Bigfork Forum: where to stay

Try the Laughing Horse Lodge in Swan Lake, about 20 minutes from Bigfork. The rooms are reasonably priced and they have a comfy little lounge, plus restaurant with the best food, also an outdoor central garden area for relaxing.

Or, in Kalispell you can always fall back on the new Hilton Garden Inn. It has a great bar and restaurant attached, called the Blue Canyon Grill. It would be your best bar scene, very comfortable and Montana style. Staying in Kalispell puts you midway between Bigfork and Whitefish, both great towns to visit but high-priced accommodations during the tourist season.

Good luck....let us know if you have any more specific questions.

Thanks I was thinking Mountain Lake Lodge for a couple of days and then either Holdiday Inn Express or Hilton...You recommend the Hilton right..Are you familiar with Mountain Lake lodg?I was also looking at Bridge Street Cottages, but we really don't need a cottage...

Do you have any info on float trips? We want to take a float trip, should we do it in Glacier or Flathead Lake?

Thanks again

Pam

OK, here's more detail:

Mountain Lake Lodge is perched on the hill well above Flathead Lake. You will not be close to the lake, but you will have a spectacular view of it. We've booked their rooms for business guests, and everyone has enjoyed staying there. Rooms are spacious, nicely decorated in a MT style, each with a view. The grounds are nice. There is a pool. Ther is a nice downstairs pub/sports bar that serves wood-fired pizza and burgers that are yummy. I can't speak well of the restaurant other than it is a gorgeous facility. We stopped eating there a couple of years back after having consistently bad service and food...have been waiting to hear locals speak well of it but that hasn't yet happened. Mtn Lake Lodge is 3 or 4 miles south of the town of Bigfork, where there are plenty of excellent restaurants. Also, it's in Woods Bay, where there are 3-4 funky, fun, casual and great food restaurants, plus a brewery.

Bridge Street Cottages are right in the town of Bigfork, where you could walk to all the shops and restaurants. It's set off by itself next to the rushing river, so you'd be hearing the sounds of that which may offer a delcious night's sleep.

Holiday Inn Express in Kalispell is brand new. We stayed there recently to be closer to the airport. Highly rated for customer service and room quality...you won't be disappointed there. It is situated out in the middle of an open field, where more big box stores are destined to be built eventually. You can see and walk to stores such as Costco, Home Depot, Ross, Border's, Target, Best Buy etc.

Holiday Inn in WF is one I don't have any experience with, but it is located a bit on the outskirts of the downtown. Whitefish is a lovely town, you couldn't go wrong with making that your base.

Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell is new, nicely appointed, has a great restaurant and bar attached to it with excellent food and nice ambience. It's south of the downtown area, not really much of a walking area around the hotel as it's amidst a commercial strip. However, the city of Kalispell has it's own charm, in the Eastside Historic District if you like old homes and tree-lined streets, plus downtown Kalispell has fun shopping and some nice restaurants (Capers, very high quality food and service, excellent value for fine dining).

On to the float trip.....on Flathead Lake you will find rentals for jet skis, motor boats, kayaks, parasailing, fishing charters, boat rides to Wild Horse Island, sunset tours, but no float trips since it's a lake. There are several places in the town of Bigfork and a couple in Woods Bay that offer boating. Don't have those names at my fingertips, but the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce would.

Also, since you are coming up from Missoula, if you come by way of Hwy 93 you will go through the town of Polson. There you will find boat charters on the lake, plus float trips and white water rafting on the river that flows out of the south end of the lake. If a stop in Polson fits your schedule, that could be enjoyable. You can also backtrack to Polson from Woods Bay/Bigfork, easily, but it's a bit too far from Whitefish.

Near West Glacier, try either Glacier Raft Company or Montana Wilderness Guides for float trips. They offer these in addition to their fun and popular white water rafting. A lot depends on the time of summer you are here...later in the summer the rivers all slow down.

Hope this helps!

WOW...THANK YOU Riverdays...can you be our tourguide???!!!

Well, I do consider it a privilege to live here, and I know how precious vacation time is. To be able to give some advice from a local perspective is something I enjoy, so ask away!

You are very forturnate to live in such a beautiful area!! My husband and I have been to Yellowstone/Pryor Mountains/BigHorn (Custer Battlefield), WE LOVE IT

This will be our first trip to Northern Montana, I am sure we will be awed! You said ask away..so here it goes!!!

So here is the TENATIVE schedule....

Day 1 fly into Missoula and drive up to Bigfork. Stay at Bridge Street Cottages for 3 nights. We are going to see Best Little Worehouse in Texas.

I would like to book a fishing trip for my husband and brother in law, and maybe a spa visit for my sister in law and I. Suggestions?

I am also thinking about taking my husband for a hot air balloon ride...don't know if I can muster the courage!

Are there any historic sites in the area?

For breakfast>?

Dinner? Laughing Horse...Swan Lake, any others?

Day 4&5 We are staying at Mountain Lake Lodge. Maybe a boat trip/ float trip Flathead Lake or wait until Glacier? other suggestions?

