One for the road — Hubbart Reservoir is a drive-and-camp opportunity
The falls and the lake overlook: at Hubbart Reservoir near the headwaters of the Little Bitterroot River are accessible by car or short hikes.
Photo by JOHN STROMNES/Missoulian
By JOHN STROMNES of the Missoulian
HOT SPRINGS - Here's a car-camping trip from Missoula that has something for almost everybody.
It offers lots of sightseeing on seldom-traveled country roads that take you back in time. Or you can fish for kokanee salmon and trout if you are so inclined.
Finally, there is a spectacular vista from an overlook above some mountain lakes and a worm's-eye view of a 140-foot waterfall. Plus there's a little bit of mystery in finding Hidden Lakes after your hike to the bottom of Hidden Falls.
Your fishing and camping destination is actually Hubbart Reservoir northeast of Hot Springs, near the headwaters of the Little Bitterroot River. The falls and the lake overlook are all nearby, accessible by car or short hikes. Getting to the Hidden Lakes themselves requires an arduous scramble down a ravine and through heavy brush.
Last week, my wife Jean and I took the drive up Montana 28 north of Hot Springs and eventually found our way to Hubbart, a 480-acre impoundment surrounded by cliffs and pine forest. It contains plenty of small but catchable rainbow trout and kokanee salmon planted in 2004 and 2005 by the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
A substantial fish kill occurred in 2004, when the reservoir was drained for inspection and repair of the dam at the mouth. But the lake was restocked, and is fishable from shore or from a canoe or small boat using light spinning tackle.
The big problem with Hubbart is how to get there from Missoula without driving all the way to Kalispell. The directions published here worked for us. They came courtesy of Jim Vashro, fisheries manager for FWP's Region 1.
Vashro said Hubbart Reservoir is a popular ice-fishing destination in winter, and hosts anglers, campers and some keg parties most summer weekends at the primitive campsites at the lower end of the reservoir. This is honor-system camping - no toilet facilities, no trash bins, no easily accessible firewood, no supervision. So plan on packing in what you need, and taking your garbage home with you.
There is also a rough-and-ready place to launch a small boat or canoe. The camping area and dam are property of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But the reservoir is well off the Flathead Reservation, so no tribal permits are required. If you fish, you'll need a state fishing license.
Most folks who make the drive to Hubbart do so from Kalispell. At the junction of Highway 2 west of Marion, the drive to the reservoir is only about 10 miles on improved and maintained county dirt roads.
It is also accessible by a Sanders County road off Montana 28 north of Hot Springs. The road is in a remote area of eastern Sanders County, and receives only light use from a few local ranchers and an occasional logging truck.
Here are the road directions from Missoula. Drive north on U.S. Highway 93 to Ravalli, turn west on Montana 200 to Perma. At Perma, cross the Flathead River to Montana Secondary 382 and continue to Montana 28. This junction is three miles south of Hot Springs.
Continue north on Highway 28 about 19 miles to the unsigned junction of the highway with the county road called (and signed as) Niarada Road. Continue a quarter mile on Niarada Road to the unsigned junction with Hubbart Reservoir Road. Turn right onto this road, following it north.
Follow this road north about 11 miles, coming out of the woods to a broad expanse of pasture and open meadow, where you will look for a "Y" intersection with another unmarked road. Proceed 1.4 miles down this new road, and take the right fork down a hill to a newly installed cattle guard. Cross the cattle guard, veer left and down a steep grade. Expect some sizeable ruts as you near the reservoir. It is less than a mile from the cattle guard to the reservoir.
By the time we got to Hubbart, it was shortly before noon. We ate a pleasant lunch on rocks along the shoreline. Even though the reservoir was drawn down several feet for summer, it was still quite a scenic spot. Then we returned to the main county road and drove a few miles upstream (north toward U.S. 2) to seek out Hidden Falls and Hidden Lakes. We found the falls, but the lakes remained hidden from us this trip.
To visit the falls, drive back to the 9-mile marker on the county road you came in on, and make an odometer check. Proceed north toward U.S. 2 approximately 7.1 miles. Turn left at the junction, and then immediately take the small skid trail that forks to the right, driving down a hill in the trees for about two-tenths of a mile.
On your left will be a wooden gate with a foot-traffic passageway and a small (one-pickup-sized) parking area on the downhill side of the road. From the gate, it is a steep but safe five- to 10-minute hike downhill to the top of the falls. Nearing the falls, you may want to tether your children and small pets for safety's sake. The falls drops precipitously about 140 feet on three landings from this high point.
You can hike safely to the bottom of the falls, but it is a treacherous scramble. Take your time going up and back. While no Yosemite or Yellowstone, the view from below up to the falls is quite spectacular.
While Jean enjoyed the view, I tried finding Hidden Lakes by scrambling along the side of the ravine for half an hour through heavy timber and over several rock outcrops. I made little progress and returned to the falls without seeing the lakes. They truthfully are well hidden in the heavily timbered and brushy ravine. I was probably no more than a quarter-mile and 500 feet above them, but still couldn't catch a glimpse. If you do reach them, plan on some typical heavy-brush, beaver-pond fishing. They are planted with native cutthroat.
Most of the land around the reservoir is owned by Plum Creek Timber Co., and ultimately some of it may be developed for sale as recreational homesites. But Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (which owns the dam at Hubbart) and Plum Creek are in negotiations to protect public access to the reservoir itself through easements and cooperative management agreements.
The hope is that this cooperation between the agencies may eventually lead to improved recreational facilities at the reservoir. For now, Hubbart remains a primitive, relaxed, suit-yourself campground of the kind that used to be scattered along rivers, creeks and lakes almost everywhere in Montana 50 years ago.
