RM 24.5 · 48.6900° N, 114.1949° W

360° · Terrain360 · Coal Creek Boat Launch

Measured in the field by FRA

The Flathead Rivers Alliance has published an access sheet for this launch, and it says the engineering statistics are not available yet. The 360 imagery is the best picture of what you will find.

Coal Creek River Access

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

From Flathead Rivers Alliance

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.

Photographs

Terrain360 · July 2026

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.

Open in maps

Access site lens

Supporting evidence · FRA access sheet · Jul 2026 + 11 Terrain360 panoramas

Launch profile

FRA access description: Vehicle-accessible bar Packed dirt ramp, pebble bar
Kayaks + canoes: Good
Carry to the water: Under 50 ft
Carry terrain: Flat unpaved
Carry obstacles: Rocks

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

Mobility device interpretation: Not suitable
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

Hazards observed

Standing water on travel path Scene 6

Where this information comes from

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.

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Read the transcript

Coal Creek, on the North Fork of the Flathead, at river mile 24.5.

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 the 360 imagery shows, from the 11 panoramas photographed here in July 2026. These are observations from the pictures, not field measurements.

Underfoot, the scenes mostly show a dirt path and a gravel parking lot.

Noted in individual panoramas: standing water on travel path.

The setting reads as natural throughout the sequence, with little or no visible use.

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.

Parking + facilities

No facilities
Packed dirt, gravel parking
No designated accessible parking
No accessible route to the water

Safety

The next take-out downstream is Big Creek, 9.2 miles. Conditions change rapidly on all three forks.

Upstream and downstream access points

The river flows this way →

Upstream · RM 33.8 ← Polebridge River Access (Downstream)

COAL CREEK
RM 24.5 · you are here

Downstream · RM 15.3 Big Creek →

‹ Upstream put-in Polebridge River Access (Downstream) 9.3 mi float · 14.2 ft min tread

Downstream take-out › Big Creek River Access 9.2 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