Fatal bear attack at Glacier National Park: what trails are closed right now
Fatal grizzly attack closes Glacier's most iconic trails. Here's what you need to know before you visit in May
A grizzly bear killed a hiker on a trail near the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park in early May, prompting immediate closures across some of the park's most popular backcountry zones. The attack happened during prime trail season, when snow still blocks Going-to-the-Sun Road but low-elevation hikes draw visitors eager to catch the tail end of spring.
The National Park Service closed several trails radiating from the Many Glacier Valley within hours of the incident. If you're planning a May visit, you need to know which routes are off-limits and what the closures mean for the rest of your trip.
Glacier National Park
More trail miles than most states have highways / Grizzly country, always
The closed trails include the Grinnell Glacier Trail, Iceberg Lake, and the Belly River corridor, all of which funnel hikers through dense willows and stream crossings where bears feed during spring. These aren't minor detours: Grinnell Glacier ranks as the park's most iconic hike, and Iceberg Lake is the go-to moderate trek for families. The closures affect roughly a quarter of the park's accessible trail system in May, when Going-to-the-Sun Road remains gated at Avalanche Creek on the west side and Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east.
The Many Glacier Valley concentrates both grizzlies and hikers into the same narrow drainage, and in May the odds tip toward the bears.
The attack underscores what rangers repeat at every trailhead: Glacier hosts one of the densest grizzly populations in the Lower 48, and May marks peak foraging season. Bears emerge from dens hungry, tracking avalanche chutes for winter-killed elk and caribou. The same low-elevation trails that melt out first also offer the richest feeding grounds. Hikers encounter bears here more frequently than anywhere else in the park, which is why Many Glacier has required bear spray for decades and why rangers patrol the Grinnell Glacier trailhead every morning in summer.
If your May itinerary centered on Many Glacier, you still have options. The west side of the park opens earlier and stays quieter: Avalanche Lake and Trail of the Cedars remain accessible, and the Lake McDonald shoreline offers easy wildlife viewing without the grizzly density. Hidden Lake Overlook, accessed from Logan Pass once Going-to-the-Sun Road opens in mid-June, sits above treeline where sight lines stretch for miles. You'll see bears there too, but the open terrain shifts the dynamic.
The park won't reopen the closed trails until bear activity shifts, which could mean weeks or the entire month. Glacier doesn't operate on a fixed schedule: closures lift when biologists confirm bears have moved to higher elevations or dispersed across a wider range. This isn't speculation; the park uses radio-collared grizzlies and field reports to track movement patterns. If you're visiting in late May or early June, check the park's trail status page the morning you arrive. Conditions change faster than any printed itinerary can accommodate.
Bear spray works, but only if you carry it where you can grab it in two seconds. Hip holsters, not backpack pockets. The fatal attack happened despite the victim carrying spray, which tells you how fast these encounters unfold. Grizzlies cover 40 feet per second when they charge. You don't have time to fumble with a zipper or dig through a side pocket. Make noise on blind corners, hike in groups of three or more, and don't stop to photograph wildlife closer than 100 yards. These aren't suggestions; they're the baseline for walking through a landscape where you are not the apex predator.
May in Glacier offers solitude you won't find in July, when Going-to-the-Sun Road funnels crowds to Logan Pass and the trailhead parking lots fill by 8 AM. But spring access comes with trade-offs. Snow lingers at elevation, afternoon thunderstorms roll in without warning, and the park's wildlife moves through the same low-elevation corridors you're hiking. The closures aren't an overreaction; they're a reminder that Glacier remains one of the few places in the Lower 48 where the ecosystem still includes large predators and the risks that come with them.