Gate to restrict access to Blankenship Bridge gravel area

The Flathead County commissioners have approved an encroachment permit for the Forest Service to put a gate up on a county right-of-way on the southwest side of the Blankenship Bridge near the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.  

The gate will only be closed during high water in the spring, Hungry Horse/Glacier View District Ranger Rob Davies said in a letter requesting the permit. The plan is to have it installed in the next couple of weeks.

The problem over the past four years or so is people have been getting stuck in the gravel south of the bridge, which has become a popular spot to camp.  

M.J. Crandall, a recreation staff officer with the Forest Service, told commissioners on April 10 the agency has posted signs and reader boards and warnings on social media each spring, but to no avail.  

“Pretty much like clockwork, we have someone get stuck,” he said.  

He said the Forest Service looked at trying to put up gates on its own land, but it would have taken several and it would have been difficult for anyone to turn around.  

The best place for the gate is not far from where the road right-of-way meets the rough path down to the gravel bar, Crandall noted, thus the request for the encroachment permit.  

The Forest Service owns the gravel bar and woods just to the south of the Blankenship Bridge, but not the path itself.  

The commissioners approved the encroachment permit 3-0 with little discussion, other than noting the problem of people getting stuck.  

In the longer term, the proposed action for the Forest Service’s Comprehensive River Management Plan calls for restricting motorized camping at all gravel bars on the Wild and Scenic portions of the three forks of the Flathead River.  

Blankenship became popular during the pandemic as it’s a free place to camp. But it raised the ire of neighboring residents, and they sued the Forest Service, claiming it was harming the river and was a wildfire risk.  

In 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy dismissed the suit, noting the Forest Service does have some discretion on how the area is managed under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and a 2010 travel plan does allow motorized use in that area within 300 feet of the bridge.  

But if the non-motorized camping restriction is retained in the final river plan, then the days of motorized camping on the bar could be numbered.  

A draft of the rivers plan is due out this summer, with a final expected in 2026.  

There are already camping restrictions on the other three sides of the bridge, including a county park just to the north of the bridge, which also does not allow overnight camping.