Missoula River Lodge

Missoula River Lodge guides full-day floats on the Blackfoot, Bitterroot, and Clark Fork rivers, all launched from its Huson base west of Missoula. On the Blackfoot, trips run either the upper twelve miles through Box Canyon, prized for its trout density, or the lower forty-eight miles past ponderosa pine banks and through several whitewater chutes. Bitterroot floats are split into three stretches: the upper river above Hamilton, where trout density can top 1,700 fish per mile; the middle section from Hamilton to Florence; and the lower river from Florence to Kelly Island, known for long, slow glides over pea gravel. On the Clark Fork, guides raft the upper water and switch to skiff-style drift boats downstream of Missoula. Target species include westslope cutthroat in upper reaches, brown trout in middle sections, and rainbow trout lower down, with an outside chance at bull trout. Dry fly season opens in March with skwala stoneflies and runs through October blue-winged olives, with salmonflies, green drakes, and spruce moths filling the summer months.