it is not the policy of the park service to discourage (or encourage) bicycling on park roads.

Anybody who rides a bicycle on open highways knows that when you have a lot of cyclists it's safer than have just a few cyclists. Constantly seeing cyclists makes motorists more aware and cautious as opposed to not expecting--and being unprepared--to see people on bicycles. So, I have to believe lifting the regs would result in more bicycles on the road and make it safer at the same time.

The regs assume cyclists will ride east from Apgar to Logan Pass and keep going. However, one of the best routes is from Apgar to the pass and back. Having done this up-and-back route at least a dozen times, I know the regs make this trip a difficult and hazardous ride. Even leaving at first light and not spending enough time at the Logan Pass Visitor Center to catch your breath still means you have to virtually race to the top and back down to make it back to Apgar by 11 a.m. Unless you happen to be a Cat 1 racer, making this ride requires throwing some caution to the wind to avoid being busted--or skipping the ultra-scenic route along Lake MacDonald, which is a real shame.

Basically, the NPS restrictions promote careless, aggressive descents of the pass because cyclists are worried about making it back before 11 a.m. I'm sure the park service does not want to encourage cyclists to ride aggressively down the pass, but the regs make this almost mandatory. Personally, I'd like to stop at a few turnouts to soak in some scenery and check out the interpretive displays, but there's no time.

I called up to Glacier and talked to three NPS officials. Nobody really knew the basis for the regulation except the assumed value of "making it safer" for cyclists. I asked if there had been a lot of accidents or complaints or some other event that caused the regulation to go into affect, but nobody knew this, or even how long the regs have been in place, which is at least twenty years. It other words, nobody has really taken a close look at these regs to see if they're accomplishing the goal of making bicycling Glacier safer. Instead, I guess, it's just assumed they do.

But do they? It's significant to note that there have been minimal accidents involving cyclists on the open stretch of the west side and the east side of the pass, even though these stretches are similar in every way to the closed sections. Sorry, I couldn't find exact stats, but I'm comfortable saying that if we have had an abnormally high number of accidents involving bicycles in Glacier, both the cycling community and the park service would know it.

During my conversations with park officials, it was suggested that experienced cyclists are less of a concern than inexperienced riders. But this is true with motorists, too, and we have no restrictions keeping all motorists off the road because some people fly in from Urban America, rent a car and freak out when they get up on the Garden Wall because they've never been on such a road in their entire lives. Also, I suspect most cyclists who take on the challenge of riding up to Logan Pass are fairly experienced.

In Glacier, motor vehicle use on Logan Pass is perhaps the biggest, most controversial issue facing the park service. Currently, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is undergoing massive and costly reconstruction, and there is talk of limiting or even prohibiting private vehicles on the fragile road. Next year, a shuttle bus program will start with the goal of reducing the number of vehicles.

With this in mind, why not encourage bicycling to further the goal of lowering the number of motor vehicles?

This would certainly be an appropriate "green" thing for the NPS to do. It could be the park's contribution to helping hold back global warming and keep the glaciers of Glacier from melting completely. Local businesses and concessionaires who oppose limits on motor vehicles should support removing the restrictions. Promoting bicycle could greatly increase the economic impact of tourism in and around the park. Places like Moab, Utah, and several cycling destinations in Europe have built up economies by heavily promoting cycling. We could do the same in Glacier--and without having nearly the environmental impact we have by allowing, if not promoting, more motor vehicles to drive over Logan Pass. If I owned a local tourism-related business or worked for a local travel promotion nonprofit, I'd sure be talking to the park superintendent about lifting the bicycle regs to promote bicycle-related tourism.

In summary, I'm suggesting the NPS avoid the controversial route of trying to limit motorized use by taking the green, safe route of promoting cycling.

If you'd like to chime in on this issue, email your comments to Glacier Park Superintendent Mick Holm at mick_holm@nps.gov or Matt Graves, Acting Chief of Interpretation at matt_graves@nps.gov.

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