Essex River Access
RM 48.7 · 48.2739° N, 113.6051° W
360° · Terrain360 · Essex Boat Launch
27 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 Bear Creek. Downstream is Paola.
Take the turn off on the north side of Highway 2, 36.5 miles east from the Hungry Horse Ranger Station.
The parking area is packed dirt and fine gravel.
There is no designated accessible parking.
The route from the parking area to the river averages 3 percent grade, steepening to 10.8 percent at its steepest point.
Cross slope, the sideways tilt that matters most in a wheelchair, averages 2.1 percent, with a maximum of 5.9 percent.
The path averages 25 feet wide, narrowing to 25 feet at its tightest.
Underfoot it is 95.9 percent hard, and 4.1 percent soft.
You drop about 11.4 feet on the way down to the water.
The launch itself is vehicle-accessible bank soft soil and sand.
What to watch for, in the survey crew's own words:
Soft substrates at the boat launch could cause vehicles, wheelchair users, or pedestrians to have issues with traction or sinking into the soft ground.
Facilities: Seasonal portable toilet.
Conditions on the Three Forks change quickly. Check the gauge the morning you float.
Wind 2 mph NW Tomorrow
86° 63°
The site
It features a large vehicle parking area on the upper bench above the river, a sandy boat ramp at river level, and several undeveloped camp sites in the surrounding woods.
Access concerns
Recorded verbatim by the FRA field crew
-
Soft substrates at the boat launch could cause vehicles, wheelchair users, or pedestrians to have issues with traction or sinking into the soft ground.
Access-site lens
Launch profile
- FRA access description
- Vehicle-accessible bank Soft soil and sand
- 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
- 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, no curb cuts
- 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
- Scattered
- Informal campsite evidence
- Not assessable from the source imagery
- Use-conflict evidence
- None observed in the source
Recreation profile
- Observed recreation
- None observed
- Water skill interpretation
- Beginner
- Physical ability interpretation
- Moderate
- Wear patterns
- Moderate
- Heavy-use signals
- Bare soil, rutting
- Privacy
- Semi private
360° sequence evidence
Coverage + route
- Assigned coverage
- 27 panoramas across 1 capture session
- Scene roles
- Approach (3) · Launch area (5) · Parking (9) · Transition path (10)
Visible conditions
- Surfaces by scene
- Dirt path (4) · Gravel lot (12) · Gravel path (7) · Natural (3) · Paved path (1)
- Safety classification
- Caution (1) · No visible hazard (26)
Setting + use
- Crowding by scene
- Light (8) · None visible (19)
- Naturalness by scene
- High (25) · Moderate (2)
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
Take the turn off on the north side of US Highway 2, 36.5 miles east of the Hungry Horse Ranger Station.
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