Camping

Tally Lake Campground.

Tally Lake Campground is located on the northern shores of its namesake lake, west of Whitefish, Montana. The campground is popular with locals and tourists visiting the Flathead National Forest and offers a variety of recreation facilities and activities for the whole family.

Natural Features:
The campground is nestled in the highlands of northwestern Montana, adjacent to Tally Lake, the second deepest Lake in Montana 445 feet deep. It sits in a mature forest of Western Larch and Douglas fir trees.

Recreation:
Hiking, horseback riding and biking trails wind around the Tally Lake Campground and the lake. Wildlife like waterfowl, bald eagles and migratory birds are commonly spotted. A dock provides access to the lake’s best fishing, which includes kokanee salmon, a variety of trout and northern pike. Visitors also enjoy boating, water skiing and other water recreation on the 1,326 acres of Tally Lake.

Facilities:
The campground offers dozens of campsites for tent and RV camping. It provides access to a boat ramp, an open air pavilion, beaches and picnic areas. Campsites are equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. An on-site host is available to answer questions and provide additional information. The campground has 40 campsites, boat launch, open air pavilion, beach area, picnic site, water and hosts on site during the summer months. The Tally Lake Pavilion is a beautiful timber frame open air pavilion. The site has parking for 50 vehicles, a double vault toilet, picnic tables, fire grill, group fire ring, horse pit, volleyball court, and nature trail. The pavilion is centrally located within the Tally Lake Campground. There are several trails nearby and two trails within the campground. One group site (site 39) and the pavilion can be reserved through the national recreation website. Firewood is generally for sale by the host.

Nearby Attractions:
The popular Whitefish Lake is about 20 miles from the campground. Visitors to the area also enjoy the Forest Service Summit Nature Center at Whitefish Mountain Resort, located about 25 miles away and accessed by the resort chairlift or the Danny On hiking trail.

Reservations:
This site can be reserved by calling Toll Free 1-877-444-6777 (International 518-885-3639 or TDD 877-833-6777 or on-line at Recreation.gov.

“Annual Season Pass” for access to those day use facilities located on the Flathead National Forest which are under Flathead Valley Campground (FVC) management, will be available for purchase from any of the concession facilities. This annual pass will cost $35.00, and will be available for the calendar year in which it was purchased. Note: Two passes may be purchased for $55.00 to accommodate a second family vehicle, only if the second vehicle is present. FVC will offer a 50 percent discount on all standard site fees and day use fees to holders of the Golden Age and Golden Access Passports, as well as holders of the Interagency Senior and Access Passes. Discounts will not be offered to holders of the Interagency Annual or Volunteer Pass. There will be no discount offered on group site reservations, boat rentals, dump fees, extra vehicle fees or firewood sales.

General Information
Directions: From Whitefish take Hwy 93 west 10 miles, turn onto Farm-to-Market Rd go 1.5 miles, turn onto the Star Meadow Road go 9 miles, turn onto FS Rd #913 go approximately 3.25 miles. Look for the campground entrance sign.

Camping and Hiking around Flathead Lake.

There are many state and private places for camping around Flathead Lake. On the east shore you will enjoy sunsets across Flathead Lake every evening as the weather cools. As the scenic route, Highway 35 is also the road less traveled along the east shore. If you decide to take this route, please have patience as the road is posted at 50 miles per hour.

There are 13 public camping access sites around Flathead Lake that are maintained by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. In addition, this vacation booklet contains information about each and every public campground around Flathead Lake. It also contains most every private campground around Flathead Lake. So it doesn’t matter if you are looking for public or private campgrounds for camping around Flathead Lake, this vacation booklet has the information you will need to plan your Montana vacation.

Flathead Lake State Parks

Big Arm State Park on Flathead Lake ~ Big Arm Montana
Big Arm State Park is a 217 acre state park providing camping, hiking trails, boat launch, restrooms with showers offering camping opportunities from May through September and limited services camping available through mid-November. While a Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribal fishing license is required for fishing at this state park.
Finley PointState Park
Finley Point State Park is a 28 acre park offering 18 campsites and 16 boat slips that can accommodate boats up to 25 feet long
Wayfarers StatePark ~ Bigfork Montana
Wayfarers Park is a 67 acre state park that provides users with camping, restrooms and showers, trailer dump, and boat launch facilities. Therefore, the campground maintains 27 with several tent sites located next to The Lake for visitors arriving by boat, and one ADA approved campsite. In addition, next to the park is Harry Horn Day Use area. Wayfarers is open year-round with limited services and is available May through September offering full services.
Yellow Bay
Yellow Bay State Park is a public camping and fishing access site Yellow Bay is located on the Flathead Indian Reservation, so you will need a Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe fishing license to enjoy fishing here.

