3 Best Sights in Kalispell, Missoula, and Northwest Montana, Montana

Information on the Bob Marshall Wilderness is available through the Flathead National Forest website or office, which have maps, listings of outfitters and access points, and safety information about travel in bear country.

Hamilton, like Stevensville and Darby, is on the doorstep of the 1.3-million-acre Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area and is not far from the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness Area to the east. Hundreds of miles of trails wend through the forests, where visitors may encounter bears, elk, moose, deer, and bighorn sheep. There are also songbirds and birds of prey such as eagles and owls.

At the end of a long and often washboarded gravel road, Spotted Bear is a remote entrance into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. You'll find there a ranger station, outfitter's ranch, campground, swimming, and rafting a short distance down the South Fork of the Flathead River to the Hungry Horse Reservoir.