Northwest Vacation Help

Looking for some help planning a trip to the Northwest this summer for my wife, my 8 month old, and me. Looking to avoid crowds at Yellowstone or Glacier. Looking for a low key spot with beautiful scenery to do some hiking and fly fishing. Considering Bozeman area, Spokane, or even BC. I will be looking to hire a fly fishing guide for a 1 day float trip also. Any suggestions on area, lodging, or guides? Thanks!

Looks like I will be flying into Spokane because I can use my Southwest Airline points.

Lots of opportunities to the west in the Cascades but if i were you I would head East to Missoula. Beautiful drive from Spokane to Missoula through Coeur d'Alene ...stop of fish the St Regis along the way. Once you get to Missoula you have endless choices ...Clark Fork, Bitterroot, and Rock Creek. Lolo or Philipsburg are cool little towns to set up base camp if you want to stay away from Missoula proper plus lots of smaller streams in those areas.

Not sure how late in the summer you are planning on going but the big rivers can shut down late in the season if they have bad snowpack. Not sure what it has been like this year.

Tight lines where ever you decide to go!

Thank you. We are planning to stay a few nights in the Missoula area before heading up to Whitefish area.

If you fly into Spokane and want peace, privacy, and big country.... try the Yaak Valley in NW Montana. For a float trip down the Kootenai call Linehan outfitting. BIG river, BIG rainbows.

Thanks. I am putting this trip to Glacier on hold. The folks we are going with need to fly into Denver. Much cheaper on Southwest points. Driving to Jackson WY. Any suggestions on Jackson area?

What part of the summer? It makes a difference in the mountain states, since runoff from the winter snowpack can affect where you might fish. Snowpack is from 75% to 166% of normal, depending on the particular watershed. I was in Jackson last June (9-13) and it was the middle of the runoff. Everything seemed flooded on the Wyoming side of the Tetons. My only choices for fishing were the lakes, or crossing the mountains into Idaho to fish the Henry's Fork of the Snake. So that's what we did. I did not try to fish up into Yellowstone Park, but had friends who did and did well. World Cast Anglers is the class of the local guide and fly shop options, but there are several to choose from.