Trail Creek Road will close Aug. 22; West Side Reservoir Road reopens

National Forest System Road 114, Trail Creek Road, will be closed starting Aug. 22 for heavy road maintenance. The work will begin three miles west of the Trail Creek and North Fork Road junction on the Flathead National Forest boundary.

The project is anticipated to take up to four weeks to complete. The closure is beyond private residences on the road.

A large heavy piece of equipment, including a mobile rock crushing unit, will be operating on the roadbed and laying a new surface. During this time, it will be impassable to all forms of traffic including hiking, biking, equestrian, and motorized use.

Folks biking the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route will have to find an alternative route.

“The Trail Creek Road has been in rough shape for many years with re-occurring slumps, narrow spots, and deep potholes. This maintenance project is very important not only for improved recreation access to trails in the Tuchuck Mountain area but for egress of North Fork residents,” Hungry Horse/Glacier View District Ranger Rob Davies said. “If a large fire were to cut off routes to the south, the Trail Creek Road provides an escape route for residents needing to evacuate from the northern part of the North Fork area.”

In addition, the West Side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road is now open. It opened last week. It had been closed for more than a month due to slumps caused by heavy rains.

In addition, there is a temporary closure of National Forest System Road 316G (in the vicinity of Canyon Creek area north of Columbia Falls) for logging activities for the month of August.

Updates on the status of these closures will be posted to the Flathead National Forest Facebook page at @discovertheflathead and Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/flathead. Further information and questions can be found by calling the Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger District front desk at (406) 387-3800.