The South Fork Flathead River is a major river in Northwestern Montana in the northwest United States. It is one of the three main forks of the Flathead River, a tributary of the

Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. The largest river by volume in Montana, it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and ...

(the Pend Oreille River). The north-northwest trending river is about long, making it the second longest tributary of the Flathead River. The river begins in the Bob Marshall Wilderness south of Glacier National Park, as does the Middle Fork Flathead River, at the confluence of two streams, Danaher Creek and Youngs Creek, between the

Flathead Range The Flathead Range is a mountain range of the Northern Rocky Mountains located southeast of Whitefish, Montana in the Great Bear Wilderness, part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. It is west of the Rocky Mountain Front, east of the Swan Ra ...

and the Swan Range. For some , the river flows freely north-northwest, meandering through a forested and undeveloped valley. The river enters a narrow gorge, running north, then begins to enter the backwater of

Hungry Horse Reservoir Hungry Horse Dam is an arch dam in the western United States, on the South Fork Flathead River in the Rocky Mountains of northwest Montana. It is located in Flathead National Forest in Flathead County, about south of the west entrance to Glaci ...

after receiving Meadow Creek from the left. Hungry Horse Reservoir occupies much of the lower half of the river, covering . The reservoir trends north then northwest, and the river then passes through the arched Hungry Horse Dam, just a few miles above the mouth. After it leaves the dam, the river enters a narrow gorge and, exiting the canyon for the final time, runs northwest past the town of Hungry Horse, then joins the Flathead River, just a few miles below its headwaters at the North Fork and Middle Forks' convergence.

Notes

{{authority control Rivers of Montana Tributaries of the Columbia River Rivers of Flathead County, Montana Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States