West Shore of Flathead Lake

West Shore StatePark
With 31 sites and 7 reserved for tent camping, The West Shore State Park is a 129 acre state park. In addition, the park offers vault toilets, grills/fire rings, firewood, picnic tables, bear resistant storage locker, trash cans, drinking water and interpretive displays. Although the shoreline is rocky the views of Flathead Lake and the Mission Mountain Range is impressive.
Wild HorseIsland State Park on Flathead Lake
Wild Horse Island is one of the larger islands on Flathead Lake. Also, it is a primitive 2,100 acre State Park that is only accessible by boat. Furthermore wildlife on the island includes osprey, bald eagles, deer, big horn sheep, and wild horses. The island is for day use only and maintains about 4 miles of trails.The perimeter of the island contains Private property. Please do not trespass on private property. One of the better public access points in on the north side of the island, Skeeko Bay. It’s in a cove, has a gravel beach and easy access to trail-head. This park resides within the boundaries of the Flathead Nation. Therefore a license from Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe is required for fishing.

How to Purchase The Ultimate Flathead Lake Vacation Guide.

At $6.99 the Flathead Lake Vacation Guide costs less then a Subway® sandwich you can buy in Bigfork or Polson and will insure you have the information you need so you have a Great Montana Lake Vacation.

Camping around Flathead Lake — Flathead Lake Vacation Guide

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The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide.

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide includes annual events, lodging, trail heads for hiking, private campgrounds and information about every State Park around Flathead Lake. Find out more….

The Guide contains more than 70 pages of information including links to activities, local business listings, , public campgrounds, hiking trails, fishing access sites and just about any other information you want when you vacation on Flathead Lake.

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide is easy to use. The Guide contains information about each community, complete with business listings and public access points. The Guide also contains many of the Trail Heads along Glacier View road, as well as the Jewel Basin outside of Bigfork Montana.

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide

This Guide contains every public access point around The Lake. It also contains most every private campground as well. So if you are looking for public or private campgrounds around our Lake, this vacation guide has the information you will need to plan your Montana vacation.

Communities on Flathead Lake

Communities included in the Guide include the population centers such as Bigfork, Lakeside and Polson, as well as the smaller communities like Woods Bay, Finely Point or Big Arm. All of the Montana State Parks are listed in this vacation guide. Including Yellow Bay, Flathead Lake Trail and Finley Point State Park. The guide contains many photographs as well as information you will want during your vacation.

The guide costs $6.99 and is an instant download to your computer or mobile device. Of course the Guide comes with a money back guarantee. It’s like having all of the local information right on your phone.

Purchase your guide, either for your phone on in you hand.

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide includes annual events, lodging, trail heads for hiking, private campgrounds and information about every State Park around Flathead Lake. Find out more….

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide

The Guide contains every public access point around The Lake. It also contains most every private campground as well. So if you are looking for public or private campgrounds around our Lake, this vacation guide has the information you will need to plan your Montana vacation.

Communities on Flathead Lake

Purchase your guide, either for your phone on in you hand.

The Flathead Indian Reservation

Welcome to the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Let’s take a moment to consider the history that took place to allow you to enjoy all of the recreational and hiking opportunities Flathead Lake has to offer.

The southern half of Montana’s Flathead Lake resides on the Flathead Indian Reservation. This is Indian Country. The Hellgate Treaty of 1855 set this land aside for the Salish, Kootenai and Pend Oreille Tribes.

Charlo, or Charlot, was the son of Victor, and his successor as chief of the Salish bands. The Treaty of 1855, negotiated by Isaac Stevens, had guaranteed that Victor and his people could stay in the Bitterroot Valley. In 1872, however, President U.S. Grant ordered the Salish, then led by Chief Charlo, to move north to the Flathead Reservation. Two sub-chiefs, Arlee and Joseph Nine Pipes, complied, but Charlo refused, and stayed resolutely, but “illegally,” on his native lands.

In 1876, the government of Montana Territory proposed a tax on Indians’ property. Charlo’s bitter but eloquent response resonates with his deep sadness and disillusionment.

Chief Charlo’s Answer

Since our forefathers first beheld [the white man], more than seven times ten winters have snowed and melted. Most of them like those snows have dissolved away. Their spirits went whither they came; his, they say, go there too. Do they meet and see us here? Can he blush before his Maker, or is he forever dead? Is his prayer his promise—a trust of the wind? Is it a sound without sense? Is it a thing whose life is a foul thing?…

What is he? Who sent him here? We were happy when he first came; since then we often saw him, always heard him and of him. We first thought he came from the light, but he comes like the dusk of the evening now, not like the dawn of the morning. He comes like a day that has passed, and night enters our future with him.…

Had Heaven’s Chief burnt him with some mark to refuse him, we might have refused him. No, we did not refuse him in his weakness; in his poverty we fed, we cherished him—yes, befriended him, and showed the fords and defiles of our lands. Yet we did think his face was concealed with hair, and that he often smiled like a rabbit in his own beard. A long-tailed, skulking thing, fond of flat lands, and soft grass and woods.

To confirm, his purpose; to make the trees and stones and his own people hear him, he whispers soldiers, lock houses and iron chains.…He, the cause of our ruin, is his own snake, which he says stole on his mother in her own country to lie to her. He says his story is that man was rejected and cast off. Why did we not reject him forever? He says one of his virgins had a son nailed to death on two cross sticks to save him. Were all of them dead then when that young man died, we would be all safe now and our country our own. . . .

