Blankenship River Access (West)
RM 9.5 · 48.4653° N, 114.0724° W
360° · Terrain360 · Blankenship Boat Launch — Bridge & Campground
20 scenes
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A narrated walk-through of this site: the ramp, the gaps, the surfaces, and the hazards, read from the survey.
Read the transcript
Upstream from here is West Glacier. Downstream is Blankenship River Access (East).
From the Hungry Horse Ranger Station, travel 4.9 miles north on Highway 2. Turn left onto Belton Stg. After 0.9 miles, take a sharp left onto Blankenship Road. In 3.0 miles, take the first right after crossing the bridge.
The parking area is loose cobbles.
There is no designated accessible parking.
The Flathead Rivers Alliance has not published measured survey data for this site yet, so the details that follow come from the site description rather than from field measurements.
The launch itself is vehicle accessible bar packed dirt, cobble bar.
What to watch for, in the survey crew's own words:
At high water, the bar washes out completely and the Forest Service will close the access gate to all users.
Less consolidated substrate than the river left access, and shifting or rutted cobbles can be challenging to navigate.
Few places to easily beach or tie off a boat for launches or take-outs.
There are no facilities at this site.
Conditions on the Three Forks change quickly. Check the gauge the morning you float.
Wind 2 mph NW Tomorrow
86° 63°
The site
Primarily used by shore recreators, but can be used by float users, particularly during busy peak seasons. An extremely rutted county-maintained dirt road leads to a long cobble bar managed by the USFS. High clearance and 4WD capacity is recommended but not necessarily required.
Access concerns
Recorded verbatim by the FRA field crew
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At high water, the bar washes out completely and the Forest Service will close the access gate to all users.
-
Less consolidated substrate than the river left access, and shifting or rutted cobbles can be challenging to navigate.
-
Few places to easily beach or tie off a boat for launches or take-outs.
Access-site lens
Launch profile
- FRA access description
- Vehicle accessible bar Packed dirt, cobble bar
- Kayaks + canoes
- Marginal
- Paddleboards
- Marginal
- Carry terrain
- Flat unpaved
Safety + condition
- Safety interpretation
- Fair
- Overall condition
- Fair
- Access hazards
- Unstable footing · Submerged hazards likely
- Water obstacles
- Rocks
- Deferred maintenance signal
- Not observed
Accessibility observations
- Designated accessible parking
- None
- Route shown in sheet
- Not observed
- Route obstacles
- Rough surface, steep grades
- Observed barriers
- Rough surfaces, steep grades
- Accessible water feature
- Not observed
Visitor management
- Parking estimate
- Not assessable from the source imagery
- Simultaneous launch capacity
- Not assessable from the source imagery
- Launch queue evidence
- None
- Designated camping indicated
- Not assessable from the source imagery
- Registration infrastructure
- None identified in the source sheet
Experience indicators
- Setting
- Semi primitive
- Recreation character
- Lightly managed
- Development in view
- Minor
- Social trails
- Isolated
- Informal campsite evidence
- Not observed
- Use-conflict evidence
- None observed in the source
Recreation profile
- Observed recreation
- Fishing shore, wildlife viewing, walking hiking
- Water skill interpretation
- Intermediate
- Physical ability interpretation
- Moderate
- Wear patterns
- Moderate
- Heavy-use signals
- Rutting, bare soil
- Privacy
- Semi private
360° sequence evidence
Coverage + route
- Assigned coverage
- 60 panoramas across 2 capture sessions
- Scene roles
- Approach (8) · Launch area (17) · Parking (2) · Transition path (33)
Visible conditions
- Surfaces by scene
- Dirt path (16) · Gravel lot (18) · Gravel path (7) · Natural (3) · Paved path (16)
- Safety classification
- Caution (8) · No visible hazard (52)
Setting + use
- Crowding by scene
- Light (17) · None visible (43)
- Naturalness by scene
- High (55) · Moderate (5)
Curated RAPG fields are interpreted from the FRA access sheet and its photographs; sequence evidence summarizes only the assigned panoramas. Conditions may extend beyond every photographed view. FRA’s field measurements in the Measured access card remain the authority for access type, grades, widths, surfaces, gaps, and accessible parking.
Photos
Field photography Terrain360, July 2026 · site photos courtesy Flathead Rivers Alliance
Getting there
From the Hungry Horse Ranger Station, travel 4.9 miles north on US Highway 2. Turn left onto Belton Stage Road. After 0.9 miles, take a sharp left onto Blankenship Road. In 3.0 miles, take the first right after crossing the bridge.
Not yet engineering-surveyed FRA adds measurements as staff and volunteers complete them.
View the survey sheet
Bear Creek
RM 53.4 · 3,822 ft
Scene 18 · at the water
Essex
RM 48.7 · 3,704 ft
Scene 26 · at the water
Paola
RM 41.6 · 3,571 ft
Scene 19 · at the water
Cascadilla
RM 30.6 · 3,381 ft
Scene 20 · at the water
Moccasin Creek
RM 23 · 3,281 ft
Scene 29 · at the water
West Glacier
RM 14.9 · 3,150 ft
Scene 22 · at the water
Blankenship River Access (West)
RM 9.5 · 3,101 ft
Blankenship River Access (East)
RM 9.4 · 3,100 ft
Scene 11 · at the water
Elevation sampled from USGS 10m along the Wild & Scenic centerline. Hover or focus a site to see the panorama closest to the water.
The Three Forks flow through the homelands of the Séliš, Ql̓ispé, and Ktunaxa peoples, frequented by the Amskapi Piikani. About the homelands