Distinctly Montana Magazine

JEFF ERICKSON ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY The backcountry in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, designated wilderness areas, and roadless National Forest land are laced with trails to prime lakes and streams. Sluice Boxes State Park south of Great Falls also offers unique opportunities for hike-in fishing and exploration. larly, the diverse sites that comprise Flathead Lake State Park afford a wide range of water-based recreation. In eastern Montana, Cooney, Hell Creek, and Tongue River Reservoir state parks harbor popular multi-species lake fisheries. While less developed, Bannack State Park near Dillon provides access to the browns in Grasshopper Creek. TEDDY'S GREEN PARADISE: THE FERTILE MIDDLE GROUND AT PERFECT MONTANA FISHINGCAMPSITES AT NIGHT YOU'LL SIT AROUND A CRACKLING Unfold that free passport to adventure, the Montana Highway Map. Notice all the green in the western half of the state? That's national forest land, part of Presi- dent Theodore Roosevelt's great gift to the nation. While often immersed in the push and pull of political controversy, this rugged terrain shelters the headwaters to some of America's greatest trout streams, provides public access, and offers hundreds of designated waterfront campsites. Mainly, Forest Service campgrounds are intermediate in terms of development: picnic tables, fire rings, outhouses, and some- times trails, drinking water, and boat launch ramps. The key for opening the fishing and camping treasure trove in Montana's nine national forests is obtaining visitor maps. As you peruse the cartography you'll see that many of Montana's best streams wind past forest service campgrounds, including the Gallatin, Madison, Boulder, Stillwater, Yellowstone, and Blackfoot Rivers, along with Rock Creek. There are many sleepers too, like west- ern Montana's Fish Creek and the Thompson River. www.distinctlymontana.com SAGE CAMPFIRE UNDER A GLITTERING DOME OF STARS, SHARING DRINK AND FISH STORIES. If you take another look at the highway map, the scattered tan patches indicate land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM's system of campsites in Montana is less extensive than the Forest Service's, but still significant. BLM campgrounds near Helena, for example, secure prime access to the popular trout and walleye fisheries in Holter and Hauser Lakes. Just upstream on the Missouri, another federal agency—the Bureau of Reclamation—operates a busy necklace of campgrounds circling Canyon Ferry Reservoir, a haven for walleye, trout, and perch anglers. Lurking just under the radar screen are some locally-owned parks with prime fishing. Near the top of my list is Beaver Creek County Park in the Bears Paw Mountains south of Havre. One of the largest county parks in the nation, Beaver Creek offers many prime campsites near excellent stream and lake fishing. JUST A PLACE TO PARK: PRIMITIVE WATER-FRONT SITES Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) manages more than 300 state fishing access sites (FAS), one of the coun- try's finest collections. Typically, the FAS units offer boat launch ramps and bare-bones facilities. Camping is al- lowed at many but not all FAS units. 15

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