Again trying to avoid the crowds at Glacier, we decided to hike the Swan River Nature Trail. Here is the official description from their website.
Take
an easy stroll on this old roadbed that starts out high above the Swan
River. The first mile of the river cascades over boulders and rocks;
the second mile, above the dam, resembles a placid lake.
Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of the 4 trailside picnic tables. (The 4th table, at 1.4 miles, has the best mountain views but has no shade.)
A bicycle rack 0.7 miles down the trail seems incongruous, but look for the trail down to the river opposite the bike rack. This optional side trail loops down the river, upstream to just below the dam, then returns to the main trail.
We used Google maps to navigate and unfortunately, it brought us to the right place but on the wrong side of the river - this allowed me to learn about sending a message to Google about the navigational error. I have not yet received a response, but I hope that they correct the problem. Fortunately, I had emailed Patty the directions from the website and could look at my email; this allowed me to figure out how to get there.
As described, the trail starts out following the river just a short distance before it empties into Flathead Lake. The roar of the river meant we did not hear the traffic on the other side of the river (where Google had lead us).
A mile in and we came to the dam.
Once past the dam, we no longer heard the roar of the river. So we could now hear the birds singing and whenever cars were on the road on the other side of the reservoir, we could hear them. The reservoir is wider than the free flowing river but still relatively narrow. It was very calm and pleasant as we passed the picnic area described on their website.
We continued to the end and found there is actually more parking at that end. The road at that end goes out on an outcropping of land to a bridge that crosses the reservoir at a narrow point.
Having found this delightful trail, we were a couple of happy hikers.
We then turned around and retraced our route back towards where we had parked. We took that side trail that leads to a view of the dam from below it.
Swan River is on the northeast side of Flathead Lake After completing the 4.5 miles at Swan River, we drover around the northern end of the lake and down the west side to the Flathead Lake West Shore State Park. It is a beautiful park and campground and we had our picnic lunch in the shade just off the beach. We then took it easy, reading and/or napping for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel to do laundry.
Another pleasant day in northwestern Montana.
An easy stroll overlooking the Swan River
Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of the 4 trailside picnic tables. (The 4th table, at 1.4 miles, has the best mountain views but has no shade.)
A bicycle rack 0.7 miles down the trail seems incongruous, but look for the trail down to the river opposite the bike rack. This optional side trail loops down the river, upstream to just below the dam, then returns to the main trail.
We used Google maps to navigate and unfortunately, it brought us to the right place but on the wrong side of the river - this allowed me to learn about sending a message to Google about the navigational error. I have not yet received a response, but I hope that they correct the problem. Fortunately, I had emailed Patty the directions from the website and could look at my email; this allowed me to figure out how to get there.
As described, the trail starts out following the river just a short distance before it empties into Flathead Lake. The roar of the river meant we did not hear the traffic on the other side of the river (where Google had lead us).
A mile in and we came to the dam.
Once past the dam, we no longer heard the roar of the river. So we could now hear the birds singing and whenever cars were on the road on the other side of the reservoir, we could hear them. The reservoir is wider than the free flowing river but still relatively narrow. It was very calm and pleasant as we passed the picnic area described on their website.
We continued to the end and found there is actually more parking at that end. The road at that end goes out on an outcropping of land to a bridge that crosses the reservoir at a narrow point.
Having found this delightful trail, we were a couple of happy hikers.
We then turned around and retraced our route back towards where we had parked. We took that side trail that leads to a view of the dam from below it.
Swan River is on the northeast side of Flathead Lake After completing the 4.5 miles at Swan River, we drover around the northern end of the lake and down the west side to the Flathead Lake West Shore State Park. It is a beautiful park and campground and we had our picnic lunch in the shade just off the beach. We then took it easy, reading and/or napping for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel to do laundry.
Another pleasant day in northwestern Montana.
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