Glacier National Park accessibility

NPS is upfront that most Glacier buildings were built before the 1968 Architectural Barriers Act standards. Developed areas are generally barrier-free, but not every facility meets current standards yet. The Apgar and St. Mary visitor centers are both single-level with accessible walkways from the parking lot; Apgar's restrooms are outside to the right of the entrance, and St. Mary's, just outside, have no automatic doors. Park Headquarters in West Glacier has an accessible walkway and first-floor restrooms. Along Going-to-the-Sun Road, Logan Pass has flush toilets on the lower terrace and more restrooms at parking lot level, Avalanche has flush toilets next to loop A, and The Loop and Oberlin Bend have vault toilets (NPS physical and mobility page).

NPS says all park shuttles are ADA accessible. Check routes, operating dates and any ticket requirements on the official shuttle page (NPS shuttle page). Outside the shuttle season, plan on your own car or a tour.

Two tour companies have lifts. Sun Tours' accessible coaches take up to two wheelchairs at a time, including motorized chairs, with room for walkers, strollers, and small portable oxygen tanks. Only a limited number of the historic Red Buses are wheelchair accessible. For both, tell them your accessibility needs when you book.

NPS names no wheelchair loan or rental program at Glacier. In the backcountry, the park's compendium bans non-motorized wheeled carts but allows wheelchairs as the ADA defines them (Superintendent's Compendium).

U.S. citizens and residents with a permanent disability get the Access Pass free, and our Glacier fees page has the details.

For visitors with hearing loss, visitor center videos are captioned, and assisted listening devices are available on request in person. At St. Mary Visitor Center, "Land of Many Journeys," a 15-minute park introduction, plays every half hour, and the wilderness permit centers show a captioned backcountry camping video. NPS will provide American Sign Language interpretation for any ranger program if you ask at least two weeks ahead (NPS hearing loss page). If you need audio assistance at a program, tell the ranger in advance.

For blind and low-vision visitors, the park brochure comes as braille handouts on request or as a Braille Ready Format download, and large-print brochures and audio-described videos are available. The Wildlife Superpowers exhibit at Logan Pass has audio-described panels (NPS low vision page).

A service animal is a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Dogs still in training and comfort or emotional support animals don't qualify. NPS warns that a service animal on trails may raise the risk of run-ins with wildlife, especially wolves and bears, and offers a safety briefing at wilderness permit offices: Apgar Village, Many Glacier Ranger Station, and St. Mary Visitor Center in summer. Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered unless that interferes with their work, must sleep inside your tent at a campsite, and their food must be stored like any bear attractant (NPS service animals page). Wildlife distances are on our Glacier with kids page.

NPS lists designated accessible campsites by number. Fish Creek has the most, eight (A8, A10, A12, A34, B65, B68, D158, and D160), plus two ADA-accessible unisex shower stalls in Loop A. Apgar has C152 and C122; Sprague Creek has site 1, with a short accessible path from the picnic area to the lake; Avalanche has A33, beside Trail of the Cedars; Rising Sun has site 7; and St. Mary has C146 and C148. In the North Fork, Bowman has sites 3 and 7 and Kintla Lake has site 13, but both have pit toilets that aren't fully accessible. Many Glacier Campground has none. Two Medicine Campground lists site 20 as designated accessible; confirm its booking calendar separately. NPS gives no accessible room counts for the lodges. It does say Lake McDonald Lodge's lakeside walk is accessible along the cabins to the boat dock, that Many Glacier Hotel's upper level is reached through the front doors and its lower level from the lake side, and that a token-operated shower building near Swiftcurrent Motor Inn has one ADA-accessible unisex stall. Booking and seasons are on our Glacier camping page.

NPS says the mountain landscape beyond Going-to-the-Sun Road can be hard for visitors with accessibility needs, but that the park improves access each year and a bit of planning goes a long way. Pick one side a day: Lake McDonald and Trail of the Cedars in the west, or St. Mary and Many Glacier in the east.

Ranger program schedules in bulletin cases and visitor centers mark the accessible programs with a symbol. Evening program venues that work for visitors with a mobility disability are the Apgar, Fish Creek, Many Glacier, and Rising Sun campground amphitheaters, the Lake McDonald Lodge auditorium, the Many Glacier Hotel auditorium (enter on the lower level), and the St. Mary Visitor Center auditorium. Groups can ask for a special program at least two weeks ahead (NPS accessibility page).

Running Eagle Falls, the accessible trail at Two Medicine, depends on valley-road access, so check the NPS project work page before you build a day around it; our Glacier road closures page carries each road and its dates. The best time to visit Glacier page shows how busy each month gets.