Ben Rover who built “Ben Rover Cabin” was my grandfather’s older brother. My parents and older brother used to visit there when my brother was a toddler. By the time I was around, he had moved to a veteran’s home in Spokane. Ben was a World War I veteran who had grown up near Kalispell, found Polebridge and loved it. He bought the Mercantile and ran it for several years.
Absolutely right!! Montana was the prettiest place I’ve ever seen in my life. Being a Hispanic I was worried about how the locals would treat us, but the exact opposite. Love you Montanan’s.
Montana is in fact, a Spanish word, it means 'mountain'. Not sure who named the state, as Spanish explorers did not generally come this far north by land, although they were ths far north by sea, reaching Alaska in the late 1700's, there are numerous Spanish names along the Washington State, Alaska, and British Columbia coasts. There is a legend in south--central British Columbia, Canada, that Spanish artifacts were found in the possession of local Indigenous People over a century ago, presumably acquired from a small Spanish expedition that came up by land from northern Mexico in the 1700's, but there is no verification of this.
I do not know where or why you get the idea that the people of Montana would treat you any different than those that have been living there for as long as Montanans have been there. If you were born outside of the United States, I can understand that statement, but on the contrary, if you were from another state in the union, it would be bothersome to know, why you would make a statement like this, especially if you are coming from a progressive state - California, Nevada, Oregon or perhaps, New York- that you make a statment like this. I dont mean to be disparaging to your comment, but I have found people expectations are not what they assumed to be at first sight, on the contrary, it's totally different. I hope you understand my thoghts on this issue, Friend.
Montana elected the first Black mayor West of the Mississippi back in the late 1800's do not believe the crap mainstream media say about people that are not urbanites, they hate rural Americans and never miss a chance to demonize and insult us.
@@jriver64 Montana is just naive when it comes to diversity. The minorities are still very much minorities and so in Montana don't demand and flex dominance. But give it time, they will.
Me and my daughter was in Montana last August visiting Glacier Natl Park for 4 days and we went to Polebridge. Love it. Montana also has some very beautiful lakes.
There is a massive cave system an hour north of Polebridge. One of those caves recently had its metal door ripped off and broken. When I asked the forest service ranger in Hungry Horse if it was Bigfoot, he didn't even blink and answered "maybe".
I have been in those caves many times…Tchuchuch campground is nearby…Even went in the “inner” inner” cave once…Had to inchworm through a culvert that was installed by I am assuming the Forest Circus
When I was stationed in Whitefish, Polbridge was part of our patrol area. There were a number of homes, but no electricity and but one phone on the front of the mercantile store. The mercantile had blocks of ice packed in saw dust in their basement from which the chipped enough each day to keep the cold drinks upstairs. When one entered the store the only thing one could hear was a wall clock ticking off the seconds.
My wife and I were in Polebridge last week (late August of 2022) and it is awesome. We visited the mercantile and it was a cool little store. My wife had a huckleberry bearclaw and loved it. I bought a fresh loaf of jalopeno cheese bread, and just finished it last night. We spent time next door at the Northern Lights bar & grill. The food was great and so was the beer. If your in or near Glacier NP, Polebridge is IMO "a must see". The lady that owns the bar and grill was a pleasure to spend time with. It was on a Friday evening so they had live music. Two guys played and sang bluegrass & country music and really put on a nice show. We had lots of fun and we will be back. We stayed in "fairly" nearby Hungry Horse and the cafe attached to the Sinclair station made great omelettes. I apologize, but I don't recall the name of it.
My favorite road in the entire nation is the norhteast entrance of Yellowstone to Red Lodge. It is very pristine, remote, and you feel like your on top of the world! Absolutely breathtaking!
We stayed at Polebridge last July to visit Glacier. Our cabin owner bought his property in 2016 or so with 12 acres for $250k, his property faces the mountains of Glacier with the Flathead Forest behind him. He built another cabin for $250k that he lives in while renting the other 2 and he said now his property is appraised for $1.5 million. Most beautiful area I ever visited where you feel like you are away from everything. People rely on solar power and propane for power. I love Montana but those long hard winters aren’t for me, lol.
When Tom Ladenburg owned the Polebridge store, they used to have an old crank phone in it. It would give you a shock when you cranked it. My late husband would be coaxed by his father and Tom, to turn the crank. They thought it was so funny when he got a little shock. That was back in 1963.
My Nana was Rose Greene. Did you know her? I know her and my great grandfather Dudley were good friends w the Ladenburgs. My Great grandparents owned the old Haycreek cabin at that time.
