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Milk River Montana
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About the Milk River Captain Merriweather Lewis wrote: "The water of this river is about the colour of a cup of tea with a teaspoon of milk," and from this observation he chose the name for this longest tributary of the Missouri River. The Milk River parallels the Great Northern Railroad and U.S. Highway 2 for almost 200 miles. The Milk River shares a floodplain with the Missouri River, one which the Missouri carved out. The headwaters of the Milk River are in Glacier National Park and the river enters Canada north of Cut Bank, Montana and returns to Montana after a 100 mile loop. The milky color of the water is from fine sand picked up at a deep gorge near Writing-on-the-Stone Provincial Park in Alberta. Some have said that the water is so muddy you can see deer tracks floating by. From the confluence of the Middle and South Forks of the Milk near Browning, Montana the river flows for 437 miles (21 reservoir miles) to the Missouri River near Glasgow and Fort Peck. A Class 1 river the entire length and suitable for beginner boaters except at high flows. http://gateway.cd.gov.ab.ca/siteinformation.aspx?id=177 http://milkriver.ca/tourism/camping-sightseeing/writing-on-stone-provincial-park http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m10d3-Fort-Peck
http://www.browningmontana.com/ http://www.cutbankchamber.com/ http://www.glasgowmt.net/ http://www.travelmt.com/mt-cities-Fort+Peck.html http://www.fortpecktribes.org/ http://www.ftbelknap-nsn.gov/ http://www.mahalo.com/blackfoot-tribe
The annual mean flow is 656 cfs near Nashua, Montana and a 200 cfs minimum is needed for boating below Dodson. Hazards are diversion dams, barbed wire fences and mosquitoes. It is never crowded on this river and from Dodson to Vandalia is very popular with the walleye fishermen with walleye over 10 pounds being caught in that stretch. From its origin to the Highway 213 Bridge just before Canada the Milk is very remote and there are clearer waters. http://fwp.mt.gov/fishing/guide/q_Milk_River__1063176480558.aspx http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_283385.aspx
At Fresno Dam on the Milk River
There are 42 species of fish in the Milk River including walleye, sauger, catfish and northern pike. There is some trout fishing below Fresno Dam. Tribal fishing licenses are required when fishing on the Blackfoot, Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Reservations. There are river accesses at Fresno Tailwater FAS west of Havre and at Bjornberg Bridge FAS west of Hinsdale, Montana and at public parks in Hinsdale and Malta. Information on the Milk River in the FAS Field Guide is on page 53. http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Facility.jsp?fac_Name=Fresno%20Dam http://russell.visitmt.com/listings/2011.htm http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AFCQC05010.aspx
Sauger
The Milk River is one of the least explored rivers in Montana. The rough plains along its banks were once covered by glaciers and today there are rolling hills, badlands, low buttes and shallow valleys. Huge buffalo herds roamed this area and were hunted by the Blackfoot Tribe. Lewis and Clark also saw wolves, grizzly bears and elk along the Milk. Today the wildlife viewing is still excellent for deer, raccoon, beaver, mink, great blue herons, sand hill cranes, white pelicans and cormorants and there are over 250 species of birds in the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge. http://www.fws.gov/bowdoin/
Maps: BLM #17 (Saint Mary), BLM #27 (Cut Bank), BLM #47 (Chester), BLM #56 (Havre), BLM #65 (Harlem), BLM #74 (Whitewater), BLM #75 (Malta), BLM #84 (Glasgow); USGS: Cut Bank-MT, Shelby-MT, Havre-MT, Glasgow-MT.
Gregan Wortmann
Link to the first article in the Montana river series: http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m8d3-Stillwater-River-Montana
Some of my source for this travel blog article is from the book Paddling Montana by Hank and Carol Fischer; Falcon Press Helena (1999).
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