13. Swan Valley
Heading south, the drive passes through the village of Bigfork, heads east on Rte. 209, and turns south onto Rte. 83 — a beautiful stretch of road that, for more than 90 miles, parallels the Swan and the Clearwater rivers before terminating at Clearwater Junction nearly due south. Presided over by the stony peaks of the Swan Range to the east and the Mission Range to the west, the highway seems to meld gracefully with the idyllic wilderness that surrounds it. The Swan River National Wildlife Refuge, at the southern tip of Swan Lake, is but one of several pleasant stopping places along the route, and it promises superb wildlife watching. In this undeveloped tract of swampland and lakeshore, keep alert for signs of moose, bears, tundra swans, and bald eagles.
14. Holland Lake
It’s hard to say precisely what makes this small body of water so special. Perhaps it’s the lake’s remoteness; perhaps, too, it’s the unassuming beauty of the place, the utter calm of the lake’s blue surface in the mists of dawn or the blaze of an evening sunset. Located at the edge of the vast Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, Holland Lake also serves as a trailhead for one of the most popular hiking and horseback riding routes into this immense natural reserve. Larger than the state of Rhode Island, “the Bob” (as it is known locally) straddles the Continental Divide and embraces almost 2 million acres of forest.
15. Seeley Lake Area
Flowing south to the Blackfoot, the Clearwater River forms a chain of picture-perfect lakes – Alva, Inez, Seeley, and Salmon – with wide-open views of the Mission and Swan mountains. A unique way to explore the area is by taking the Clearwater Canoe Trail, a three-mile downstream float with a one-mile hike back to the put-in point. Splendid by day, the ride is doubly so at dusk, when loons suffuse the air with their tremulous cries. Farther on, the drive turns west on Rte. 200 at Clearwater. It then returns to Missoula via the Blackfoot River corridor, the locale celebrated in A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean’s memoris of his boyhood in Montana.
Republished from:
Most Scenic Drives in America
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