RM 58 · 49.0006° N, 114.4760° W

Satellite · Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics

360° capture coming

Street View ZERO_RESULTS within 400m (checked 2026-07-23) — no GSV up the North Fork Road. Use story-map photo card; capture on a future trip.

Measured in the field by FRA

36.0%

steepest grade on the route to the water

Parking area to the water

Max grade: 36.00%
Max cross slope: 6.80%
Min tread width: 5.9ft
Hard surface: 100.0%

Canadian Border River Access

The first access point for the Wild and Scenic North Fork Flathead River. It is a violation of border policy to float through the US/Canadian border without specific permission from Tribal governance

The survey

FRA field survey

Measurement	Average	Worst case
Running grade	8.30%	36.00%
Cross slope	1.50%	6.80%
Tread width	6.3ft	5.9ft
Elevation change, parking to water	+2.1ft	-11.4ft

Surface, parking area to river 100% hard

View the original survey sheet

Access concerns

Verbatim from the survey

Ramp accesses a side channel, requiring a swift entry at high water and some pulling or dragging at medium flows.
At low water, an uneven, user-created dam of boulders or a 2-3 ft deep wade is required before users carry float craft to the main channel.

Photographs

Terrain360 · July 2026

Field photography Terrain360, July 2026 · site photos courtesy Flathead Rivers Alliance

Getting there

Drive 46.9 miles north on the North Fork Road from its intersection with Blankenship Road outside Columbia Falls.

Open in maps

Access site lens

Supporting evidence · FRA access sheet · Jul 2026

Derived from the 360 imagery, not measured on site. Where it disagrees with the survey above, the survey is correct.

Launch profile

FRA access description: Slide/rails, boulder “stepping stones,” cobble bar ~16° angle, 18-40” tall
Kayaks + canoes: Marginal
Paddleboards: Marginal
Carry to the water: 150–300 ft
Carry terrain: Flat unpaved
Carry obstacles: Rocks, mud

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

Mobility device interpretation: Not suitable
Designated accessible parking: None
Route shown in sheet: Not observed
Route obstacles: Steep grades, rough surface
Observed barriers: Steep grades, rough surfaces, no curb cuts
Accessible water feature: Not observed

Visitor management

Parking estimate: Not assessable from the source imagery
Simultaneous launch capacity: Single
Launch queue evidence: None
Designated camping indicated: Not observed
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: Paddling, fishing shore, wildlife viewing
Water skill interpretation: Intermediate
Physical ability interpretation: Moderate
Wear patterns: Light
Heavy-use signals: Bare soil
Privacy: Secluded

Curated RAPG fields are interpreted from the FRA access sheet and its photographs. Conditions may extend beyond the photographed views. FRA’s field measurements in the Measured access card remain the authority for access type, grades, widths, surfaces, gaps, and accessible parking.

You are here Open the full map

Audio description

A narrated walk-through of this site: the ramp, the gaps, the surfaces, and the hazards, read from the survey and the 360 imagery.

0:00 / 0:00

Read the transcript

Canadian Border, on the North Fork of the Flathead, at river mile 58.

Downstream from here is Ford.

Upstream: Transboundary Flathead and headwaters in British Columbia, Canada.

The international crossing at this access is closed. Plan your float on the U.S. side of the boundary.

Drive 46.9 miles north from the intersection of the Blankenship and North Fork Roads outside of Columbia Falls.

The parking area is packed dirt.

There is no designated accessible parking.

The route from the parking area to the river averages 8.3 percent grade, steepening to 36 percent at its steepest point.

Cross slope, the sideways tilt that matters most in a wheelchair, averages 1.5 percent, with a maximum of 6.8 percent.

The path averages 6.3 feet wide, narrowing to 5.9 feet at its tightest.

Underfoot it is 100 percent hard.

You drop about 11.4 feet on the way down to the water.

The launch itself is slide and rails, boulder “stepping stones,” cobble bar ~16° angle, 18-40” tall.

What to watch for, in the survey crew's own words:

Ramp accesses a side channel, requiring a swift entry at high water and some pulling or dragging at medium flows.

At low water, an uneven, user-created dam of boulders or a 2-3 feet deep wade is required before users carry float craft to the main channel.

Facilities: Vault toilet.

This site has not been photographed in 360 yet, so there is no immersive imagery to accompany this description.

Conditions on the Three Forks change quickly. Check the gauge the morning you float.

Parking + facilities

Vault toilet
Packed dirt parking
No designated accessible parking
No accessible route to the water

Safety

The next take-out downstream is Ford, 14 miles. Conditions change rapidly on all three forks.

Neighbor sites

The river flows this way →

Upstream · Transboundary Flathead and headwaters in British Columbia, Canada

CANADIAN BORDER
RM 58 · you are here

Downstream · RM 44 Ford →

The international crossing at this access is closed. Plan your float on the U.S. side of the boundary. FRA Canadian Border access sheet.

Upstream Transboundary Flathead and headwaters in British Columbia, Canada

Downstream take-out › Ford River Access 14 mi float · 6 ft min tread

North Fork · where this site sits

3,973 ft RM 58.2 872 ft of drop · 14.9 ft per mile average 3,102 ft confluence

Elevation sampled from USGS 10m along the Wild & Scenic centerline. Hover or focus a site to see the panorama closest to the water.

Homelands

The river system flows through the traditional homelands of the Ql'ispe (Kalispel or Pend d' Orielle) Ktunaxa/Ksanka (Kootenai), and Séliš (Salish or "Flathead") Nations, who have long cared for this landscape, and the Amskapii Pikuni (Blackfeet) Peoples who often traveled in the river corridor.

About the homelands FRA's own acknowledgment language appears here verbatim.