Kalispell Island Boat-in Campground

About

Kalispell Island Boat-in Campground provides a rugged, rewarding camping experience on the peaceful shores of Priest Lake in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. The island spans 264 acres and hosts 51 individual sites plus one group site (Three Pines, accommodating 10-30 people) distributed across 12 camping areas: West Shores, Peninsula, Schneider, Silver, Silver Cove, Selkirk, Three Pines, Cottonwood, Rocky Point, North Cove, Shady, and Kalispell Vista. Priest Lake sits at 2,400 feet elevation less than an hour from the Canadian border, nestled below the crest of the Selkirk Mountains. The 25,000-acre lake offers clear blue waters reaching depths of 300 feet. A popular activity is kayaking or boating up the 3.5-mile thoroughfare to the Upper Priest Lake Scenic Area, which also cannot be accessed by car. The waters offer excellent fishing for Mackinaw trout, Dolly Varden, cutthroat, and kokanee. The 2.5-mile loop trail circling the island provides phenomenal wildlife viewing and lake vistas. This is a pack-in/pack-out facility with no potable water, so campers must be fully self-sufficient.

Directions

Access by boat only. From Priest River, Idaho, travel north on State Highway 57 for approximately 31 miles. Turn right onto Kalispell Bay Road, then in one mile turn right onto West Lakeshore Road. The Kalispell Bay Boat Launch is 0.5 miles south on the left.