Upper Missouri River Trip Report, The End

Last Upper Missouri River trip post. I'm sad to see it go already, a good part of the fun is looking at photos afterwards. Before I finish up, some quick details if you're interested in doing the same general trip we did. We recommend the driving route below, for a good dose of varying Montana landscapes.


Leave Redmond 5:00 am
I90 to Missoula, north on 200, then north on 83 to Holland Lake
Next morning, Holland Lake south to 200 then east to 21
east to Great Falls, then north on 87 to Fort Benton
Take care of canoes etc in Fort Benton, north again on 87 to the cutoff dirt road to the river. On the river that evening

Recommended campsites on river

1st night - Little Sandy
2nd night - Dark Butte
3rd night - The Wall

If you don't fancy going 22 miles on the river aftter the first night, split it up by staying an extra night and camp at Eagle Creek before staying at Dark Butte. We will probably do this next time.

4th day off the river at Judith Landing. We were going to camp on the way home, but as soon as we left the river, it started raining and rather than unload and camp in the rain, we just drove straight home to my brothers place in Redmond. Well not straight home, we took the long, scenic route(recommended even if it's raining) Also, if you haven't been to Glacier National Park, you should see it on the way home. We stayed there the year before on our way home and it's worth seeing. This time due to rain, we headed straight home

87 north to Havre, west on 2 to Kalispell, south on 93 to west on 28 to south on 200 to west on 135 to I90 to home

Costs

Holland Lake Campsite $15(camping on the river is free)
Canoe Rental $30 per day We recommend Adventure Bound Canoe
Shuttle service $150(carpool with someone else and split this)
Gas(carpool and split this as well)
Poop Bags $2 per.(illegal to not have poop bags in your canoe- see tips below)

Tips

Stop by the general store in Fort Benton and stock up on water. You're in a canoe so you can. It isn't recommended to even filter the river water due to ag runoff.
Bring raingear just in case(both years no problems during the day, it has rained nights)
Bring mosquito repellent/netting just in case(both years not a problem, but if the river wind dies down, you're toast without them)
Bring a couple poop bags. It is illegal to poop along the river AT ALL unless it's in one of the camp toilets or in a bag you pack out. You can get a hefty fine for NOT HAVING A POOP BAG in your canoe.

We unloaded at The Wall, which is everybody else's favorite site. Partially for the countless birds that inhabit the trees.




Just behind the campsite there is a nice little hike, but you have to cross praire dog town. You can see hundreds of little praire dogs poking thier heads up all across this field and all talking to eachother. Pretty fun.

You can see some of the burrow openings poking up here.



The unpleasant part(mostly for the ladies) is this is also rattlesnake country. There's rumored to be a rattler for every square foot along this river. Where it gets unsettling is that you have to cross this field of knee deep grass to get to the hike.

Trying to decide if it's worth it...





It was generally decided to be worth it and we waded across. Stopping to check a praire dog hole




We successfully navigated, got up the hill and were rewarded with nice views.





Bros



Back to camp in time for dinner






Then we played some cards in the palatial suite




This is a great tent if weight is not an issue




Good times almost made us miss the sunset, scrambled for a camera and just caught the last light




The end.

In case you haven't picked up on it, we heartily endorse this trip. We'll be back at least once a year, and I am happy to answer any questions you may have if you are considering it yourself.

Upper Missouri River Trip Report, part 7

Satisfied with a good amount of exploring, we headed back to camp.





To find gale force winds



Once again, it was nice to have a heavy tailwind, but launching from camp was a bit of work as the wind was pushing hard to keep us on shore.

We paddled hard and once again were cruising








After about a 1/2 hour, the winds died down and we joined back up

Upper Missouri River Trip Report, part 6

The next morning, we slept in a little, but then headed for the hills behind camp.

Upper Missouri River Trip Report, part 5

Our first full day on the river, it is also the longest day - a total of 22 river miles to our next favorite campsite - Dark Butte. You can break this up by camping at any site in between. We recommend Eagle Creek, and will probably do that next time ourselves, I guess there is some great hiking from there.

22 miles of lounging and taking in some great Montana scenes




Stopped occasionally to stretch the legs and explore a bit







Before long we cruised into Dark Butte. Others might disagree, but this is my personal favorite campsite of the river




Camp is right in the cottonwood trees on the right

Upper Missouri River Trip Report, part 4

So it rained ALL NIGHT. We both dig falling asleep all cozy in our bags, with rain beating a tattoo on the tent, but I'm sure we all were thinking the same thing. We made a big mistake to push on...


I woke up about 4:30 and all I could hear were birds chirping. Looked out the tent and was stoked to see that big Montana sky!!






Rise and shine people






There's a short little hill just behind this campsite that we took a nice little jog up. The view was fine, and everybody was jazzed about a perfect day for a river trip.






Once we crested the hill and got about 300 yards down the flat stretch, the breeze that floats along the river died off and we were beset upon by approximately all the mosquitoes in the world. We turned around and headed back to the safety of the river and it's nice gentle breeze.

Breakfast with fine company, on a fine fine morning. I'm sure there are better spots for a tasty breakfast with friends than right here, but none come immediately to mind.




Remember that gentle breeze I mentioned? As we packed up camp, it got robust.




It was nice enough to be heading our direction though, and with the wind at our backs, we were on the way.




It pushed us along at a nice clip for awhile, then died off abruptly and we continued on at a mellower pace.