Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1,000-foot limestone cliffs at Lost Creek State Park. As the drive heads west through
Deerlodge National Forest, it skirts lovely Georgetown Lake and enters Flint Creek
Valley, where the surrounding mountains harbor garnets, sapphires, and intriguing
fossils. Paralleling Flint Creek, the drive stretches north past old mining towns (some
are now ghost towns) and cattle ranches to its terminus on I-90 at Drummond.
7.
Flathead Lake
First visible from the top of a gentle rise near Polson, Flathead Lake is the largest natural
freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, and one of the loveliest. Embraced by rolling hills,
deep green forests, and snowcapped granite peaks, the lake recedes 28 miles into the dis-
tance, where its shining surface mingles with the sky. Wooded islands and white sails dot
thesurface;tidycoves,rockypoints,andpicturesquecampslineitsshores.Liketheglacier
that created it some 12,000 years ago, Flathead Lake leaves an indelible impression on all
who behold it for the first time.
Heading northwest from Polson, Rte. 93 cuts briefly inland across grassy hills and then
rejoins the lakeshore at Big Arm. At the town marina you can rent a boat for a trip to Wild
Horse Island, just off shore. The island—so named, according to legend, because the Flat-
headIndiansonceusedittosafeguardtheirhorsesfromenemies—nowsupportsabout100
bighorn sheep.
After arcing around westward-pointing Big Arm Bay, the road heads due north, hug-
ging the lake's ragged shoreline for about 15 miles. Evergreen forest marches straight to
thewater'sedge,andtowardsunsettheMissionMountainstothewestdrapelongshadows
across its surface.
8.
Lake Mary Ronan
Lake Mary Ronan may seem positively petite—and pleasantly secluded—compared to im-
mense Flathead Lake. To reach it, take the turnoff in Dayton; then follow the signs for a
short, three-mile trip on paved and gravel road to the lakeshore, hemmed in on all sides by
a close, hilly forest of ponderosa pines.
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