Bowman Lake and Kintla Lake Campgrounds

[Mtkayaker]

Kintla Campground and Lake are probably the most remote car accessible areas in the park. I think its in part due to the trip up the North Fork road (35+miles) and then the 17 miles in from Polebridge. I made the trip alone in Sept of 07. I soloed with my 17 ft kayak to the back country campsite. Stayed one night, hiked to upper kintla and returned home to Kalispell the next day. It was memorable due to the brillant early fall colors, the big Black bear browsing in a meadow and the incredible solitude. I also experienced the rath of the wind on Kintla in the afternoon. Two foot waves with whitecaps over the bow of my kayak. It was a great ride and lots of fun, but I was happy to get back to quiet end of the lake.

Bowman is also notable for its afternoon winds. I know folks who have abandoned boats and hiked out due to wave conditions. Always be prepared for cold water immersion and wear your PFD on any of the park lakes.

Both Many Glacier and Two Medicine are more accessible for 7 day visits. Don't forget as you drive by Lake McDonald with your canoe that any day paddling on good old Lake McDonald is a good day. If the Sun road isn't open, then Two medicine would be best for camping on the east side of the park. The view in the morning at Two Medicine is hard to beat, anywhere.

[Kathy]

Welcome to the forum, Mtkayaker!!! Always great to have more local folks and draw on their knowledge and experiences!

[July Guy]

Bill. I'll try to post some pictures soon. In the meantime, a few more thoughts:

We really like Bowman Lake for its solitude, as well as its large sites. We like to bring a canoe and paddle as well. As others have mentioned, keep in mind that strong winds can move in quickly on all of Glacier's lakes. If you are trucking along (as we were at Bowman once) with the breeze at your back don't smile too big, because you have to get BACK! We have had wind "challenges" on Bowman Lake, Lake McDonald and Two Medicine Lake. As Ear Mountain said be sure to make a visit(s) to Polebridge and take advantage of the Mercantile, as well as the Saloon. The Northern Lights Saloon is a great place to get dinner, and is about a 30-40 minute drive from the campground at Bowman. The bugs can be thick at Kintla and Bowman at times so be aware of that possibility. We like to bring a cooler up there stocked with sandwich stuff, potato salad, pasta salad and fruit etc. Also freeze dried dinners, so as not to have to deal with the whole cooking issue at all, but that is just our preference.

Two Medicine. One very enjoyable and easy 'combo' is to paddle up to the head of the lake where the boat dock is. Park the canoes there, put on boots/shoes and walk up to twin falls, (or further on up to Upper Two Medicine Lake). Very easy and do-able.

If you stay in Many Glacier there is a nice trip that Ear Mountain mentioned as well. You can paddle to the head of Swiftcurrent Lake, then portage on up to Lake Josephine and canoe there as well. Tremendous views all day long. Last year we paddled 'up the creek' to get to Lake Josephine (up stream) but you won't be able to do it this way as the creek will be flowing higher and faster.

JG

[Ear Mountain]

Had a great time at Kintla Lake this past weekend. I posted a report in the Trip Reports area along with some pics.

[peleebird]

I thought Bowman was kind of busy for a backcountry site. The sites are strung along the trail but due to boat access, the lakefront had way more people than the other bc sites we were in.