(decided not to book anything in Whitefish, we would just visit..what do you think?) I have a couple of places to eat in Whitefish..Pollo Grill, Buffalo Cafe?

Should be visit Lake Koocanusa Scenic Byway and the swinging bridge?

Day 6 Village Inn Apgar

Do you know anything about the evening wildlife tours?? 5 hours is it worth it?

Day 7&8

Many Glacier..we have a suite..EXCITED!!

Thinking about a float trip??

Should St. Mary's/Babb be a stop?

Day 9&10

Waterton Glacier Suites. Planned a boat trip to Goat Haunt. What else must do in Waterton? Eats?

Day 11

Drive down towards Missoula leaving the next day.

Any suggestions on what to see on our drive down or where to stay?

SOoooooo...how does this sound? You know better than I!

THANK YOU AGAIN

and I forgot to ask...Should I take out one of the two accomodations near Big Fork and add Whitefish?

Hi Pam,

One of the hard parts about keeping these replies pertinent is the fact that I cannot see your most recent post with all your very good questions (are you listening TA staff??) but here goes anyway:

Your question about staying in two different places in Bigfork is a good one. I wonder why you are choosing to move locations by only about 3 miles. Maybe consider making a move up to Whitefish, about a 40 minute drive from Bigfork, and dividing your time between these two lovely villages/towns. Both places you have selected in Bigfork are lovely. Both very different, but equally nice. The cottages will allow anyone in your group to walk around town. The Lodge has some nice walking along Sylvan Drive (my old neighborhood) but this is simply a quiet street to walk along...no shops or anything of that nature. You would need the car to get to any other areas.

Find the Swan River Nature Trail above the town of Bigfork (walk up hill from the Two Rivers Gear). This is a nice wide walking trail that is easy for 4 people to stroll along and enjoy the views.

Two Rivers Gear in Bigfork can arrange a guided fishing trip: 406-837-3474. A-Able Fishing in Bigfork takes folks out on Flathead Lake: 406-257-5214.

While in Bigfork, do find your way to the Echo Lake Cafe on the outskirts of Bigfork. Breakfast or lunch (closes at 2:30) weekends there's always a wait, relax and read the paper,soak in the local ambience of a successful restaurant "out in the middle of nowhere".

The best spa experience I can think of would be at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, although if you call any of our Chamber of Commerces, you will find more. The Lodge would be the classiest place.

There are also fishing charters in Whitefish (Lakestream Fly Fishing Shop, 862-1296 (all phones, yes, all, in MT are area code 406)

There are also more adventure sports at the ski resort above Whitefish, used to be called Big Mountain but they renamed it something like Whitefish Mountain....gondola rides, Walk in the Treetops, but no hot air balloon rides that I know of. So do think about splitting your time between BF and WF for more diverse experiences.

As for historic areas, go check out the eastside of Kalispell. There is a great walking tour of historic houses, the Conrad Mansion, the Central School Museum. Since Kalispell is right between Bigfork and Whitefish, you will be going through it as you travel from one to the other.

I'd skip the long drive out to Lake Koocanusa. It's not all that lovely of a lake. You'll get much better scenery in Glacier NP.

CampingGirl is our helpful TA expert for Waterton. You are right in saving your boating trips for Waterton (Glacier too, if you like more of them). BRING PASSPORTS for getting in and out of Canada. Make sure your car rental co. is OK with that.

Your return drive from Waterton back to Missoula might be a bit too long for one day, IMHO. At the beginning of your trip, I recommend that you travel from Missoula to Bigfork on Hwy 93 (there is road construction for about 10 miles right as you start on your northbound journey, so relax, nothing you can do about this). This route will give your breath-taking views of the Mission Mountains, esp. around St. Ignatious, then the awe-inspiring view of Flathead Lake as you enter Polson, then head up the east shore of the lake to Bigfork.

For your return journey, think about taking the Swan Highway, Hwy 83, from the Bigfork area all the way down to Clearwater Junction, then head west to Missoula. It's not nearly as populated, and it's a beautiful drive. You may wish to overnight at the Laughing Horse Lodge, and treat yourself to some of Kathleen's cooking. From there, you'd be about 2 to 2 1/2 hours to MSO, if that fits your flight schedule. And, no road construction! Do watch for deer on Hwy 83.

You don't say what month you will be here. If it's anywhere near the end of July, beginning of August, you will be in for a treat: some of the best cherries in the world grow all along Flathead Lake.

OK, Pivan...see what this does for your trip planning. One more hint: call the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and ask them to mail you a copy of "101 Things To Do in the Flathead". You can then customize your time here based on the weather, what your interests are, and what strikes your mood when you are actually here.

Kudos to you for making a plan that includes visiting areas around the Flathead Valley in addition to the gorgeous Glacier National Park.

You're going to really enjoy this visit!

I have to agree with Riverdays - it sounds like you are going to have a *great* vacation! Flathead Lake is an area often overlooked by folks planning a vacation to the GNP area, and it is well worth a visit. The scenery is very different from the mountains of GNP but equally beautiful.

I hope you have a fantastic holiday!

- CG