Montana’s Wild and Scenic Rivers system spans the state from the Bob Marshall Wilderness to the Missouri Breaks. The interactive Montana Wild and Scenic Rivers map below plots all 3 designated rivers and 16 protected segments — 364.1 miles of free-flowing water across 3 counties. The Flathead River, with 198.9 miles across 7 segments, is the largest component; the Missouri Wild and Scenic River adds 145.2 miles of Bureau of Land Management–managed canyon corridor through the breaks southeast of Fort Benton; and the East Rosebud Creek in the Beartooth foothills accounts for the remaining 20 miles. The US Forest Service administers 158.2 miles, BLM 145.2, with a joint USFS/NPS segment on the Flathead. Click any segment for details on classification and managing agency.

Wild and Scenic Rivers in Montana at a Glance

Montana’s three designated Wild and Scenic Rivers protect landscapes of very different character. The Flathead — composed of the North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork running through Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness — is the state’s blue-ribbon cold-water fishery and a critical grizzly bear corridor. The Missouri Wild and Scenic River covers the stretch through the Missouri Breaks that Lewis and Clark traversed in 1805, arguably the most historically intact section of the entire Corps of Discovery route. The East Rosebud Creek descends from alpine cirques in the Beartooth Range through one of south-central Montana’s most dramatic glacier-carved valleys. The federal system added these rivers across several legislative actions over the decades since the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed.

Classification Breakdown

Montana’s Wild segments are primarily the roadless Flathead headwaters in the Bob Marshall and the upper North Fork corridor along the Canadian border. The Missouri runs through a landscape that has changed remarkably little since the early 1800s — its Recreational and Scenic segments reflect the presence of US Highway 87 and county roads at river level near Fort Benton and Virgelle, transitioning to more isolated canyon country in the Breaks. The East Rosebud’s two segments shift from a Recreational lower reach to Wild above the first road-end trailhead.

Managing Agencies

The joint USFS/NPS segments on the Flathead reflect the overlap between Glacier National Park and adjacent national forest land where the Middle Fork and North Fork form part of the park boundary. BLM administers the entire Missouri Wild and Scenic corridor through the breaks, a role it has built into one of the most visited BLM river experiences in the country. The East Rosebud and the South Fork Flathead headwaters fall within the Custer Gallatin and Flathead national forests respectively.

Longest Designated Rivers in Montana

The Flathead’s three forks collectively drain one of the last intact mountain ecosystems in the lower 48 — the Middle Fork in particular, flowing west from the Continental Divide through the Bob Marshall Wilderness, is roadless for its entire length and supports a complete predator-prey community including wolves, grizzlies, and mountain lions. The Missouri’s 149-mile White Cliffs reach from Fort Benton to the Fred Robinson Bridge is the most popular multiday float in the state, with BLM managing dispersed camping along sandstone badlands that look much as they did when the Corps of Discovery paddled through in May 1805.

Where to Run, Hike, or Fish Montana’s Wild and Scenic Rivers

For multi-day whitewater

The Middle Fork Flathead from its headwaters near Marias Pass down to West Glacier offers one of the best wilderness whitewater floats in the Northern Rockies, with stretches of Class III–IV rapids through the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The river is paralleled by the Flathead Wild and Scenic corridor for much of this distance. The Missouri from Fort Benton to the Fred Robinson Bridge is a flatwater float ideal for canoes and kayaks, covering about 149 miles in four to six days through remote Breaks country with almost no motor access.

For hiking and access

The North Fork Flathead road (a gravel county road along the Canadian border in Glacier Country) parallels the North Fork corridor and provides roadside access to one of the most intact river valleys in the lower 48 — floaters and anglers use several boat launch sites between Polebridge and Columbia Falls. East Rosebud Lake and the upper East Rosebud Creek canyon are accessed from Roscoe via a well-maintained trail that climbs into the alpine cirques of the Beartooth front, one of the most scenic day-hike destinations in south-central Montana.

For native fish

The Flathead drainage is home to bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout, and mountain whitefish — all native species that require cold, clean water, which the Wild and Scenic designations help protect. The Middle Fork in particular is a stronghold for wild bull trout populations that the US Fish and Wildlife Service monitors under the Endangered Species Act. The Missouri through the Breaks is a celebrated walleye, paddlefish, and sauger fishery; paddlefish snagging near Fort Peck during May and June draws anglers from across the region.

Maps for Neighboring States

For Wild and Scenic River coverage across the Northern Rockies and High Plains, see our maps for neighboring states: Idaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota. North Dakota has no designated Wild and Scenic rivers. For the full national picture, see our US Wild and Scenic Rivers map covering all 249 rivers across 42 states and Puerto Rico.

Data Sources

River segment geometry, classification, mileage, and managing-agency attributes come from the US Forest Service Enterprise Data Warehouse, specifically the National Wild and Scenic River Segments dataset jointly maintained by the USFS, NPS, BLM, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Source service: USFS EDW Wild Scenic River Segments. Authoritative national index: rivers.gov. State recreation and fish-management context: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the relevant National Forest and BLM district offices.