MM= Mileage Marker signs
MM 129: Whitefish Lake State Park. 1.1 miles from Highway 93 in the town of Whitefish. Shaded
and beautiful, the campground is close to a golf course as well!
MM 132: Tally Lake See MM 139.
MM 135: Beaver Lake: Four miles
Little Beaver Lake, Murray Lake, Rainbow Lake, Woods Lake, Dollar Lake
Beaver Lake is
a beautiful lake with just a small turn-around provided by the state. The lake
is bordered by private property. The access site has one picnic site. Canoeists
will have to slide their canoes down an embankment to the lake. Beaver Lake is
a popular lake for rainbows. Coming into the area, you will find a sign showing
the location of all of the little lakes. The roads are bumpy and narrow, and
some of them, like the road to Little Beaver Lake, definitely need the high
clearance of a truck. Little Beaver Lake has one public access spot to launch a
boat, but you will probably need a 4X4 vehicle, especially in the early summer.
I personally
would pass up Little Beaver Lake, as the last two-tenths of a mile is on a
rutted, boggy road, and when I pulled up to the lake there were already two
families camped in a one-family site. I walked down to Dollar Lake and met a
teenage boy and his friend who said the lake has always fished well for them,
but some of the lakes have been over-populated with Flathead minnows and as
such are scheduled for rehabilitation. I would stick with Beaver Lake if you
have a car-topper boat, a canoe or a belly boat.
MM 139: Tally Lake Campground, Sheppard Creek, Sylvia Lake
Campground. Take the Star Meadow
road about 10 miles to the turn-off to Tally Lake. Tally Lake is a large
1,300-acre lake, and it is the deepest lake in Montana at 492 feet. Tally Lake
is a recreation lake and popular with water skiers. The campground is on the
north shore and has 39 campsites, water, toilets, and boat launch as well as an
RV dump station and a swimming area. Fee area.
If you continue
to Star Meadows, consult the Flathead National Forest Visitor's Map for
mileage.
Sheppard Lake and Sylvia Lake. On the way to Sylvia Lake,
you will pass Sheppard Creek, a brushy little creek holding typical creek-size
trout. Sylvia Lake is a 20-acre lake, and it is stocked with grayling.
MM 144.2: Good Creek, Martin Lake, access to the Stillwater River. The
road to Good Creek is an easy drive to a good creek. At four-tenths of a mile,
you will cross a bridge over the Stillwater River, which provides fishing
access. At 3.2 miles there is a turn-off road to Martin Lake, which is a fair
fishing lake for smaller rainbows. The pavement ends at 6.1 miles, and there is
a turn-off to Star Meadows at 15 miles and Sylvia Lake at 23 miles.
At 8.6 miles
Good Creek is not visible, but the distance to the creek is less than a mile.
At mile 9.3 you will have your first sighting of the creek. Further up the road
the creek meanders through thick willow and tag alder. The creek holds lots of
small brook trout and cutthroats.
MM 145.6: Upper Whitefish Lake and Red Meadow Lake. Both lakes can be driven to on a fairly
good dirt road. The first lake, Upper Whitefish Lake, is 13.5 miles.
Upper Whitefish
Lake is in the Stillwater State Forest and offers a campground and fishing for
small cutthroats. Red Meadow Lake is about six miles further and offers camping
on a picturesque 19-acre lake, which provides fair fishing for cutthroats and
grayling.
MM 151.5: Upper Stillwater Lake and Lagoni Lake. Upper Stillwater Lake is unseen from
the highway, but it is only 1.3 miles away. This 630-acre lake offers a
campground and fair fishing for brook trout, pike, perch and the occasional
cutthroat. Above Upper Stillwater Lake is Lagoni Lake, a small 20-acre lake
offering the same type of fishing.
MM 158.8: Bull Lake and Stryker Lake (Fish Lake). Both lakes lie side-by-side just a few
miles from the community of Stryker and offer good fishing for cutthroat and
brook trout. These are native trout, but be sure you have a Montana State Land
Permit before you fish!
MM 159.8: Picnic spot on South Dickey Lake Day use only.
MM 161: Dickey Lake
Dickey Lake is
a summer recreation lake with a potpourri of species offerings, none of which
get very big.
MM 163.3: Dickey Lake Campground
25 campsites,
50-foot trailer spaces, toilets, water, boat launch, fee area.
MM 165.1: Murphy Lake Ranger Station
MM 165.8: Murphy Lake
Murphy Lake is
a popular 163-acre, warm-water fishery for largemouth bass, perch and pike.
Murphy Lake also offers camping.
MM 170.2: Grave Creek and Campground, Blue Sky Creek, Weasel Lake,
Therriault Lakes (Little and Big) and the Ten Lakes Scenic Area
For fishermen
and campers in the Eureka area, this is your access! Grave Creek has the
largest volume of water of any creek in the area. Just a few miles from the
highway, Grave Creek Campground offers a number of campsites right on the
creek, but the campground is not practical for larger RVs or trailers. In fact,
I found only three sites suitable for smaller trailers. The short access road
into the campground makes a tight turn, and the road is bumpy. Grave Creek, a
tributary of the Tobacco River, is a good fishing creek for 10- to 12-inch
rainbows and cutthroats. The bottom section is private, and there is a small
area of private land near the campground, but above the campground is National
Forest land with a number of miles of creek to fish.
Above Grave
Creek is Blue Sky Creek, a tributary of Grave Creek. The creek is small and the
small fish are plentiful, but the creek is closed to protect spawning runs of
cutthroats and bulls as of July 31. Before you reach Therriault Lakes, the road
goes by Weasel Lake. Weasel Lake is a pretty little lake with small fish.
Therriault
Lakes are about 28 miles from the highway. Both lakes offer camping and good
fishing for 10- to 12-inch cutthroats. The big lake is 55 acres, and the
smaller lake 26 acres. Little Therriault Lake is the trailhead for the Ten
Lakes Scenic Area.
When I spoke to
Bill Myra, owner of Green Mountain Sports Center in Eureka, Bill became
passionate in describing the Ten Lakes Area. Having spoken about my home waters
with the same enthusiasm, I know I will have to spend a couple of days
exploring the region on my next trip. Bill said to plan on a full day hike to
these high-elevation lakes, where you can expect great beauty and feisty 10- to
12-inch native trout. Some of the lakes are barren, so you might want to check
in with Bill to plan your hike.
