Glacier National Park Welcomes Its 100th Million Visitor
On June 11th of this year, at just about 10 a.m., a mother and her two children from Bakersfield, California entered Glacier National Park in Montana. While the park has welcomed millions of visitors over the last 100 years (since 1911, to be specific), this trio marks something quite extraordinary for both Glacier National Park and the U.S. National Park Service in general:
The three of them represent Glacier Park's 100th million visitor.
Much of the century of stat recording was performed by hand, but rangers crunched the numbers and knew that the milestone visitor(s) would be walking through the turnstiles this month. And when they saw the Bakersfield trio, they knew they'd be worthy of the honor:
Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow said, "We are celebrating 100 million visitors to Glacier National Park and more importantly we are celebrating and engaging the next generation to the park." He said, "We are pleased to celebrate this milestone with 14-year-old Pierce and 10-year-old Gretchen and their mother Becky. These kids represent the future, and upcoming stewards of Glacier National Park and other national parks, and all public lands."
To mark the occasion, the family received an assortment of gifts and gift certificates, as well as a complimentary trip to the famed Logan Pass for a picnic lunch. This is just more proof that when you enter one of our glorious National Parks, you never know what's going to happen.