Black bears shaking tents and grizzlies acting ‘frustrated and disturbed by human presence’ forced park rangers to restrict certain activities within the park.
If your tent has a stuff sack, don’t bother heading to the Rising Sun campground at Glacier National Park. Officials temporarily closed the campground to soft-sided tents after a black bear attempted to enter the rainfly vestibule of a visitor’s tent on Tuesday.
Camping in Glacier tomorrow? Rising Sun has temporarily gone hard-sided only after a black bear clawed and shook a tent and attempted to enter the rainfly vestibule today. RVs and other hard-sided trailers okay to stay. Soft-sided trailers and tents – plan on another campground.
— Glacier National Park (@GlacierNPS) August 21, 2019
The news comes after park rangers and wildlife experts closed Granite Park — including the Highline, Loop, and Swiftcurrent Trail — earlier this week after reports of “unusual grizzly bear activity.”
Bear Activity in Glacier National Park
Officials reopened Granite Park after rangers and wildlife biologists spent a day monitoring the area with no bear sightings. But they did note “significant evidence” of bears foraging, including overturned rocks, disturbed hillsides, and scat.
On Sunday, park staff said they received three reports “in quick succession of grizzly bears huffing, drooling, shaking heads, and walking visitors back off of trails.” Though the trails reopened, they remain posted as “bear frequenting.” Rangers encourage visitors to check the trail status page for current conditions and safety warnings.
Following the grizzly warning, a black bear “clawed and shook a tent” nearly 20 miles east at the Rising Sun campground, the park tweeted. No one suffered any injuries, but authorities instituted camp restrictions in the area. Until further notice, only RVs and hard-sided trailers are permitted at the campground.
Stay up to date on Glacier conditions and news via its website and Twitter page.