Now that everyone and their brother is posting all over youtube about how great MT. is, everybody and their brother( sisters,cousins, uncles.....) are moving here. The infrastructure is being overrun, sewer plants can't handle the increase in load, the traffic issues are getting out of hand ( try to register a new vehicle) and fewer and fewer can afford to live here. "Living in Montana" is loving the state to death.
@@youngtimer964 I reckon, nowhere is easy to live. That's just life but quite a few states have better wage/ cost of living proportion. Greedy billionares & celebrity types are buying out the Big Sky ( Idaho too). I'm a native Montanan who wasn't born with the silver spoon who had to leave the "treasure" state because of the wage/ housing disproportion. It's funny, back in the 70s & 80s MT was the but of jokes but now it's fashionable. Trends come and go. Still visit once a year to get my homeland fix. Parts of OLD MT will always be in my heart.
I am from kentucky and have been to Pole Bridge a few times and fished in Coal Creek ate at the restaurant and shopped at the store went to the road to the sun it is a very special place I hope to get back one day but being 75 I don't know if I will make it we stayed in Kalaspell
Thanks for bringing us your video! I use to live about ten miles up that road from Columbia Falls back in summer of '85 to spring of '86. I use to live close to what is now the Big Creek Outdoors Recreation center, but on the east side of the road. I saw my first salmon run ever in the north fork River from the Camas road bridge. I also had my first bear encounter in October of '85. I was about 50 yards away from it when I had noticed it sitting under a big pine tree. Luckily it didn't seem too interested in me, but I did keep my eye on it until I was far enough away to turn around and hurry my stride. The paved road looks a bit better now than it did back then, so does the gravel road. The whole area appears more touristy now. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.
So glad I ran into your video. Grew up in Whitefish. This brought back memories of Sunday road trips my Dad took us on…many times visiting Polebridge! Hardly anything has changed from the 50s-60’s!
I have never been up to this side of Glacier Park. I have visited the park almost every year into my 20's and on and off through the next decades. My father is from Alberta, Canada so we always made the trek home to see the relatives and also enjoy Glacier National Park. My kids and I were in Glacier last summer, but now I want to go back up and see Bowman Lake. Thank you so much for the video. I am trying to find a way to move to Montana and retire there. :)
Thank you for the tour of Polebridge. Loved your history the stores, business, real estate prices. My love interest is an all state volleyball player so loved that story as well.
I’m a Montanan and disagree. Nice view but it’s a dusty little dirt road town with a tourist store and a saloon. The baked goods are good. The store probably sells more tire flat kits than any other store in Montana. They’ll also sell you a couple gallons of gas so you can get back to civilization. Cute place. Visit but it’s not the most beautiful town in our state.
I also am a Montanan and was thinking the same thing. I live in the Flathead Lake / Mission Mountains area and there is no comparison to this area and Polebridge. All of Montana is nice but Polebridge is not in the upper ten as far as beauty goes.
I was there three weeks ago and saw those same four sheep. They've been there just around Camas road for weeks. Wish FWP would capture them and place them with some adult sheep. Gotta have a Sticky Bun at the Merc! Great tip about not being able to access the park from there. Last year they had to post Rangers full time to redirect RVs cause it was crazy. Saw the biggest griz and single cub a few miles past the Merc on that trip. Bet she weighed 700 lbs or more.
I remember cross country skiing in Glacier in the 90's. Rafting and kayaking the North Fork. Things have changed for sure. Big bear country. Its a part of Glacier not often seen.
I have a son in Spokane. One of his daughters names is Sophie Phillips. Few miles west near the Canada border I found on a contour map a lake name Sophie Lake and a Creek name Phillips Creek. The map had the two names so close together I copied the topo and sent it to him with some photos of Bowman Lake and Kintla Peak area. I told him they were just a few miles east of where his namesake daughter's geographical topo was.
Thanks for your video to the Polebridge area. I've been to Glacier Park numerous times, but never to that side of the park due to the dirt road. Would you recommend a truck or jeep? Your narrative. was appreciated too . . .
Thanks to videos like these, and the flood of out-of-state visitors during the pandemic, you can no longer get near the mercantile in the summer. The small park entrance there was so overwhelmed the last two years that they have now ticketed the entrance. For locals like us, we now avoid it because it is overrun and irrevocably changed. Before you visit Montana, please educate yourself. Travel lightly. Understand that there are wild bear everywhere. That bison will charge you. That our first responders cannot rescue tourists who over-estimate their outdoor skills while continuing in their assigned duties. That you can't just camp, light fires, and leave your garbage wherever seems appealing.
Todd, thanks for thinking that our videos are so good that they have been the cause of the crowds in Polebridge. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Blackfeet Tribe closing the entire east side of the park 2 years ago and funneling everyone to one entrance. I'm also sure that the lockdowns in the big cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland had nothing to do with the crowds either. My wife, who was born in Whitefish, finds it humorous to hear the complaints of people who have recently moved here!
