Cabinet Mountains Road Trip part 1, Kayaking Bull Lake Montana.

Over the weekend I spent three days exploring the Cabinet Mountains area of Montana. Less than three weeks ago I posted photos of the Cabinet Mountains on the way back from my Glacier National Park trip. I wanted to go back but was pleasantly surprised that it happened so soon. On day one we snagged a lakeside camp site on Bull Lake in the middle of the Bull River Valley which bisects the Cabinet Mountains north to south. I used my America the Beautiful Pass to save a few bucks.

Bull Lake is a beautiful body of water smack dab in the middle of the Cabinet Mountains. That might be Ibex Mountain in the background. The lake is over twelve hundred acres and is as deep as sixty feet. There are extensive wetlands around the lake, several islands in it and an outflow river ‘Lake Creek’ on the north end which flows north to the Kootenai River near the town of Troy. Oddly enough Bull Lake is not the source or even connects with the Bull River which flows south to the Clark Fork River and gives this beautiful valley its name.

After about a two and a half hour drive we made it to the campground. Even though it was a Saturday afternoon as it’s almost the end of camping season in Montana we got a site on the water and launched our kayaks from there.

After setting up camp we headed north towards the outlet creek. The north end of the lake is shallow and has extensive areas of aquatic vegetation which minimizes recreational boating. For the most part the only other folks on the water were fishermen anyway and they don’t usually make wakes.

As we headed towards the north end of the lake we had nice views of the mountains on the east side of the valley. In the distance we could see the high peaks in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area.

The lake narrowed as we headed north and we had nice views of the mountains to the west. The Cabinet Mountains do cross the state-line in to Idaho and only five days earlier we had hiked to the summit of the highest peak on the Idaho side, Scotchman Peak. You can not see Scotchman from the lake.

After paddling through flats covered in reeds we came to more open water. The lake slowly narrowed and it took a while to realize it was becoming a creek that flowed out of the lake.

The further we went the stronger the current leaving the lake was until discretion dictated that we turn back. You never know when you’re going to find the first rapids downstream.

So we returned to the main body of the lake through the reed beds again and circled this pretty little island.

Next we followed the far or western shore on the wilder side of the lake towards the south. Across the lake we had views of our campground.

After a couple of hours exploring the north part of Bull Lake, the shadows started to lengthen. We were on the lookout for wildlife, especially moose but didn’t manage to see any.

As the sun set we called it a day. It did get awfully chilly in the evening but the surroundings were phenomenal and it was hard to complain about the clear blue skies.

In the morning it was foggy and to be honest cold as hell. A kayak trip didn’t sound like it would be too much fun. On one side of the campground was Bull Lake. On the other a wetland provided views of the eastern Cabinet Mountain. We decided to take a hike to Leigh Lake in the eastern Cabinets instead and used the long ride to the trailhead to warm up. I will cover this trek in my next post.

After the hike to Leigh Lake we stopped briefly at Kootenai Falls, a popular attraction near Libby Montana. As I understand it A River Wild was filmed here starring Merle Streep and Kevin Bacon. I did post a couple of photos of this site from my Glacier National Park trip.

And at the suspension bridge over the river I finally got to see my brother heading to Whitefish!

After a second and much less chilly night we wanted to check out the south end of the lake and get a view of Bad Medicine cliffs in the sunlight instead of shadows, but first we had to deal with a surprise visitor(s).

While making breakfast this momma and her baby waltzed right through the campground. On the second night we were the only campers in the campground and the camp host had already left for the season. Being the only people in the campground was nice in a way, but also a little creepy as a sketchy truck showed up in the middle of the night. Glad Montana is a carry by right state.

“Hey Mom, they’re hoomans in our dinning room and they’re pointing little black rectangles at us.” “Come on junior, they’re hiding behind trees and they’re scared, let’s head to the marshland and they won’t follow, after all I’m bigger than they are.”

So after being entertained by our visitors, we launched again and headed south. Two thirds of the lake remained to be explored.

A large island ‘Angle Island’ almost bisects the lake. A narrow manmade channel separates this island from the east side of the lake and State Road 56. I wanted to circumnavigate the island so we paddled down the about two foot deep, at this time of the year channel.

At the bridge to the mainland, the channel was silted up and full of debris. It was a pretty detour anyway. Stymied for now, we turned around and took the real channel towards the south end of the lake.

We got a little closer to Bad Medicine but the cliff slowly disappeared behind a shorter hill in front of it. It’s still is a striking feature over the south end of the lake.

Near the south end of the main channel that separates Angle Island from the larger south lobe of the lake another smaller island complete with it’s own beaver lodge finally allowed me to circle an island.

When we got to the open southern lobe of the lake the wind kicked up. We saw all of the lake and decided to head back to the campground in the more protected channel.

In the smaller northern lobe the wind died down and we enjoyed the glass flat paddle back to the campground.

We ended up kayaking on Bull Lake on the last day of summer and the second day of fall of 2024. The season is nearing it’s end but hopefully their will be more adventures before the snow falls. After all was said and done we ended up paddling maybe six hours between both days. It was a nice workout.

Bull Lake has to be one of the prettiest lakes in the Northwest. Being surrounded by the Cabinet Mountains gives it a wonderful setting. After my hike at Leigh Lake I did take a dip in the maybe sixty five degree water to wash off the campfire smoke. It felt amazing.

We kayaked on Bull Lake the day we arrived and the morning we left. The full day in between allowed us to hike to Leigh Lake and stop by Kootenai Falls on the way back. Our campground was amazing. I will let you do your own research on that as it only has eight camping spots, four of which are on the lake shore. I plan to go back in 2025, hopefully with the same company.