With spring finally here and the summer months approaching quickly, it’s never to early to start thinking about RV travel. If you haven’t put much thought into your future destinations, why not take a look around Montana and check out some of the great state parks right here! Montana is rich with history and has some incredible views to take in with its beautiful landscape. If you live around the area, go ahead and take a weekend trip to one of Montana’s great state parks. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed that you did!

Here are some state parks close to Missoula to check out:

Placid Lake

Placid Lake is known for it’s beautiful scenery, trout filled waters and watersports. This park is a great place to relax, view numerous kinds of wildlife and host plenty of family fun. The park has 40 campsites and sits on 31 acres to offer great camping for you and your crew. If you like fishing, you’ll find several species in this lake such as rainbow, cutthroat, brown and bull trout, whitefish, kokanee salmon and perch. Before you begin fishing, make sure you have your Montana fishing license with you. You can pick up a Montana fishing regulation booklet from the park staff if you need more information. Placid Lakes is a great place to take your first vacation of the year.

Salmon Lake

The Salmon Lake campsite sits on 42 acres of land at a 3,917 foot elevation and offers 20 campsites to visitors. Here you can enjoy water sports, fishing, hiking and bird watching at this Montana State Park. The park is nestled between the Mission and Swan mountain ranges providing a serene and tranquil setting. Bird enthusiasts can enjoy sightings of bald eagles, waterfowl, osprey, common loons, great blue herons, and red-necked grebes.

The lake is also home to a variety of fish such as Kokanee salmon, cutthroat, brown brook, rainbow and bull trout, yellow perch, northern pike, white mountain whitefish, and largemouth bass. Make sure you take a hike while you’re here , the woodland setting is filled with Douglas firs, western larch, and ponderosa pine. Just down the road you can also stop by the Seely Lake Center and Museum which features natural resource, logging history and forest service.

Big Arm

Big Arm State Park is located on the largest natural freshwater lake in the western United States. Flathead Lake is 28 miles long and 15 miles wide. The campsite is situated at a 2,953 foot elevation that covers 217 acres and has over 70 campsites. The Big Arm Bay stretches along side the lake and is a popular destination for swimming and sunbathing. This is a great spot for fishing enthusiasts, although to fish here you will need a joint state/tribal fishing license.

At Big Arm catch some shut eye and enjoy camping under the beautiful ponderosa pine and juniper trees lining the lake. There are also some really great hiking trails surrounded by mountains and high peaks. The hiking trails provide a great opportunity to see many of the wildlife in the area, so if you're a photographer don't miss a great opportunity to capture some beautiful photos.

With so many things to do you won’t have to worry about anyone being bored. There are plenty activities to do such as fishing, swimming, boating, board sailing, picnicking, biking, hiking, wildlife viewing, water skiing and even scuba diving! While you’re at this campsite be sure to check out the Wild Horse Island State Park as well. This 2,163 acre island is just off the west shore of the lake and is home to big horn sheep, bald eagles, yellow pine chipmunks and wild horses. Wild Horse Island is only accessible by boat making Big Arm State Park a popular jumping off point.

Rangitsch Brothers RV

These are just a few of some of the many great state parks that Montana has to offer. Whether you’re visiting from out of state or live close to the Missoula area make sure you check out one of these great places!  If you’re on the road in the area and are in need of parts of service make sure to stop by Rangitsch Brothers for all your service needs! You can also check out our parts store and service page for more information.