Apgar Visitor Center — Attraction in Montana

we rolled in around 3:30pm on a saturday and it honestly wasn’t as crazy as we were anticipating. there were 4 rangers outside helping answer questions very efficiently. Ranger’s Natalie and Joseph were excellent! the small shop inside has your typical park souvenirs. large bathrooms, so no lines! water bottle fill station. shade. 30 mins wi-fi. all in all, a decent visitor center!

this park feels overwhelming to navigate, between all their reservation systems and not clear information online, here were some questions we had/answers we were given by Rangers: 1Q. can our 10’2” tall van make it up Going to the Sun Rd (as their website vaguely states “you might have difficult if you’re over 10ft”)? A. you should be fine, the two inch difference shouldn’t cause issues, especially driving from west to east (the rock overhangs are more of a concern driving east to west), just drive safely and abide by road rules. 2Q. do you need a car reservation the day you check in or out of your campground? A. no, campground reservation counts for both days. 3Q. can you drive through the Apgar west entrance before 6am due to construction? A. you can, their website has not been updated to reflect this, just expect delays. 4Q. are dogs allowed on the CDT like they are on the PCT in some parks? Any BARK Ranger Program...

Only 2 stars due to a line with no masks and everybody within inches of each other yet inside you have to have a mask. These stupid rules help no one and are hurting the economy. Plus what's the point of vaccinations if you still have to wear a mask. Guess vaccinations don't work. Other than that everybody was really nice, good selection, helpful rangers and park passes really helped keep crowds down. Yellow stone and Teton could learn something. There are still a lot of people, see note about line to visitor center. But a 5-10 min wait was better than not even being able to get into a visitor center in Yellowstone.

Pro tip: this is for the rangers, open earlier if you tell people to come earlier. Keep visitor centers open later for visitor services. Your hours force visitor to all show up within a narrow 6 hour window. If you are checking passes, then you can open the visitor center. Split ranger help, Jr ranger and passport stamps from souvenirs. Create a way to walk or bike between visitor centers or attractions. The visitor centers are where the crowds are. If you take a hike or search out little known attractions you will likely only have 2 other...

This is a newer visitor center so the facility is nice and in good condition. Bathrooms and water refill stations are available here. There is no inside walkthrough or videos to watch regarding the park. The interior is just a gift store. The park shuttle station is located here and the Red Bus tours also pickup here.

There are several wall mounted maps showing the park and you can pick up several pamphlets for various things to do in the park. If you are looking to hike, make sure to grab the hiking pamphlet since the main park brochure does not have that kind of information. It looks a little bit like a newspaper. The gift shop inside does sell the detailed maps of the park which also have the hiking trails.

There are lots of friendly park rangers to speak with at this location. I recommend speaking one before going on your hike to understand difficulty and the best times to avoid crowds. Many of the hiking trails have very limited parking so a bit of advice may save you a lot of...