A Snowmobiling Weekend in the Seeley-Swan Valley
Road Trip Highlights
Keith Curtis (@keithcurtis711) traveled from Dillon, Montana, to the Seeley-Swan Valley with sleds in tow to surf powder on the high ridges of the Swan Mountains while enjoying the small-town scenery along the way.
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With more than 600 miles of trails to choose from, Montana’s Seeley-Swan Valley offers big mountain access to snowmobilers of all types. Ride from your door, pick lines through big timber or coast on the ridges of the Swan Mountains at your leisure. You can BYOS (Bring Your Own Sled) or rent snowmobiles locally, and it’s easy to pick up a $35 annual Montana Trail Pass from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks for your sled, as well as a Conservation License if you intend to recreate on state lands.
Travel to Seeley Lake via Montana Highway 83, also known as the Seeley-Swan Scenic Drive, passing through foothills and lake country before reaching town. Stop into Grizzly Claw Trading Co. for a taste of Montana’s handmade art, furniture, literature and gifts before grabbing a bite and resting up prior to your snowmobiling adventure.
Choose-Your-Own-Snowmobiling Adventure
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Seeley Lake boasts 430 miles of groomed, secondary and off-trail riding for snowmobilers of all levels. Ride out from town or trailer to one of its many trailheads. Access is maintained by Scenic Mountain Trails, which formed in part from the Driftriders, a local group of volunteers that banded together in 1967 to take care of the trails.
The Driftriders Map (available in a PDF) shows which trails are groomed, intermittently groomed or ungroomed, as well as offering safety information, property boundaries and more. Pack your lunch or head back to town for a midday break. In addition to snowmobiling, the robust trail system serves skiers, snowshoers, dog-sledders, fat-tire bikers, e-bikers and more, so you can expect to run into more than one sort of recreator while enjoying the sights of Seeley Lake.
Heed the Powder Call
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Head northeast to Bigfork and toward Porcupine Creek, where 45 miles of intermittently groomed trail await. Called the Crane/Yew Snowmobile Trail, it’s maintained by the Flathead Snowmobile Association. Prefer groomed trails? The FSA maintains over 200 miles of trails within the Flathead Valley, and you can follow their groomers live through the Groomer Tracker app. Spend a full day traversing FSA’s trails or hit the hill for half the day and enjoy the shops, dining and scenery around the town of Bigfork before heading home after a powder-filled weekend in western Montana.
