Fence aside, Riverside Park retains access to prime fishing hole

A settlement over a city park in Columbia Falls doesn’t impact access to a good fishing hole on the Flathead River, provided anglers stay in the Red Bridge right of way.

In August, the municipality settled a lawsuit with Mark and Inge Cahill over Kreck Riverside Park.

The Cahills claimed the park, a strip of land that runs down to the old Red Bridge across the Flathead River at the south end of town, was a public nuisance. They filed suit in Flathead County District Court in 2022 to have it closed.

In the settlement, the city agreed to “install and maintain a six-foot spire-type fence along the southern boundary of Kreck Riverside Park … extending to the top of the bluff as is structurally feasible. The foregoing item will be completed within one year.”

The fence isn’t in yet, but the settlement begs the question, is there still legal access to the Flathead River from the park?

A fence, once installed, would block people from crossing a small, but common way that folks have travelled to access the river for years.

The short answer is yes, there is legal access, as long as a person gets down to the river from the bridge right of way, which the city owns.

Once below the high water mark, a member of the public is allowed to use the water upstream or downstream, but “it does not allow them to enter posted lands bordering those streams or to cross private lands to gain access to streams,” City Attorney Justin Breck noted in research he did on the subject back in 2021.

One of the better fishing spots in Columbia Falls is just downstream of the Red Bridge. Accessing it legally, however, requires going below the high water mark at the bridge, and then staying below the high water mark downstream — a task that isn’t too difficult, considering the bank is steep and the high water mark is well above the level of the water.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park recently sent out a notice on the matter as well, as the Riverside Park is far from being the only place river access has become an issue.

“The public has a right to enjoy water-based recreation on rivers and streams in Montana below the high-water mark,” Director Dustin Temple said. “The public also has the right to access rivers and streams from public road rights of way and easements, including bridges. This is settled law and we will continue do our part to ensure these rights are maintained on behalf of the recreating public.”

There has been vandalism at the park in the past and the city and the Cahills both note through signage that surveillance cameras are in use.

Columbia Falls enjoys several public access points to the Flathead River. The bike path on the south border of the Cedar Pointe Subdivision offers public access, as does South Nucleus Avenue, which dead ends near the river.

River’s Edge Park offers several hundred feet of access to the river as well.