Everybody is going everywhere. Transplants are common in all states When I moved to Wa State in 1982 there was a huge banner over an I5 freeway overpass stating “Out of Staters GO HOME and leave us alone “ Montana still has a very low population count considering how large it is Mi
You don’t own the whole state. Relax. I live in CO (from MT), you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t waste your life worrying about crap you can’t control.
I moved here from California in 2021. I won’t be leaving, and I’m quite enjoying myself. I’m a Conservative, and left CA partially because of the politics. Anyway, your whining is rather pathetic.
We stayed in a cabin north of Polebridge a couple of years ago. Great place for a home base, loved the town and the bakery! Lots of wildlife. Huckleberry bear claws….delicious!
Am I the only one who noticed that it was a color-phase black bear, not a grizzly. Honest mistake, no biggie, just pointing it out. Great video. Beautiful country.
I used to work up past Polebridge in the late ‘70’s. We would go down to the store and get some basic supplies every now and then. They would always have a big wheel of cheddar cheese of which we would always buy a chunk of. I saw it snow every month of the year while living there. Not sure that happens now with climate change.
Very scenic drive, but you need good tires and some ground clearance. During the height of tourist season, the unpaved portions are like driving on a cheese grater.
I lived with my Mom and step-Dad in Libby. My Dad and Step-Mom in Glasgow and Billings. My sister lives in Kalispell. My nephew in Great Falls. I would love to move back to Libby again. It is a shame they had all that espide problems. Love Montana
Was there in 1970 or 71. The actual pole bridge is what we drove over. Never forgot that place. Some of my cousins , two daughters and youngest son have been there Thanks for the great video. Truly is God's country 🥰🏞️
Hey check out the historical plate etc. William Adair. Ha. My name as well. My Brother John Adair almost bought town years ago. In fact he lived in area Whitefish. Love that place been a while since I was there. Great video. Gotta get back there soon.
Thank you, Will! As a fisheries intern with Montana Fish & Game in summer 1977, the bull trout research crew lived and worked out of a tent camp next door (opposite direction from your drive) so we'd spend evenings playing volleyball in front of the Northern Lights Saloon cabin, dodging the rocks, dogs and beers standing on the bare ground (and buying a beer if you knocked one over). The owners of that time gave me my CB handle, "Trapper" as I made a rare phone call to the Polebridge Merc to get a message to camp that one of our cohorts in taking the rig I'd driven with part of the crew hadn't left the keys in the other that he'd driven. Since my daughters got me into a smartphone after I retired from Alaska, ten years ago, I miss those days without so many distractions. Seems we've lost connections with neighbors and neighborhoods, and with God's creation since then...
Ran into a grizzly driving up to pole bridge. my father and brother jumped out of the car with the cameras trying to get pictures I thought I was going to lose them for sure
love u visit if gas ever goes down.........50 yrs ago I drove thru with no daytime speed limit at that time, was doing 115mph and did not realize it ! An old Police Oldsmobile like a 68 maybe....
I was a toddler my folk moved to Montana from Northern California in 1954. We lived in Columbia Falls,And a community outside of there, but lived in Whitefish most of my grade school years then we moved to Oregon in 1962. Beautiful country both states!
Lived in northwest Montana all my life. Went to Polebridge once. Once was enough. The washboard dirt road beats you to death and there's really nothing when you get there. There's much better places to visit in Montana.
Town? Polebridge? Town? lived in Whitefish for 35+ years. no one ever referred to Polebridge as a 'town'. Polebridge is an in Flathead County, Montana, with the best bakery in NW Montana but it is not a 'town'..............
As of this year, the Polebridge entrance to Glacier Park requires an entrance ticket (called a "vehicle reservation") from 6am to 6pm. The ticket is good for one day. You can probably slip through before 6am.
You are right. Kintla Peak is almost as high as Mt. Cleveland just as beautiful. I took the boat ride down Waterton Lakes 6 miles to the base of that majestic mountain, 6,300 feet up right out of the lake. 4,100' to 10,400'. Do the math.
My nephew bought 30 acres of land in fortine Montana. So in the summer of 2021 my nephew and his dad my brother and my son and myself drove out there and we spent five weeks in for time and we actually went to polebridge for a day trip plus a few days in Glacier, beautiful country loved I can't wait to get back out there would love to go out there and be a fishing guide at some point but that's not happening this year hopefully next year I am 57 years old and my son was 19 years old at the time, my nephew is 45 and my brother is 70 a lot of great views never saw a grizzly bear but we did see a big black bear in four-time Saw elk saw deer kapaun deer deer upon deer and all your ground squirrels and we did some great fishing at the Grave Creek between fortine and Eureka, and we didn't end up into a quite a few big bull trout that we released because that the law and they just fought like unbelievable cannot wait to get back out there, the fall is looking pretty good to go out and hunt for Elk or deer and Bear
I'm from Montana, andd if you run in to a road that is paved and then unpaved, it's usually because your leaving one county and entering another, and the county with the dirt road decided not to allocate money to pave the road that is dirt! Each county being responsable for their own roads!
