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Big River Country

7 Days

$4000/person

Aug 25-31

7 Lazy P Outfitting offers premier Montana horseback fly fishing trips like our Big River trip. This trip is a real gem as it’s remote and uncrowded during a really nice time of the season. You’ll explore the lesser-traveled headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Flathead, called Big River by the old-timers.

Ride to an established, deluxe camp near the National Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Great native cutthroat fishing and many options for day rides and hikes for all levels.

This trip checks every box on the activities list like fishing the National Wild and Scenic Middle Fork Flathead River, fantastic day rides, and the Trilobite loop is spectacular! The Big River trip offers terrific hikes for any level like Ringer Canyon is amazing! We can also alter this itinerary to remain at our comfortable Switchback camp rather than continue on to Big River Meadow.

Enjoy stand up tents and a large dining tent with a well-equipped kitchen will be the hub of camp. Meals prepared by our wilderness chef will focus on local products, fresh herbs, scratch baking and our own grass fed beef. A very relaxing way to enjoy the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Check out the Big River trip details below, but if you are wanting something else, then be sure to explore our other summer trips.

Itinerary

Day
1

After breakfast, we'll get into vehicles for a short 8 mile drive to the end of the road at our West Fork Teton trailhead facility. Some of the crew will have already caught and saddled many of the horses and mules. After your horsemanship briefing, we'll head up the West Fork to Teton Pass, which is the Continental Divide. Much of this country burned in 2007, and there are amazing things to see as this ecological process evolves. After topping the pass, we'll drop into the head of Bowl Creek. This is the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. We'll ride along the divide, and at the mouth of Basin Creek we turn up to our camp that sits in a pleasant little park. Total: about 13 miles and 5 hours of riding time

Day
2

We move again, continuing downstream to the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. We will stop for a break at the Gooseberry Park cabin before riding the final few miles to our camp on Switchback Creek. This is one of our permitted campsites. We will have a comfortable wall tent with table and chairs and other amenities that make this camp a little more “posh” than our normal roving trips. Total: about 10 river grade miles and 3.5 hours of riding time

Day
3

Take your pick of activities. The crew will be available to take fishermen to various points on the river. Fly fish the national wild and scenic Middle Fork of the Flathead River. You will have the river all to yourself. This is remote fly fishing at it's finest. You can also take day rides and guided hikes just relax and recharge.

Day
4

Another day to do what you want.... fish, hike, ride, relax. Explore this amazing area in complete solitude.

Day
5

We load up and backtrack a few miles up the Middle Fork, and then turn up Strawberry Creek to Gateway Creek. Here we ride up through Gateway Gorge and it is sensational. Then we'll enter Big River Meadow for our last campsite. This is a gorgeous setting right beneath the Continental Divide.

Day
6

There are some really nice hikes for those who want to do some peak scrambles or traverse a section of the Continental Divide. The day ride up to Crystal Ridge is a perennial favorite. The 360 views are incredible and small, but clear crystals can be found along the ground. Before you turn in, you will want to spend some time star gazing at the night sky, while you listen to the soothing sound of distant horse bells. The wide open beauty of this vast meadow is captivating.

Day
7

We load up for the last time and leave, crossing the Continental Divide once again, over the low saddle of Gateway Pass and into the South Fork of Birch Creek. After a short distance, we turn south up Crazy Creek. We gain quite a bit of elevation as we move up this drainage, and follow the east side of the divide below Mt. Patrick Gass, named for a member of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. We top out at the alpine basin of Nanny Creek, don’t be supprised to find a big snowbank here in August. Then it's into the head of Bruce Creek and along Corugat Ridge. Your guide will point out the remnants of an old World War II era plane crash. Moving down Bruce Creek takes us to the North Fork of the Teton and back to our original starting point. The stock will be turned out to graze and we will take the short drive back to the 7 Lazy P guest ranch. Guests depart mid morning the next day.

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Additional Info

About the Bob Marshall Wilderness
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