Kootenai Swinging Bridge & Falls | Montana National Forest Boondocking
Spectacular waterfalls just don’t get old. Especially when they come with a 210 foot swinging bridge just down the river. Kootenai Swinging Bridge and Falls are right off of Highway 2, right between the towns of Troy and Libby. Click below for our 2nd Montana episode:
Kootenai Swinging Bridge and Falls
The largest falls in Montana is one you cannot miss. The river loses 300 feet of elevation in just a few hundred yards which makes for a very picturesque series of cascades. It also couldn’t be easier to visit with a large parking area right off the highway and easy trails. However, it can be pretty busy on a weekend afternoon in the summer. As much as we dislike getting out of bed before 6am, it was completely worth it!
The bridge itself is 210 feet long and puts you about 100 feet above the Kootenai River. The views are great and the bridge has a nice railing enclosed with chain link fence so we felt safe taking our kids. The kids actually bounced and giggled their way across the entire bridge and couldn’t get enough of it.
Boondocking in National Forest
Boondocking in a National Forest can be tricky with a big RV. Navigating low branches, narrow roads, and tight backing situations can be the stuff of nightmares. Thus, when choosing campsite candidates via satellite view, it is important to make sure there are multiple options available. As you saw in the video, our first two options were duds. Thankfully, we still ended up with another great spot about a quarter of a mile past them.
Thwarted by Wildfires
This was by far the worst wildfire smoke we have ever experienced. Using a small air purifier with a HEPA filter typically keeps things bearable indoors when we happen to have smoky conditions. As the day went on the smoke began to overwhelm our little filter and we decided to drive until we had cleaner air.
The next day we first headed 300 miles east. After researching the extent of the wildfire smoke and seeing that the smoke plume was already reaching the east coast, we ended up in Utah to escape to cleaner air.
Any questions? Please let us know in the comments so that we can answer them!
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If you’d like to read about our RV and other RV adventures, then check out some of our other posts :
- Northwest Montana Waterfalls | Lake Koocanusa | Libby Dam
- Southern Idaho | City of Rocks and Castle Rocks | Almo
- Oregon Coast | Harris Beach & Indian Sands | Brookings Pacific NW RV Camping
- Make The Most Of A Hike To Hanging Lake
- RV TOUR // Full Time Family of 4 // Living in a Jayco Pinnacle 37MDQS
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