Hi ... I live in Jacksonville Florida about 12 years ,so is getting really expensive here now and im planing to move to Montana or Denver, Colorado.....please can you give me some explanation about Montana is it expensive to live there if you don't mind
It is expensive because so many people from out of state are moving here and trying to turn it into California or Colorado with all their crap policies. If you are rich and from out of state you can afford to buy here but an average family can no longer afford housing here. What is being built here is awful. Take a look at Whitefish Montana. Rows and rows of apartments on top of each other, they call it progress for a town that was once beautiful, quiet and peaceful. People like this guy makes me angry because he is just about making that dollar and selling Montana out
You can also go up to Pole Bridge from Gravescreek Way in Eureka Montana, but to people that don’t live here. This isn’t the ideal place for you to come. Another words we love our state the way it is and we don’t want any outside influence trying to control us.
This was really awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Cheers! ✌️
Best cinnamon roll I ate was from the Mercantile store.
I’ve never been to pole bridge lived here in mt all my life
Ben Rover who built “Ben Rover Cabin” was my grandfather’s older brother. My parents and older brother used to visit there when my brother was a toddler. By the time I was around, he had moved to a veteran’s home in Spokane. Ben was a World War I veteran who had grown up near Kalispell, found Polebridge and loved it. He bought the Mercantile and ran it for several years.
You'd know Hazen Lawson at Square Peg Ranch, I bet.
Absolutely right!! Montana was the prettiest place I’ve ever seen in my life. Being a Hispanic I was worried about how the locals would treat us, but the exact opposite. Love you Montanan’s.
Montana is in fact, a Spanish word, it means 'mountain'. Not sure who named the state, as Spanish explorers did not generally come this far north by land, although they were ths far north by sea, reaching Alaska in the late 1700's, there are numerous Spanish names along the Washington State, Alaska, and British Columbia coasts. There is a legend in south--central British Columbia, Canada, that Spanish artifacts were found in the possession of local Indigenous People over a century ago, presumably acquired from a small Spanish expedition that came up by land from northern Mexico in the 1700's, but there is no verification of this.
I do not know where or why you get the idea that the people of Montana would treat you any different than those that have been living there for as long as Montanans have been there. If you were born outside of the United States, I can understand that statement, but on the contrary, if you were from another state in the union, it would be bothersome to know, why you would make a statement like this, especially if you are coming from a progressive state - California, Nevada, Oregon or perhaps, New York- that you make a statment like this. I dont mean to be disparaging to your comment, but I have found people expectations are not what they assumed to be at first sight, on the contrary, it's totally different. I hope you understand my thoghts on this issue, Friend.
Montana elected the first Black mayor West of the Mississippi back in the late 1800's do not believe the crap mainstream media say about people that are not urbanites, they hate rural Americans and never miss a chance to demonize and insult us.
@@jriver64 Montana is just naive when it comes to diversity. The minorities are still very much minorities and so in Montana don't demand and flex dominance. But give it time, they will.
Wow, CFs has changed a lot. Pole bridge is a good get away place. So many memories living in CFs. Thanks for the journey.
Beautiful spot, but BRUTAL in Winter.
ha ha ha
A Montana winter is what Arizona was invented for!
Yes it was. We had over 4 feet of snow in the valley when I was there back in '85-'86.
Me and my daughter was in Montana last August visiting Glacier Natl Park for 4 days and we went to Polebridge. Love it. Montana also has some very beautiful lakes.
There is a massive cave system an hour north of Polebridge. One of those caves recently had its metal door ripped off and broken. When I asked the forest service ranger in Hungry Horse if it was Bigfoot, he didn't even blink and answered "maybe".
I have been in those caves many times…Tchuchuch campground is nearby…Even went in the “inner” inner” cave once…Had to inchworm through a culvert that was installed by I am assuming the Forest Circus
Actually there are several caves up the Northfork. A lot are hard to reach. Some are flooded or just too muddy.
When I was stationed in Whitefish, Polbridge was part of our patrol area. There were a number of homes, but no electricity and but one phone on the front of the mercantile store. The mercantile had blocks of ice packed in saw dust in their basement from which the chipped enough each day to keep the cold drinks upstairs. When one entered the store the only thing one could hear was a wall clock ticking off the seconds.
