Coal Creek River Access
RM 24.5 · 48.6900° N, 114.1949° W
360° · Terrain360 · Coal Creek Boat Launch
11 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 Polebridge River Access (Downstream). Downstream is Big Creek.
Drive 18.5 miles north from the intersection of the Blankenship and North Fork Roads. Turn right onto the National Forest road immediately before the Coal Creek bridge.
The parking area is packed dirt, gravel.
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 ramp, pebble bar.
What to watch for, in the survey crew's own words:
This site occasionally catches logs and wood floating downstream at high water, which can block or restrict boat access to the launch.
Depending on water levels, users may need to ferry, line, or drag boats through one of the two channels before proceeding downstream.
There are no facilities at this site.
Conditions on the Three Forks change quickly. Check the gauge the morning you float.
Wind 2 mph SSW Tomorrow
91° 60°
The site
Undeveloped river access, with no vault toilet or site improvements. A packed dirt ramp leads to a flat bar of pebbles and small cobbles located on a side channel separated from the main current by an island.
Access concerns
Recorded verbatim by the FRA field crew
-
This site occasionally catches logs and wood floating downstream at high water, which can block or restrict boat access to the launch.
-
Depending on water levels, users may need to ferry, line, or drag boats through one of the two channels before proceeding downstream.
Access-site lens
Launch profile
- FRA access description
- Vehicle-accessible bar Packed dirt ramp, pebble bar
- Kayaks + canoes
- Good
- Paddleboards
- Good
- Carry terrain
- Flat unpaved
Safety + condition
- Safety interpretation
- Fair
- Overall condition
- Fair
- Access hazards
- Unstable footing · Submerged hazards likely
- Water obstacles
- Logs, debris
- 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, no curb cuts, 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 observed
- Registration infrastructure
- None identified in the source sheet
Experience indicators
- Setting
- Undeveloped
- Recreation character
- Natural free flowing
- Development in view
- None
- Social trails
- Not observed
- Informal campsite evidence
- Not observed
- Use-conflict evidence
- None observed in the source
Recreation profile
- Observed recreation
- None observed
- Water skill interpretation
- Varies by conditions
- Physical ability interpretation
- Moderate
- Wear patterns
- Light
- Heavy-use signals
- None observed in the source
- Privacy
- Secluded
360° sequence evidence
Coverage + route
- Assigned coverage
- 11 panoramas across 1 capture session
- Scene roles
- Approach (3) · Launch area (3) · Parking (3) · Transition path (2)
Visible conditions
- Surfaces by scene
- Dirt path (6) · Gravel lot (5)
- Safety classification
- Caution (2) · No visible hazard (9)
Setting + use
- Crowding by scene
- None visible (11)
- Naturalness by scene
- High (11)
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
Drive 18.5 miles north on the North Fork Road from its intersection with Blankenship Road, then turn right onto the National Forest road immediately before the Coal Creek bridge.
Site statistics currently unavailable FRA adds measurements as staff and volunteers complete them.
View the survey sheet
Ford
RM 44 · 3,712 ft
Scene 12 · at the water
Polebridge River Access (Upstream)
RM 33.9 · 3,544 ft
Scene 11 · at the water
Coal Creek
RM 24.5 · 3,419 ft
Scene 10 · at the water
Big Creek
RM 15.3 · 3,313 ft
Scene 9 · at the water
Great Northern Flats
RM 11 · 3,264 ft
Scene 11 · at the water
Glacier Rim
RM 3.8 · 3,152 ft
Scene 16 · 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