Best Trails near Bigfork, Montana

Due to massive wind storms we’ve had in the last year there are a lot of trees down. About 0.8 mile in, the trail is impassable as of February 7th 2020

We randomly stumbled upon this trail and absolutely love it! We hiked 1.1 miles in and turned around from there. Would be a great running trail as well. Had to watch out for horse poop though.

The road to access the NAPA Point Trailhead is across from the Goat Creek State Forest offices on Hwy 83 South. The road is not properly signed and is difficult to find where to go. Recommend going to the office at Goat Creek and getting good directions. The last 5 miles of the road is in very poor and Rocky condition.

beautiful view of flathead lake!

Great day hike. Gradient is moderate until you hit the switchbacks about 3/4 of the way up where it becomes much steeper. Views are fantastic although for the first half of the trail you are in the forest. Saw lots of tracks including bear and elk. The 1/2 mile sign near Hall Lake is correct. There is a fork there that we recognized on our way out. Some blowdown along trail but you can get around easily and the trail is well defined. No bears thankfully, but grouse and turkeys were present

Seemed like a great trail but only like 0.5 miles in came to a bunch of downed trees blocking any trace of the path.

The trailhead for this hike is actually Camp Misery. There’s about 4.5 miles of dirt road to get to the parking lot, and the last mile has snow and slush in the morning. My 2-wheel drive car couldn’t do the last bit so we parked about .7 miles from the trailhead and walked. About 8 large trees had fallen onto the trail that we had to climb over and toward the summit there was 1-2 feet of snow on the ground. I was very glad I brought my trekking poles for the steep snowy/rocky parts. The view from the top is amazing and totally worth it. At the top there’s about a half mile of scenic ridge hiking that’s pretty breathtaking. We actually hiked through the clouds to get to the summit which was surreal and eerie and awesome. There are a bunch of other trails intersecting this one, but it’s is easy to follow if you check the app at intersections. My dog had a blast.

Really a nice nature walk. But only a walk. Good views of the river. Worth it if you got some time to kill.

Completed this on 9/18/19, a very accessible and wide trail along the water. Lots of folks walking dogs. Definitely recommend taking the offshoot to see the water up close. Good spot to stretch your legs.

Absolutely amazing hike. Dog friendly with amazing views. Highly recommended.

Great hike! Loved hiking it and it was nice to get away from GNP for a day

Thanks to those that posted such great reviews. This was a great hike and whilst you need to be careful of your footing in places is overall within reach of most skillsets. The views are amazing but unfortunately we did not see the goats! We will be back!

This was actually at least an 8 mile hike. Great trail. It was a little tough finding the trail off of Mount Aeneas that led to the Picnic Lakes, and that part was VERY steep. But I would hike this again.

It was raining in Glacier so we decided to do this hike instead. NOTE: you must drive down a 6 mile dirt road to get to the trailhead. We made it in a Prius V but there were a few areas where we thought the car might break. As long as you’re careful and drive slow and have a car that can handle a dirt road it should be fine. We went around the trail clockwise. The first half is along the side of a mountain, beautiful views. At one point you can even see Flathead Lake. The second part is through small ‘prairie’ fields and pine forests. There are wild Huckleberries that we ate along the way. It rained right before we started hiking so there weren’t many bugs, but I would suggest bringing bug spray if you’re bothered by bugs.

Very easy 4.5ish-mile hike/walk on a wide gravel path with little incline. We saw a deer, an eagle, some bear scat and had beautiful mountain and water views out and back. There is a bathroom at the dam - about 3/4 miles in. You can hike down to the water on one of the offshoots along the way. Parking off Monroe is limited. On a hot day, it’s nice to have shade, and there is some, but there are parts that are wide open, so take sunscreen and water.

Great hike with less crowds compared to similarly great hikes in Glacier. Not too hard but some steep parts. If you’re in decent shape you’re fine. Driving to the trailhead is a little bumpy but any car could make if you go slow. 4x drive is helpful but not necessary. We started the hike at Camp Misery and hit the summit and then back down around to Picnic Lakes trail onto Camp Misery. The loop was nice vs the out and back although it was longer.

One of my favs!!!! The view at the TOP is amazing!!!

In general was a great trail. I have become accustomed to the trails in Flathead National Forest not being very well maintained. Lost the trail twice!! This app saved us. We only hiked to Black Lake, which was totally worth it. BTW, there are tons of huckleberries along the trail. Don’t let the closed gate scare you if you come in from the Hungry Horse side. Just a 2.4 mile hike up to the trailhead. Would totally do it again!!

The top of this mountain offers a breathtaking 360 degree view. Not super hard just a continuous climb but the payoff is SO worth it! Enjoy!

Excellent views and trail conditions. Took us 3 hours round trip.

This is NOT 6.2 miles as stated in the description. Followed the red line exactly and logged it at 8.1 miles. That said, this is an epic hike that I would definitely do again. Bring a jacket, the summit was a good ten degrees colder than the trailhead and windy! Took about 5 hours with two kids, 7 and 10.

Easy walk down a gravel road that follows the river. Pets allowed. There are some path ways down to the river and it’s absolutely beautiful. We spotted a whitetail crossing the river.

One of the most beautiful views I’ve hiked to, incredible hike. Steep climb to the top but worth every minute. Highly recommend.

Awesome hike! The trail to Birch Lake is really nice and obviously well traveled. The last 2 miles to Crater are fairly over grown and tougher. As many have said, be sure to take the left around mile 5.2. There’s an outhouse and a lookout, and then a trail down to the lake. Clearest water I’ve ever seen. We started at 7:30am on a Friday, only a few cars that had been there overnight. We were out by 12:30 and the lot was overflowing. Several groups of kids getting ready to camp.

All the hard work is up front. we met a curious mountain goat at the peak as our reward, well that and stunning views. The whole trail was spectacular. There were a few people here and there in the Basin but overall not to crowded. We even found a few huckleberries right on the trail coming down.

Easy walking trail. Scenic. Sporadic shade. Restroom about halfway up trail. Some cut trails down to Swan River...which our dog lived for a refreshing dip. Bring a hat on sunny days.

If you’re looking for a mountain to summit, one that is not too difficult, this is a good one. The first 2 miles have a steady elevation gain, it’s only the last mile or so that gets a bit more strenuous. Incredible 360 views at the summit! We were a bit surprised by the number of flies at the top, but we did hike in the afternoon hours. Saw a mountain goat at the summit too! My husband enjoyed picking huckleberries along the way.

Be warned, the road to the trailhead is quite rutted and steep, and parking is limited. BUT the trail is worth it. The clouds were low in the morning, but started to clear up by noon. Every part of this loop is different... well maintained trail, small scramble to the summit, and then a hike down through meadows and lakes. Keep in mind, this trail was about 30% longer than the AllTrails app indicates. We did the entire loop in about 4.5 hrs, including a stop for lunch, some pictures breaks, and a stop at one of the lakes.