Cool, NPS or Forest Service?
I have family in Polson, this road trip looks right up my alley. Awesome, off the grid will be the new normal.
My grandpa was a ranger at kintla lake for 30 years oldest serving park ranger ever he left in 2017 98 years old
I have years and years of memories
We met your Grandpa a few times, what a great man!
@@LivinginMontana1 he is still alive 102
💝
I knew your grandfather. He was a nice man.
Been coming to Polebridge for years! Best bakery anywhere. Huckleberry is the magic word here. Enjoy but please don't spoil.
My wife and I were in Polebridge last week (late August of 2022) and it is awesome. We visited the mercantile and it was a cool little store. My wife had a huckleberry bearclaw and loved it. I bought a fresh loaf of jalopeno cheese bread, and just finished it last night. We spent time next door at the Northern Lights bar & grill. The food was great and so was the beer. If your in or near Glacier NP, Polebridge is IMO "a must see". The lady that owns the bar and grill was a pleasure to spend time with. It was on a Friday evening so they had live music. Two guys played and sang bluegrass & country music and really put on a nice show. We had lots of fun and we will be back. We stayed in "fairly" nearby Hungry Horse and the cafe attached to the Sinclair station made great omelettes. I apologize, but I don't recall the name of it.
Spent every summer of my childhood there. Best memories ever! My great grandparents owned the old Haycreek Cabin.
You might have known of Hazen Lawson from Square Peg Ranch.
Just spent time in Montana...BEAUTIFUL!!! Red Lodge is a cute little town. Lots of open roads in Montana!!!
My favorite road in the entire nation is the norhteast entrance of Yellowstone to Red Lodge. It is very pristine, remote, and you feel like your on top of the world! Absolutely breathtaking!
We stayed at Polebridge last July to visit Glacier. Our cabin owner bought his property in 2016 or so with 12 acres for $250k, his property faces the mountains of Glacier with the Flathead Forest behind him. He built another cabin for $250k that he lives in while renting the other 2 and he said now his property is appraised for $1.5 million. Most beautiful area I ever visited where you feel like you are away from everything. People rely on solar power and propane for power. I love Montana but those long hard winters aren’t for me, lol.
That was not a grizzly it’s cinnamon Black bear
A Grizzly is much larger and head is shaped differently in the nose area
Yep. An unblack black bear.
I told my wife the same thing while watching the video. I said “I’m going to the comments to see if anyone else says the same thing!” 😂
When Tom Ladenburg owned the Polebridge store, they used to have an old crank phone in it. It would give you a shock when you cranked it. My late husband would be coaxed by his father and Tom, to turn the crank. They thought it was so funny when he got a little shock. That was back in 1963.
My Nana was Rose Greene. Did you know her? I know her and my great grandfather Dudley were good friends w the Ladenburgs. My Great grandparents owned the old Haycreek cabin at that time.
PS I spent every summer of my childhood up there, and I remember that phone! Lol
Now that everyone and their brother is posting all over youtube about how great MT. is, everybody and their brother( sisters,cousins, uncles.....) are moving here. The infrastructure is being overrun, sewer plants can't handle the increase in load, the traffic issues are getting out of hand ( try to register a new vehicle) and fewer and fewer can afford to live here.
"Living in Montana" is loving the state to death.
Does that mean it’s getting easier to live in other states? If so, I’m not hearing about it.
Maybe you didn't have all information needed to register your vehicle.
@@youngtimer964 I reckon, nowhere is easy to live. That's just life but quite a few states have better wage/ cost of living proportion. Greedy billionares & celebrity types are buying out the Big Sky ( Idaho too). I'm a native Montanan who wasn't born with the silver spoon who had to leave the "treasure" state because of the wage/ housing disproportion. It's funny, back in the 70s & 80s MT was the but of jokes but now it's fashionable. Trends come and go. Still visit once a year to get my homeland fix. Parts of OLD MT will always be in my heart.
Do you have a video on Victor, Montana. A friend lives there and he and wifey just love it....
Poll bridge is a great little junction, on the way to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Bowman Lake... Thank you for the video.
And the coldest! I actually swam in that freezing cold Bowman Lake.
Thanks!
I am from kentucky and have been to Pole Bridge a few times and fished in Coal Creek ate at the restaurant and shopped at the store went to the road to the sun it is a very special place I hope to get back one day but being 75 I don't know if I will make it we stayed in Kalaspell
If you fished Coal Cr. in the last 45 years you were breaking the law.
In the 1970's Coal Creek was CLOSED to fishing. Not sure about when you were there.
Thanks for bringing us your video! I use to live about ten miles up that road from Columbia Falls back in summer of '85 to spring of '86. I use to live close to what is now the Big Creek Outdoors Recreation center, but on the east side of the road.
