Lincoln County is 3.5 times larger than the state of Rhode Island but it is populated by less than 20,000 humans.
Located in the very Northwest corner of the state of Montana, it is home to the communities of Eureka, Fortine, Libby, Rexford, Trego, and Troy. This special place is just being discovered by those who have had their fill of "shoulder-to-shoulder living", and "bumper-to-bumper vacations"
As you can see from the map, much of the land here (76%) belongs to the Kootenai National Forest. The Cabinet Mountain Wilderness is less than 3 miles from Libby. The white area on our small map shows how very little of Lincoln County is privately-owned land; Plum Creek Timber and Burlington Northern are the two major private landowners (14%).The rest of the private land is individually owned and that is where the small human population is concentrated.
We have been blessed with wonderful lakes, rivers, streams and creeks that run clear and clean. If you enjoy seeing a fish swimming over bright colored rocks and golden sand bottoms, you'll love it here. (No "coffee with cream"-colored rivers here!) Our water resources are precious, abundant and a joy to behold, to hear, and to remember.
Northern Lincoln County lies in the shadow of the
Whitefish Mountain Range. Broad valleys and timbered slopes collect all their water into
the Tobacco and Kootenai River drainages.
A large portion of the Kootenai River was dammed in the mid 70's for flood control and now a 100 mile-long lake called KooCanUSA, stretches from above the Canadian border south to the giant Libby Dam located 17 miles north of Libby.
The Purcell Mountain Range with it's narrower valleys occupies the lower portion of the County. The great Kootenai River meanders south below the dam and is joined by all the water from the Fisher River drainages; then it loops to the west tumbling over the last major waterfall in the northwestern US that doesn't have a dam on it - "Kootenai Falls"; from there on, it rolls westward toward the Idaho border. Along the way the Kootenai is joined by the drainages from the Yaak River, while the Bull River flows south into the Clarks Fork River at Noxon.
So if you need some time alone by a stretch of clear water, you'll sure to find a spot all to yourself with all this water to choose from! And if you happen to have a fishing pole along - well, that's another story. . .
Out here there are more trees than there are people and whether you come to visit physically or through cyberspace, you are sure to find something that will refresh your body, mind, soul and spirit. We continually hear from folk s that have passed this way before or have been blessed to live here once upon a time and they confirm to us that it is surely a place that lives on in their memories. There is indeed much treasure to be discovered here and we hope you'll come back often as we add to our virtual tour of Lincoln County.
If you're planning to visit "in the flesh", you might be interested in places to stay in Lincoln County, Montana . There are Motels, Resorts, Ranches, Bed & Breakfasts, and Campsites to choose from here in the Glacier Country region of Montana.
Return to the Lincoln County Homepage
