High water gate closed at Blankenship

The Flathead National Forest has closed the new gate at the Blankenship Bridge until spring runoff subsides. Once the water goes down the gate will be opened, allowing people to access the area with motor vehicles.

Flathead County recently permitted the Forest Service to install a gate in the county-right-way on the southwest side of the bridge.

The gate restricts motorized access to the gravel bar south of the bridge, which has proven popular with some campers as a free way to camp.

But at high water, people were routinely getting stuck in the river. Most notably a private bus got stuck in the water in the spring of 2021, and there have been many instances since.

Motorized camping on gravel bars in the Flathead’s Wild and Scenic system could be coming to an end altogether in the coming years.

The proposed action for the Comprehensive River Management plan calls for no motorized camping on any of the system’s gravel bars in order to protect the rivers. The plan would allow for driving across bars to launch or retrieve boats and other watercraft. A draft of the plan is due out later this summer and it could be finalized by next year.

Blankenship isn’t the only gravel bar popular with campers. There’s also places up the North Fork of the Flathead as well as up the Middle Fork of the Flathead where people drive out onto the bars and camp.

While it may look idyllic, critics worry about impacts from vehicles leaking oil and other fluids into the gravel, as well as human waste.