I saw my first salmon run ever in the north fork River from the Camas road bridge. I also had my first bear encounter in October of '85. I was about 50 yards away from it when I had noticed it sitting under a big pine tree. Luckily it didn't seem too interested in me, but I did keep my eye on it until I was far enough away to turn around and hurry my stride. The paved road looks a bit better now than it did back then, so does the gravel road. The whole area appears more touristy now.
Thanks for taking me down memory lane.
Me too! My uncle used to own the Conoco station on hwy 2 in C.F. My family is still there.
Montana is a beautiful state. I would love to live there but my research shows the property is too costly
You're right seems to be alot of ranches for sale? Wonder why?
Property costs all across Montana are unbelievable! Definitely for very wealthy people.
Buy in winter as prices drop except n ski country
So glad I ran into your video. Grew up in Whitefish. This brought back memories of Sunday road trips my Dad took us on…many times visiting Polebridge! Hardly anything has changed from the 50s-60’s!
I have never been up to this side of Glacier Park. I have visited the park almost every year into my 20's and on and off through the next decades. My father is from Alberta, Canada so we always made the trek home to see the relatives and also enjoy Glacier National Park. My kids and I were in Glacier last summer, but now I want to go back up and see Bowman Lake. Thank you so much for the video. I am trying to find a way to move to Montana and retire there. :)
So beautiful. West glacier is beautiful too.
Thank you for the tour of Polebridge. Loved your history the stores, business, real estate prices. My love interest is an all state volleyball player so loved that story as well.
I’m a Montanan and disagree. Nice view but it’s a dusty little dirt road town with a tourist store and a saloon.
The baked goods are good. The store probably sells more tire flat kits than any other store in Montana.
They’ll also sell you a couple gallons of gas so you can get back to civilization.
Cute place. Visit but it’s not the most beautiful town in our state.
Beautiful country. I lived in absorkee in the 80's. It was a short drive to red lodge. Loved the fishing.
Plains, MT is a beautiful area. So are the Mission Mountains.
I also am a Montanan and was thinking the same thing. I live in the Flathead Lake / Mission Mountains area and there is no comparison to this area and Polebridge. All of Montana is nice but Polebridge is not in the upper ten as far as beauty goes.
I will add that Polson is the most beautiful that I’ve seen. Flathead Lake makes it absolutely stunning.
I was there three weeks ago and saw those same four sheep. They've been there just around Camas road for weeks. Wish FWP would capture them and place them with some adult sheep. Gotta have a Sticky Bun at the Merc! Great tip about not being able to access the park from there. Last year they had to post Rangers full time to redirect RVs cause it was crazy. Saw the biggest griz and single cub a few miles past the Merc on that trip. Bet she weighed 700 lbs or more.
I remember cross country skiing in Glacier in the 90's. Rafting and kayaking the North Fork. Things have changed for sure. Big bear country. Its a part of Glacier not often seen.
I have a son in Spokane. One of his daughters names is Sophie Phillips. Few miles west near the Canada border I found on a contour map a lake name Sophie Lake and a Creek name Phillips Creek. The map had the two names so close together I copied the topo and sent it to him with some photos of Bowman Lake and Kintla Peak area. I told him they were just a few miles east of where his namesake daughter's geographical topo was.
I was in Polebridge on Wednesday. Huckleberry bear claw was amazing.
YES! It's sooo good
When you said the most beautiful town in Montana I had my doubts as I am from Charlo (90 miles south) but we will let you slide.
Thanks for your video to the Polebridge area. I've been to Glacier Park numerous times, but never to that side of the park due to the dirt road. Would you recommend a truck or jeep? Your narrative. was appreciated too . . .
Thanks to videos like these, and the flood of out-of-state visitors during the pandemic, you can no longer get near the mercantile in the summer. The small park entrance there was so overwhelmed the last two years that they have now ticketed the entrance. For locals like us, we now avoid it because it is overrun and irrevocably changed. Before you visit Montana, please educate yourself. Travel lightly. Understand that there are wild bear everywhere. That bison will charge you. That our first responders cannot rescue tourists who over-estimate their outdoor skills while continuing in their assigned duties. That you can't just camp, light fires, and leave your garbage wherever seems appealing.
Todd, thanks for thinking that our videos are so good that they have been the cause of the crowds in Polebridge. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Blackfeet Tribe closing the entire east side of the park 2 years ago and funneling everyone to one entrance. I'm also sure that the lockdowns in the big cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland had nothing to do with the crowds either. My wife, who was born in Whitefish, finds it humorous to hear the complaints of people who have recently moved here!
Everybody is going everywhere.
