Sixmile lookout trail near Swan Lake offer spectacular vistas

Huckleberries and 360 degree views — Sixmile Lookout Trail has everything a Montana summer should.

The lightly used trail is located near Swan Lake. The road to the trailhead is clearly marked from Montana 83, with a Forest Service sign indicating Sixmile creek. (A left turn if you’re heading south.)

About three and a half miles up the dirt road is a turnout on the left for parking and the trail on the right.

You enter into forest and are shaded by tall trees and shrubbery for the first half of the 4.6-mile hike, keeping you cool on a sunny day.

The trail climbs steadily, gaining 3,400 feet in elevation, and at this time of year, is loaded with huckleberries. We encountered the first bushes full of berries maybe a half mile in and they continued to line the trail until the last couple miles, where the brush begins to thin and the terrain becomes more rocky.

You pass through several sections made jungle-like with raspberry bushes, which didn’t yet have much in the way of ripe fruit.

After a steady three-mile climb, the trees open up and you are treated to the first of the spectacular views, of Hall Peak and the Swan Valley.

Before the final push to the top the trail intersects Alpine trail 7, which spans almost 55 miles from Columbia Mountain to Inspiration Point, offering more ambitious hikers options to extend their journey.

The final climb to the top is rocky, and it’s worth spending some time taking in the views. You can see Swan and Flathead lakes, the Swan Valley, into the Jewel Basin and across to the Hungry Horse Reservoir.

Even with smoke still hanging in the valley, the views are breathtaking.