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A watery paradise: Montana's Flathead Lake is huge, clear, and irresistible - Travel

Caroline Patterson

Summer is the sweetest of all seasons on Montana's Flathead Lake.

It is, yes, a beautiful lake year-round: Mysterious in winter, when its 22 islands are shrouded in fog and you half expect to see the legendary Flathead Lake Monster rise from the cold, deep waters. Chilly, lovely, and aloof in spring. And in fall, as the larches yellow and the willows redden, its colors are rich, poignant. But summers on Flathead are as delicious, intense, and lingering as the Lambert cherries raised in the orchards along its eastern shore.

Flathead is a vast lake--28 miles long and up to 15 miles wide--the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, as just about every Montana schoolchild learns. Its eastern shore is forested, dotted with those cherry orchards, and shadowed by the craggy Mission Mountains; the western shore is drier, more open, and bordered by the rolling Salish Mountains.

Even today, it is easy to imagine explorer David Thompson's astonishment when he stood on a "Bare Knowi" on March 1, 1812, and became the first European to document this broad blue-green lake. Over the next 200 years, the area was settled by homesteaders, the U.S. government created the 1.3 million-acre Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, and vacationers built lakefront domiciles ranging from simple log cabins to multimillion-dollar homes. But none of the changes seems to have diminished the lake's magnificence.

Created by a glacier that scooped out its bed 12,000 years ago, the lake is fed by the Flathead River's three branches to the north and drained by dam-controlled Flathead River to the south. Despite development around it, Flathead Lake is amazingly clean. "Even though humans have been involved with the lake for 150 years, our records indicate that water clarity has been about the same," says Jack Stanford, director of the Flathead Lake Biological Station of the University of Montana, which has monitored the lake since 1977.

Given its size, setting, and the number of interesting things to do on it or near it, Flathead Lake offers more things than you could possibly do in a single visit. But invariably your attention will return to the water itself: vast, blue, beautiful, a lake that "Colonel" Almon White--who developed the town of Poison in the 1890s--called "a dimple on the cheek of nature.

The best of Flathead Lake

PITCH A TENT

Best camping

Flathead Lake State Park encompasses five separate units that are scattered along 128 miles of shoreline. Two stand out. Campgrounds ($15) fill upon a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive early. www.fwp.state.mt.us or (406) 752-5501.

(1) On the east side, Wayfarers State Park has a great swimming beach, wonderful wildflower displays, and good hiking.

(2) West Shore State Park has dramatic glacially carved rock outcrops and spectacular views of Goose Island, as well as the Mission and Swan Mountains.

CATCH THE BREEZE

Best sailing

(3) Dayton Yacht Harbor is Flathead's sailing center, thanks to its consistent winds. Here you can watch dozens of boats with bright billowing sails race in weekly regattas out of the marina, or you can rent one of your own. Sunset cruises ($44) on one of two 51-foot historic sloops--the Questa and the Nor'Easter--leave from Averill's Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork. Regattas (near Somers): 8-10 P.M. Tue and Fri. Dayton Yacht Harbor sailboat rentals from $95; lessons are $150 for four people, $250 for private workshop. www.montanasailing.com, (800) 775-2990, or (406) 849-5423.

HIT THE TRAIL

Best hiking

(4) For trails away from the madding crowd, you can't do better than Wild Horse Island State Park, the 2,163-acre primitive park whose hikes offer lake views as well as wildlife watching. Pointer Scenic Cruises offers half-day boat charters from Bigfork to the island where the Salish used to hide their horses from the Blackfeet. (Later on, bootleggers hid out here as well.) The island's main trail ambles from an old-growth ponderosa pine forest to a high, grassy plateau, past deer, bighorn sheep, and even wild horses. You can picnic at an abandoned homestead overlooking nearby Cromwell and Melita Islands. Pointer Scenic Cruises/Wildhorse Island Boat Tours offers six charter trips from Big fork to Wild Horse Island daily for groups of up to nine people. Mon-Sat; from $270 per group for half day (406) 837-5617.

HOP ABOARD

Best cruises

(5) Two modern ships provide great introductions to the lake. The Princess covers the southern end of the lake; the Far West takes passengers past the east shore's lavish homes. Princess: 1 1/2- and 3-hour cruises depart from KwaTaqNuk resort in Poison three times daily; from $13. (406) 883-3636. Far West: 1 1/2-hour cruises depart from Somers at 1 P.M. daily 7 P.M. Sun--Tue; $17. (406) 857-3203.

GRAB THAT PADDLE

Best canoeing and kayaking

(6) Admittedly, paddling across a lake buzzing with motorcratt may make you feel like an out-of-touch Luddite. Still, a canoe or kayak is a great way to view Flathead's wildlife and to get a sense of the lake's sheer size. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has designated specific marine trails. Paddle along the shore or, it you're feeling ambitious, try the 4 1/2-mile trip from the West Shore campground to the Painted Rocks petroglyphs. (Note: Stay in your boat--the petroglyphs are a federally protected cultural resource of the Salish and Kootenal Indians.) Poison and Somers: Flathead Boat Rentals. Canoes and kayaks. $9 per hour, $28 per half day $44 per full day www.flatheadboatrentals.com or (800) 358-8046. Bigfork: Jake's Kayaks. Sea kayaks. $45 par half day www.bigforkjakeskayaks.com or (406) 249-4390. Marina Cay Resort. Canoes. $15 per hour (406) 837-5861. For a marine trail map, visit www.fwp.state.mt.us or call (406) 752-5501.

CAST YOUR LINE

Best fishing

(7) When Montana baby boomers were kids, Flathead Lake's prize catch was kokanee salmon, a freshwater sockeye that has virtually disappeared. Now cutthroat, lake, or rainbow trout and whitefish dominate. Fishermen favor "Mackinaw Alley," between Melita and Wild Horse Islands, or the area south of Woods Bay. It you want to find that truly giant lake trout that can lurk at depths of up to 300 feet in Flathead's glacier-carved trench, your best bet is to hire a guide with a depth finder. On the north half of the lake, a guide helped me catch six 20- to 26-pound Mackinaw trout that wriggled, fought, and then, after they were released, disappeared back into the deep green water. A Montana fishing license is required ($17 for season for state residents, $22 for two days for out-of-state residents); available at gas stations and sporting-goods stores. A number of guide services offer a variety of fishing trips starting at $235 for a halt-day outing. For a listing, contact the Flathead Convention & Visitor Bureau (ww w.fcvb.org or 800/543-3105).

MAKE A SPLASH

Best swimming

(8) Splashing by the rocks at Bigfork's Wayfarers State Park is delightful. So is Poison's Boettcher Park. The truth is, most of Flathead is a wonderful place to swim. It is incredibly clean, the bottom is pebble-strewn, and the temperature in the summer is just right. One word of caution: swimmer's itch--caused by a parasite that irritates skin--can occur when the water warms up. Locals claim that a thick application of sunscreen prevents the little critters from getting on the skin. If they do, get out the cortisone cream.

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