Transplants are common in all states
When I moved to Wa State in 1982 there was a huge banner over an I5 freeway overpass stating
“Out of Staters GO HOME and leave us alone “
Montana still has a very low population count considering how large it is
Mi
You don’t own the whole state. Relax. I live in CO (from MT), you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t waste your life worrying about crap you can’t control.
I moved here from California in 2021.
I won’t be leaving, and I’m quite enjoying myself. I’m a Conservative, and left CA partially because of the politics. Anyway, your whining is rather pathetic.
We stayed in a cabin north of Polebridge a couple of years ago. Great place for a home base, loved the town and the bakery! Lots of wildlife. Huckleberry bear claws….delicious!
Beautiful thank you for sharing.
Before I played the clip & after I read the title, I thought: "They must be talking about Polebridge".👍
ME TOO! I'm serious.
Many places more beautiful places in Montana
Am I the only one who noticed that it was a color-phase black bear, not a grizzly. Honest mistake, no biggie, just pointing it out. Great video. Beautiful country.
That is a fun road. I have very fond memories of having fun in that area with my (now deceased) brother.
Wonderful place to be living. I wish I visited decades sooner.
Was in Montana last October, drove from West Virginia to visit an old friend of mine. Going to visit Glacier National park on the next trip out.
I used to work up past Polebridge in the late ‘70’s. We would go down to the store and get some basic supplies every now and then. They would always have a big wheel of cheddar cheese of which we would always buy a chunk of. I saw it snow every month of the year while living there. Not sure that happens now with climate change.
It is beautiful. Show this scenery in winter
Very scenic drive, but you need good tires and some ground clearance. During the height of tourist season, the unpaved portions are like driving on a cheese grater.
good point, and make sure you know how to change a tire.
I lived with my Mom and step-Dad in Libby. My Dad and Step-Mom in Glasgow and Billings. My sister lives in Kalispell. My nephew in Great Falls. I would love to move back to Libby again. It is a shame they had all that espide problems.
Love Montana
Been here and wow does it look different!
Was there in 1970 or 71. The actual pole bridge is what we drove over. Never forgot that place. Some of my cousins , two daughters and youngest son have been there
Thanks for the great video. Truly is God's country 🥰🏞️
Mt. Cleveland has a 4,000' face vertical in 1,300' horizontal. Like the Eiger.
Nice, what month was this?
Hey check out the historical plate etc. William Adair. Ha. My name as well. My Brother John Adair almost bought town years ago. In fact he lived in area Whitefish. Love that place been a while since I was there. Great video. Gotta get back there soon.
Thanks for letting me come along
Montana is very special
Heaven on Earth as far as I am concerned. Thank you for the tour.
I miss Montana. Had a home in Columbia Falls up near the golf course
I believe it's pronounced Mercan-Tile, not Mercan-Teal.
The common way to pronounce it is as "tile," but linguistically and historically, an 'i' carries a long-E sound, as in "mercan teel".
The place that attracts me to America is Montana.
Love to visit ur state at least once in my life time.
I love every part of the state. Each area has its own unique beauty.
Not sure if that was a grizzly or a cinnamon black from that footage.
Visiting would be awesome
Love your videos. Thank you
Thank you, Will! As a fisheries intern with Montana Fish & Game in summer 1977, the bull trout research crew lived and worked out of a tent camp next door (opposite direction from your drive) so we'd spend evenings playing volleyball in front of the Northern Lights Saloon cabin, dodging the rocks, dogs and beers standing on the bare ground (and buying a beer if you knocked one over). The owners of that time gave me my CB handle, "Trapper" as I made a rare phone call to the Polebridge Merc to get a message to camp that one of our cohorts in taking the rig I'd driven with part of the crew hadn't left the keys in the other that he'd driven. Since my daughters got me into a smartphone after I retired from Alaska, ten years ago, I miss those days without so many distractions. Seems we've lost connections with neighbors and neighborhoods, and with God's creation since then...
You might have known Hazen Lawson, at Square Peg Ranch?
Nice...but that was NOT a Grizzly.
Thanks for the video. Nice fauna you have there😅🐻
Friends of mine recently moved to Montana … I would like to visit ….on my bucket list
Ran into a grizzly driving up to pole bridge. my father and brother jumped out of the car with the cameras trying to get pictures I thought I was going to lose them for sure
do the folks use CB Radios or Ham Radios, or a satellite dish be used as a cell phone. . . or >?
Satellite
I love Polebridge
Hi. Can you do Hamilton please.
Yes, please!!
I enjoyed this video 😊
Glad you enjoyed it!
love u visit if gas ever goes down.........50 yrs ago I drove thru with no daytime speed limit at that time, was doing 115mph and did not realize it ! An old Police Oldsmobile like a 68 maybe....
