Local Area
Photo courtesy: Bill Kuney
Hungry Horse Dam
Photo courtesy: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Martin City established on the homestead of Gaspard Martin near Abbott Creek, owes its existence to the early 1950s construction of the Hungry Horse Dam on the South Fork of the Flathead River. Martin City's population swelled in anticipation of the coming boom. Martin City lives on as a tourist town, on the road from Columbia Falls to Glacier National Park. (Copyright 2009, Montana Historical Society: Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman, Montana Historical Society Research Center Staff)
Glacier National Park known to Native Americans as the "Shining Mountains" and the "Backbone of the World", preserves more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows, lakes, rugged peaks and glacial-carved valleys in the Northern Rocky Mountains. One of the most amazing highlights of Glacier National Park is a drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This engineering marvel spans 50 miles through the park's wild interior, winding around mountainsides and treating visitors to some of the best sights in northwest Montana.
The Martin City area offers plenty of camping in the Flathead National Forest at sites such as Spotted Bear Campground. It is about as far as you can drive off the beaten track and still find a maintained campground. Spotted Bear Campground is in a remote area on the South Fork of the Flathead River. It is several miles above the end of Hungry Horse Reservoir on the edge of the beautiful Bob Marshall Wilderness. There is access to a trail which leads to the Great Bear Wilderness.
