Going to the Sun Road

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by TWC84

Planning to be in Glacier National Park in August. It appears that my 2017 GMC 3500 long bed DRW exceeds the official 'size' of vehicle allowed on the Going to the Sun Road. I'm a foot long and right at the maximum width. Are they really that strict? Has anyone driven it in a similar truck? Thought about renting a smaller car, but it seems that rent cars are scarce due to the pandemic. Would appreciate any inputs based on your experiences.

Have visited this road twice. Once taking the red tour bus and once driving myself. Having done both, I prefer driving myself. Stopping when I want for pictures and enjoying the views. Only problem with the bus is the bus might not stop when you would like to. I don’t feel like I missed anything by driving myself. I learned quickly to FOLD IN YOUR MIRRORS, as there are many tight spots where you can easily hit your mirrors with other trucks.. I watched three trucks hit their mirrors with two of them ripping them off completely. One guy I was following was just rude and tried to bully his way up the road. I heard other drivers ask him to fold in his mirrors and he only did it once. He lost his mirror right after that. Just drive carefully and be courteous and you will be fine.

[Reset19]

We were just there. Road was not open.

[DaveW]

Bring your mirrors in, and go early. The problem is others going the opposite direction. Took F450 up last year, and had to come to a complete stop twice coming down. Up has the canyon view and it freaks people, so they inch over the middle. Down has a rock wall, no tolerance. For me, we will rent a car to go up next time. BTW the park is spectacular.

[Bob and Jeannette]

I will take the bus, I have the same size truck and I would not see anything if I am driving.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by Reset19

We were just there. Road was not open.

This is true most if not all years. The Going to the Sun Road usually doesn’t open until the after first of July. They get snow deep enough to cover a house. Business on the east side cover up all the way to the second floor.
Lynwood

[jwengermt]

I live about 120 miles from Glacier Park and am a frequent visitor. They are getting more strict all the time because of the amount of traffic and number of people visiting. There is also quite a bit of construction planned for Going to the Sun road, so there may be times you can't get through with a longer rig. I doubt they will measure your rig at the gate so you're probably alright. This year they are also requiring you to purchase tickets in advance so make sure you plan well ahead. You can no longer buy a ticket at the gate.

[WaltBennett]

Look at their tour trucks. In 2017 I thought my '06 F350 long bed dually wouldn't be 'legal', but after measuring one of those tour bus things I went ahead and ran the road both ways with no problem. My truck was the same size as them. (Did it early in the morning though!) Only problems were with idiots coming the other way in small vehicles too scared to stay in their lane.

[77cruiser]

Originally Posted by WaltBennett

Only problems were with idiots coming the other way in small vehicles too scared to stay in their lane.

That's what I said too. Some were 1-2 ft over the CL.

[Hornet28]

We did the entire Sun road in 19 with our CC dually. I didn't figure there was a problem except at Logan pass finding a parking spot. It just wouldn't fit into some of the small spots some people leave because they don't know enough to park evenly between the lines

[rames14]

We are currently at Glacier. Road opened last week. The 100 degree weather has melted the snow with the result being the road is completely clear. We boondocked the night before getting to Glacier and it was 105 in our Montana, but cooled to the 60’s by morning. Enjoy your trip.