Where is the cleanest air (away from current and future oil & gas) industry? Thanks.
Very scenic
Loved Stevensville MT when I visited! TampaBay Florida 🌴🌴🌴
Along the Salmon River. It is beautiful!
Do you teel your floors or tile. Mer Can Tile
I was a toddler my folk moved to Montana from Northern California in 1954. We lived in Columbia Falls,And a community outside of there, but lived in Whitefish most of my grade school years then we moved to Oregon in 1962. Beautiful country both states!
Been there, bought the huckleberry bear claw. Beautiful place.
What’s the name of Your theme music 🎶 ?
Lived in northwest Montana all my life. Went to Polebridge once. Once was enough. The washboard dirt road beats you to death and there's really nothing when you get there. There's much better places to visit in Montana.
You are ignoring NATURE, then.
Town?
Polebridge?
Town?
lived in Whitefish for 35+ years. no one ever referred to Polebridge as a 'town'.
Polebridge is an in Flathead County, Montana,
with the best bakery in NW Montana
but it is not a 'town'..............
Lived just down the road in Columbia Falls.
Awesome, one of the first places I plan to explore when I move to WF in July
I live in Montana Missoula Montana lots love light blessings to you in Jesus
For the North Fork Rd this summer are you able to bypass needing a car pass if you arrive before 6am?
They are doing construction in the park so you can't get in before 6 this year.
As of this year, the Polebridge entrance to Glacier Park requires an entrance ticket (called a "vehicle reservation") from 6am to 6pm. The ticket is good for one day. You can probably slip through before 6am.
Probably wouldn't want to drive my Corvette stop there my only question is is there cell phone coverage?
My dreams are crushed. You have to be a millionaire to buy a home up there. Any suggestions in what areas of Montana with affordable housing?
I would love to live there. Do you know if they have property for sale that I can build on? Peace and bright blessings.
Yes there is. Email us at teammontanalife@gmail.com and we can send you what is currently available in the area.
Nice!
You are right. Kintla Peak is almost as high as Mt. Cleveland just as beautiful. I took the boat ride down Waterton Lakes 6 miles to the base of that majestic mountain, 6,300 feet up right out of the lake. 4,100' to 10,400'. Do the math.
Beautiful 😍
Wish my son and I were there right now
I was in Pole Bridge a few years ago. If I remember correctly, there was no commercial electricity, but there was telephone service. Go figure.
My nephew bought 30 acres of land in fortine Montana. So in the summer of 2021 my nephew and his dad my brother and my son and myself drove out there and we spent five weeks in for time and we actually went to polebridge for a day trip plus a few days in Glacier, beautiful country loved I can't wait to get back out there would love to go out there and be a fishing guide at some point but that's not happening this year hopefully next year I am 57 years old and my son was 19 years old at the time, my nephew is 45 and my brother is 70 a lot of great views never saw a grizzly bear but we did see a big black bear in four-time Saw elk saw deer kapaun deer deer upon deer and all your ground squirrels and we did some great fishing at the Grave Creek between fortine and Eureka, and we didn't end up into a quite a few big bull trout that we released because that the law and they just fought like unbelievable cannot wait to get back out there, the fall is looking pretty good to go out and hunt for Elk or deer and Bear
I definitely liked Fork road . All I can say is Forking A!
I'm from Montana, andd if you run in to a road that is paved and then unpaved, it's usually because your leaving one county and entering another, and the county with the dirt road decided not to allocate money to pave the road that is dirt! Each county being responsable for their own roads!
All of the Northfork Road is in Flathead County.
*allocate, not "alagate"
By the way, the bear @ 3.13 is a black bear! Not a grizzly! Sorry!😊
Hi ... I live in Jacksonville Florida about 12 years ,so is getting really expensive here now and im planing to move to Montana or Denver, Colorado.....please can you give me some explanation about Montana is it expensive to live there if you don't mind
Not only is it expensive, good look finding a place
It is expensive because so many people from out of state are moving here and trying to turn it into California or Colorado with all their crap policies. If you are rich and from out of state you can afford to buy here but an average family can no longer afford housing here. What is being built here is awful. Take a look at Whitefish Montana. Rows and rows of apartments on top of each other, they call it progress for a town that was once beautiful, quiet and peaceful. People like this guy makes me angry because he is just about making that dollar and selling Montana out
You can also go up to Pole Bridge from Gravescreek Way in Eureka Montana, but to people that don’t live here. This isn’t the ideal place for you to come. Another words we love our state the way it is and we don’t want any outside influence trying to control us.
So. Much. Beauty.
...and I miss fishing that Bighorn River even more after seeing all those tasty streams in this video! Good data. Thanks.