Class I North Fork Flathead River, MT

The Flathead River is 219 miles of free-flowing water in northwest Montana that spans an area from the Canadian border to the heart of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The designated reaches of the Flathead includes the North, Middle, and South Forks of the river.

These forks travel through some of the most wild, rugged country in the United States, including Glacier National Park, Great Bear Wilderness, and Bob Marshall Wilderness before joining near Hungry Horse to create the mainstem Flathead River, a major tributary to the Columbia River.

No permits are required for river use; however, there are regulations for human waste, campfires, stay limits, motorized watercraft, vehicle use, proper bear attractant storage and other site-specific rules on national forest lands. Please contact the Hungry Horse or Spotted Bear Ranger Districts for more information. Additionally, the lower Middle Fork and entire North Fork are boundaries to Glacier National Park, and those segments of river are managed cooperatively by both agencies. Specific rules and regulations for activities in Glacier National Park, including camping, campfires, bear attractant storage and other approved activities apply on Park Service lands and, in some cases, are different than the National Forest regulations. Please contact Glacier National Park for more information.

This Segment of river is full of early Native American history, including shards of chert and Ponderosa pine that have been scarred from the harvesting of their sweet cambium layer.

 

For More Information Visit:

Flathead River - rivers.gov

North Fork Flathead - Flathead National Forest

Glacier National Park - Rivers & Streams

Flathead Rivers Alliance - Trip Planning Tool