Distinctly Montana Magazine

73 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m Broadway musicals. Personally, I've en- joyed professional theatre in San Fran- cisco, London, Helsinki, Paris and na- tional touring companies in Spokane. I would put Bigfork right there with the best I've seen. Their 1978 production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music was the best theatre I have seen, bar none. Os- car winner J.K. Simmons in the role of Count Carl-Magnus didn't hurt. Across the lake and just a bit south, Lakeside is a thriving community and home to Blacktail Mountain, the only ski resort I know where the lodge is at the top of the mountain, and you need to ride the chairs back up to the parking lot. It is also home to Legacy Bike Park which attracts mountain bikers from around the world. Just north of town is the Flathead Lake Alpine Coaster— think of a cross between a toboggan and a roller coaster. Plus there are plenty of merchants ready to get you on the water in a boat, a kayak or a paddle board. More lakeside adventures await a few miles north in Somers. Originally a company town milling lumber for the Great Northern Railway, today the town is a charming place to visit at the north- western corner of Flathead Lake. Heading west from Kalispell on US Highway 2, after ten miles you reach Kila and Smith Lake and a further ten miles gets you to Marion and Little Bitterroot Lake. The Great Northern Railway gave birth to both communi- ties and abandoned them in 1940. To- day the Great Northern Historical Trail connects Kila to Kalispell on the old railbed, and plans are in place to contin- ue to trail on to Marion. Northeast of Kalispell, several com- munities are spread out along US High- way 2. Seven miles beyond Columbia Falls lies Hungry Horse, a community that got its start when the US Bureau of Reclamation needed to house workers building the Hungry Horse Dam on the South Fork of the Flathead River. Just beyond Hungry Horse is the community of Martin City, and a few miles further on, Coram. In time you

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