Missoula County is a county located in the State of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 117,922, making it Montana's third most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Missoula. The county was founded in 1860.
Flathead County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. At the 2020 census, its population was 104,357, making it the state's fourth most populous county. Its county seat is Kalispell. Its numerical designation is 7. Its northern border is on the state's north border, making it contiguous with the Canada–US border, facing British Columbia.
Seeley Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Missoula metropolitan area. The town sits beside the 1,030-acre (420 ha) Seeley Lake. The population was 1,682 at the 2020 census.
Lake Missoula was a prehistoric proglacial lake in western Montana that existed periodically at the end of the last ice age between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago. The lake measured about 7,770 square kilometres (3,000 sq mi) and contained about 2,100 cubic kilometres (500 cu mi) of water, half the volume of Lake Michigan.
The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river is home to several varieties of Pacific salmon and trout. The area's geological history was heavily influenced by glaciation, and the several large glacial lakes have filled the river valley over the last 12,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows human habitation in the watershed dating back at least 8,300 years. The Thompson was named by Fraser River explorer, Simon Fraser, in honour of his friend, Columbia Basin explorer David Thompson. Recreational use of the river includes whitewater rafting and angling.
The Idaho panhandle—locally known as North Idaho, Northern Idaho, or simply the Panhandle—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shoshone. The panhandle is bordered by the state of Washington to the west, Montana to the east, and the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. The Idaho panhandle, along with Eastern Washington, makes up the region known as the Inland Northwest, headed by its largest city, Spokane, Washington.
Flathead Lake is a large natural lake in northwest Montana, United States.
The Flathead River, in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Canadian Rockies to the north of Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Flathead Lake, then after a journey of 158 miles (254 km), empties into the Clark Fork. The river is part of the Columbia River drainage basin, as the Clark Fork is a tributary of the Pend Oreille River, a Columbia River tributary. With a drainage basin extending over 8,795 square miles (22,780 km2) and an average discharge of 11,380 cubic feet per second (322 m3/s), the Flathead is the largest tributary of the Clark Fork and constitutes over half of its flow.
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is a congressionally-designated wilderness area located in Western Montana region of the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall (1901–1939), an early forester in the federal government, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society. In the 1930s while working for the Forest Service, Marshall was largely responsible for designation of large areas to be preserved as roadless within lands administered by the Forest Service; he achieved this through promulgation of various regulations. Formally designated in 1964, the Bob Marshall Wilderness extends for 60 miles (97 km) along the Continental Divide and consists of 1,009,356 acres (4,084.72 km2).
The Swan River is a 95-mile (153 km) long, north-flowing river in western Montana in the United States. The river drains a long isolated valley, known as the Swan Valley, between the Swan Range on the east and the Mission Mountains to the west.
Wild Montana is a grassroots conservation organization founded by a group of Montana outfitters, ranchers, doctors, and friends. The organization is governed by a board of directors from across Montana, working at the local level through seven chapters in Helena, Bozeman, Missoula, Whitefish, Great Falls, Billings, and Butte. Each chapter is governed by a local board of directors. Since 1958, Wild Montana has worked to protect Montana's wilderness, wildlife habitat, and traditional recreation opportunities. The organization was instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act and in the designation of every Wilderness area in the state, like the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Absaroka-Beartooth Wildernesses. It also helped win National Wild and Scenic Rivers System designations for the Missouri and Flathead rivers, and National Monument status for the Upper Missouri River Breaks.
Montana Highway 83 (MT 83) is a 91.118-mile-long (146.640 km) north–south state highway in Flathead, Lake, and Missoula counties in Montana, United States, that connects Montana Highway 200 (MT 200) in Clearwater with Montana Highway 35 (MT 35) on north edge of Bigfork.
Condon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Missoula County, Montana, United States. Located along the Swan River and Montana Highway 83, Condon is situated between the Swan Range to the east and the Mission Mountains to the west, providing ready access to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Mission Mountains Wilderness, respectively. Its population was 285 as of the 2020 United States census, down from 343 in 2010.
The Swan Range is a mountain range in western Montana in the United States. Its peaks typically rise to around 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The range is bounded by the South Fork Flathead River to the east, the Flathead River to the north and northwest, the Swan River to the west, and lie to the southwest of Glacier National Park, just south of the Canada–US border. It runs about 99 miles (159 km) from north-northwest to south-southeast. Major cities near the Swan Range include Kalispell and Bigfork to the northwest, and Seeley Lake on the south.
The Montana Legacy Project is a three-phase purchase of more than 310,000 acres (1,300 km2) of land owned by Plum Creek Timber in northwestern Montana for conservation protection. The land is within the counties of Missoula, Mineral, Lake and Powell.
Placid Lake State Park is a public recreation area located 28 miles (45 km) northeast of Missoula, Montana. The state park sits on 31 acres (13 ha) at the eastern end of Placid Lake that include the lake's outlet to Owl Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater River. The park is known for its scenery, camping, aquatic recreation, and fishing.
Salmon Lake State Park is a public recreation area located approximately 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Missoula, Montana. The state park occupies 42 acres (17 ha) on the eastern side of Salmon Lake in the Clearwater River chain between the Mission and Swan mountain ranges.
Seeley-Swan High School is an American public high school located in Seeley Lake, Montana, United States. It is a part of the Missoula County Public Schools, and the only school in the district that does not lie within the city boundaries of Missoula. The school fluctuates in size from about 90 students to 110 students depending on the year. As of 2014 there were 111 students. This rise and fall of students gives the school the chance to jump back and forth from a class C to a class B school. Seeley-Swan High School gets its name because the Swan Valley residents commute to Seeley for high school. The school is 52 miles from Missoula and 63 from Bigfork. It is located between the Swan Range and Mission Mountains.
The Rice Ridge Fire was a wildfire that burned northeast of Seeley Lake in the Lolo National Forest in Montana in the United States. The fire, which was started by a lightning strike on July 24, 2017, became a megafire on September 3, growing from 40,000 acres (162 km2) to over 100,000 acres (405 km2), at which time it became the nation’s top wildfire priority as of early September 2017. Located north and east of Seeley Lake, Montana, over 700 firefighting personnel were assigned to the blaze, primarily active in a mountainous lodgepole and mixed conifer forest. The fire had burned 155,900 acres (631 km2) and at one point threatened over 1,000 homes in Powell County and Missoula County including the town of Seeley Lake, Montana and areas north of Highway 200, east of Highway 83. Evacuation orders included parts of Powell County north of Montana Highway 200, areas east of Montana Highway 83, and evacuation warnings for other sections of the forest within Missoula County.
