Bull River (Clark Fork / Montana)

The Bull River winds through northwestern Montana as a scenic tributary of the Clark Fork, rising in the rugged Cabinet Mountains Wilderness and flowing roughly twenty-five miles past Bull Lake through lush meadows, dense cedar forests and timbered bottoms before entering a narrow canyon and joining the Clark Fork at Cabinet Gorge Reservoir. Framed by steep mountain slopes that rise nearly nine thousand feet and nourished by the region’s high rainfall, the valley offers a quiet, forested landscape ideal for outdoor recreation. Anglers find rewarding waters holding rainbow, cutthroat, brown and bull trout, while paddlers enjoy mostly gentle floats with a short stretch of livelier whitewater near the lower canyon. Hiking trails lead into the surrounding wilderness, campsites near the confluence provide easy river access, and the clear waters invite swimming and wildlife viewing in a remote yet accessible corner of Montana’s north woods.