Bitterroot River

The Bitterroot River winds northward for roughly eighty miles through the broad Bitterroot Valley in southwestern Montana. Formed by the confluence of its East and West Forks near Conner, it joins the Clark Fork near Missoula. Framed by the rugged Bitterroot Mountains to the west and the gentler Sapphire Mountains to the east, it meanders across a fertile valley floor lined with cottonwoods and clear gravel beds. The river invites relaxed rafting, kayaking and tubing, while its calm stretches provide outstanding fly fishing for rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout. Wildlife and sweeping mountain vistas enrich every journey on and along the water.