The Flathead National Forest is a national forest in the western part of the U.S. state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. The forest lies primarily in Flathead County, south of Glacier National Park. The forest covers of which about is designated

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

. It is named after the Flathead Native Americans who live in the area.

Description

The forest lies primarily in Flathead County (about 73% of its acreage), but smaller areas extend into five other counties. In descending order of land area they are Powell, Missoula,

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, and Lincoln counties. Forest headquarters are located in Kalispell, Montana. There are local ranger district offices in Bigfork, Hungry Horse, and Whitefish. The Flathead National Forest is bordered by Glacier National Park and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

to the north, the

Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "islan ...

and Glacier to the east, the Lolo National Forest to the south, and the

Kootenai National Forest The Kootenai National Forest is a national forest located in the far northwestern section of Montana and the northeasternmost lands in the Idaho panhandle in the United States, along the Canada–US border. Of the administered by the forest, ...

to the west. The

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

s in the forest are the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, Great Bear Wilderness Area, and

Mission Mountains Wilderness The Mission Mountains Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1975, the wilderness is within the Swan Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest. U.S. Wilderness Areas do not allow motorize ...

Area. Other specially-designated areas in the forest include Flathead Wild and Scenic River,

Jewel Basin Jewel Basin is an area of the Flathead National Forest, Montana, United States, known for its hiking. The Basin is located east of Kalispell, Montana and west of the Hungry Horse Reservoir at the north end of the Swan Range. The Basin is 15,349 a ...

Hiking Area, and the

Coram Experimental Forest The Coram Experimental Forest was established in 1933 within the Flathead National Forest in the state of Montana, about 45 kilometers east of Kalispell, near Coram, and just outside the borders of Glacier National Park. The forest is an outdoo ...

. Some of non-federal land are also included in the boundaries drawn for the national forest. This includes private land, commercial forest and part or all of

Swan River State Forest Swan River State Forest is a state forest located in Montana. The forest has an area of approximately 39,000 acres and is one of the seven state forests in Montana. The forest was designated as a state forest in 1925 through a law passed by the ...

, Stillwater State Forest and Coal Creek State Forest. The forest contains of roads, many of them primitive fire roads and of

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails. Approximately of the

Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail The Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) is a 1200-mile hiking trail running from the Continental Divide in Montana to the Pacific Ocean on Washington's Olympic Coast. Along the way, the PNT crosses three national parks, seven national forests, and t ...

are located within the Flathead National Forest.

Ecology

The forest is located in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

with elevations ranging from . The forest provides habitat for approximately 250 species of wildlife and 22 species of fish. This includes

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a musc ...

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

, elk,

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethiz ...

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

, timber wolf, two species of fox, mountain goat, Canadian lynx, woodchuck,

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subsp ...

and bull trout.

Activities

Commercial activities in the non-wilderness sections of the forest include

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

harvesting, two downhill ski resorts and a small amount of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

grazing. Individuals can pick less than of berries without a permit. Larger amounts of berries, firewood and Christmas tree cutting, and mushroom or mineral gathering in wilderness areas require permits. While

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

is allowed almost anywhere within national forests without a permit, Flathead National Forest also has 31 campgrounds with some facilities. The largest campground has only 40 sites and 2 campgrounds have only one site each. Most campgrounds do not have running water. There are also 14 cabins for rent in the forest.

Points of interest

* Hungry Horse Dam is a tall dam that creates the long Flathead Reservoir. *

Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex consists of three wilderness areas, all within the U.S. state of Montana totalling over 1.5 million acres (6,100 km²). The largest wilderness area is the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area consisting of 1 mill ...

spans over , comprising the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Great Bear Wilderness and the

Scapegoat Wilderness The Scapegoat Wilderness consists of 239,936 acres (971 km2) spread across three different National Forests in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1972, the wilderness is located in Lewis and Clark, Helena and Lolo N ...

. *

Whitefish Mountain Resort Whitefish Mountain Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located at Big Mountain in northwestern Montana. It is west of Glacier National Park in the Flathead National Forest, from the town of Whitefish, west of Columbia ...

is a ski resort located on Big Mountain in the Flathead National Forest. *

Chinese Wall A Chinese wall or ethical wall is an information barrier protocol within an organization designed to prevent exchange of information or communication that could lead to conflicts of interest. For example, a Chinese wall may be established to sep ...

is a long, tall

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

located in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. * Big Creek Ranger Station is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. *

is an experimental western larch forest located in the Flathead National Forest.

References

External links