A Surprising Stop in Montana at Kootenai Falls

Having spent a day in Spokane to see its waterfront park, It was time to continue our journey on toward Glacier National Park. We had a couple of options of how to get there. I thought we should go there one way and return using a different route. We chose to go north from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and then east toward Kalispell where we were staying.

Our journey north was not too exciting. We did cross over Lake Pend Oreille, and I would have liked to stop and take some photos, but no obvious viewpoints appeared so we continued on to Bonners Ferry. Shortly after passing through Bonners Ferry, we turned east, or actually southeast. We passed through a number of small towns. This was the Kootenai National Forest area, and pine trees would often line the road.

Much of the highway ran close to the Kootenai River. We would see glimpses of it from time to time. It seemed a pretty substantial river. After passing through the town of Troy, I commented to Silvette that I wished there was a scenic overlook somewhere so I could take some photos. Not long after that we saw a sign for Kootenai Falls, and I decided to stop.

We really had no idea what we were stopping to see, but for one thing we needed a break from driving, and for another I needed some photos. We saw signs which indicated the trail to see the falls was not long so we headed out.

After a short walk we came to a scenic overlook of the Kootenai Falls. It was basically a break in the trees. What stood out as I looked down on the falls was the color of the water. From up above it looked like an aqua color, most unusual for a river.

We continued on down a ways and arrived at a bridge enclosed in fencing. The bridge crossed over railroad tracks. The tracks were active as two trains went by while we were visiting. While we entered the bridge directly from the trail, we had to descend three flights of stairs on the other side to get to the trail there.

A short distance later we came to a crossroads. In one direction was the falls. In the other direction was a swinging bridge. The bridge was farther away so we decided to go see it first. It was about a quarter of a mile from the crossroads to the swinging bridge. While the trail wasn’t too steep, it was a pretty rugged trail. Large tree roots as well as large stones and rocks made it slow going, but we eventually made it to the bridge. The bridge was definitely a swinging bridge. People crossed it to explore the other side of the river. I went out to the center to take some photos of the Kootenai River, but we didn’t have time to explore the other side.

After getting back to the crossroads, we headed towards the falls. When we arrived, the falls were really amazing. The water color was green and very clear. There were a number of locations where there were water falls so it wasn’t just one water fall but many. I managed to take a decent video of them. (The post needs to be downloaded to see the video)

Rock ridges running through the river created the Kootenai Falls. Up above the large falls we came to a series of small falls, probably not even considered waterfalls, but they stirred up the water. Since this was September, the water level may have been low. I would imagine that in the spring the falls would be even more spectacular.

There were some shallow places here, and kids were having fun playing in the water. Overall these falls provided an unexpected and beautiful location that we were glad we had stumbled across.

After hiking back up to the parking lot, we continued our journey to Kalispell. We passed three fairly good sized lakes along the way, but again no great spots for photos. We eventually arrived in Kalispell, which turned out to be a larger town than I had anticipated it to be.

After checking in to out hotel, an historic hotel in downtown, we walked through town to go to a Mexican restaurant. There were some really interesting old brick buildings around dating back to the 1800s. We then came to the church corner where a Presbyterian, Lutheran and Catholic church all stood nearby. I wondered where the Methodist and Baptist churches were. The fourth corner had a funeral home.

Tomorrow we begin our adventure through Glacier National Park. Come back next week and read all about it.