…His meanness ropes his charity, his avarice wives his envy, his race breeds to extort. Did he speak at all like a friend? . . .

He is cold, and stealth and envy are with him, and fit him as do his hands and feet. We owe him nothing; he owes us more than he will pay, yet he says there is a God.…

His laws never gave us a blade nor a tree, nor a duck, nor a grouse, nor a trout. No; like the wolverine that steals your cache, how often does he come? You know he comes as long as he lives, and takes more and more, and dirties what he leaves.”

In 1891, after 20 more years of impoverishment and near-starvation, Charlo agreed to move his band of 157 people to the Flathead Reservation. They walked the seventy-five miles from their ancestral homeland in the Bitterroot Valley to the Jocko Valley at the southern end of the reservation.

CSKT Tribal Recreation Permits

Recreation Permits: Camping and Hiking in the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness:

Camping around Flathead lake The Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness is located on the western slopes of the Mission Range. The area covers approximately 91,778 acres. It is roughly 34 miles long and five miles wide. Elevations range from four thousand to nearly ten thousand feet.

All recreational activities on Tribal owned lands require a non-member person over the age of 11 to purchase a Tribal Conservation Permit. All non-members must have on their person; whenever engaged in recreation activities on Tribally owned lands of the Reservation, a valid Flathead Reservation Use Permit, and any additional bird, fishing, or camping stamps as required. Certain Tribal campgrounds and recreation areas may have special regulations, which are posted, on site.

NOTE: Recreation Permits must be purchased in person initially from a retail outlet/Reservation Permit vendor to register. After that first registration you can purchase online. Reservation Permits are available on the internet at http://app.mt.gov/Als/Index

Pablo, MT at Zimmer Tackle
Plains, MT at Plains Service Center
Polson, MT at – CSKT, DFWRC, 406 6th Avenue East and Wal-Mart
Ronan, MT at Westland Seed
St. Ignatius, MT at Allard’s Stage Stop

Learn More about CSKT Permits

The Go Hike with Mike trail guide contains most every trail head in the Flathead and Kootenai Forest as well as the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness. Click here to purchase your copy.

CSKT Tribal Recreation Permits.

Recreation Permits: Camping and Hiking in the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness:

The Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness is located on the western slopes of the Mission Range. The area covers approximately 91,778 acres. It is roughly 34 miles long and five miles wide. Elevations range from four thousand to nearly ten thousand feet.

Pablo, MT at Zimmer Tackle
Plains, MT at Plains Service Center
Polson, MT at – CSKT, DFWRC, 406 6th Avenue East and Wal-Mart
Ronan, MT at Westland Seed
St. Ignatius, MT at Allard’s Stage Stop

Learn More

The Go Hike with Mike trail guide contains most every trail head in the Flathead and Kootenai Forest as well as the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness. Click here to purchase your copy.

Go Hike With Mike Flathead Lake Trail Guide

We are proud to announce our newest website GoHikeWithMike.com along with the 150+ page Flathead Lake trail guide.

The Go Hike with Mike Trail Guide contains most every trail head around Flathead Lake. The guide includes trails as far north as Polebridge.

It also contains the Hungry Horse recreation area, the Swan Front and Swan Valley to the east. To the north the guide contains trail head and campground information around Tally Lake.

The trail-guide contains detailed information about each trail. Content comes from Fish Wildlife and Parks, as well as 20 years of hiking and walking in the woods.

Looking for a great trail in Flathead National Forest, Montana? The Go Hike With Mike Trail-Guide contains most all of them in northwest Montana. Trails include trail running trails, mountain biking trails and just great hiking trails.

Ready for some hiking? There are 30 moderate trails in Flathead National Forest ranging from 1.8 to 23 miles and from 3,034 to 7,421 feet above sea level. Start checking them out and you’ll be out on the trail in no time!

Flathead Lake Trail Guide

It doesn’t matter if you are a novice hiker or you love a challenge: Jewel Basin has a hike for you. You’ll discover 15,349 acres of wilderness, 27 lakes and nearly 50 miles of hike-only trails.

The Jewel Basin is located just outside of Bigfork in the Flathead National Forest. To access the trailhead from Bigfork, take Hwy 35 north to Hwy 83. Head east on Hwy 83 to the junction of the Echo Lake Road. Head north on Echo Lake Road about 3 miles to junction with the Jewel Basin Road (No. 5392). Follow this road approx. 7 miles to the trailhead.

Get your 150+ page Flathead Lake trail guide. or visit the website: GoHikeWithMike.com

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Camping

Flathead Lake State Parks

West Shore of Flathead Lake

How to Purchase The Ultimate Flathead Lake Vacation Guide.

If you Need more information

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide

Communities on Flathead Lake

The Flathead Lake Vacation Guide

Communities on Flathead Lake

Flathead Lake Trail Guide

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