Taking a rest day on 6 August 2026, Zosia
Zgolak and I visited Kootenai Falls located about eighteen kilometres
west of Libby, Montana. Montana's largest undammed waterfall is a
popular attraction along US Highway 2 and has been featured in movies
such as The
River Wild (1994) and
The Revenant
(2015). A signed trail starts from a roadside parking lot
(48.45276, -115.76905) and shortly goes across a railroad overpass which
may be difficult for people with mobility issues because of a big
staircase on the far side. Just past the railroad overpass is a
split in the trail. The right branch leads to Kootenai Falls while
the left branch leads to a suspension bridge which spans Kootenai River.
We first visited the falls and were surprisingly impressed by their
grandeur. We poked around here for quite awhile before returning to
the split and continuing to the bridge. We crossed to the north
bank of the river but did not bother hiking upstream for a different
perspective of Kootenai Falls. For some strange reason, a fisherman
was trying to fish off the centre of the bridge but was constantly being
interrupted by visitors trying to cross. He probably would have had
better luck scrambling down to the river bank and fishing from there.
Seeing no fish being caught, we promptly returned to the south bank and
hiked back to the trailhead.
 |
On his way to Kootenai Falls, Sonny
crosses railroad tracks on an overpass which is completely covered
with chain-link fencing.
Photo
courtesy of Zosia Zgolak |
 |
Zosia is awed by the volume of water flowing through Kootenai Falls. |
Zosia stands beside the cascade closest to the south
bank of Kootenai River. Click on the photo to see a video of the
falls in action.
 |
Here is a more comprehensive view of
Kootenai Falls. |
Sonny stands beside a suspension bridge on the north
bank of Kootenai River.
Photo
courtesy of Zosia Zgolak