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Bitterroot Adventure: Hike and Packraft Experience
5.0
25 Ratings
Victor
Experience the beauty of the Bitterroot Mountains with an Alpine Lake Float and Guided Hike. Explore rugged trails, navigate water crossings, and enjoy a unique packrafting adventure!
Experience the beauty of the Bitterroot Mountains with an Alpine Lake Float and Guided Hike. Explore rugged trails, navigate water crossings, and enjoy a unique packrafting adventure!
Duration:
6 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Fred Burr Reservoir - Exciting expansion plans are set for 2025! If a date is already booked and you wish to schedule your own tour for that day, please reach out!
Join a guided day hike covering 8 miles (4 miles each way, with a 1000 ft elevation gain) through a glacially carved canyon in the Bitterroot National Forest, leading to a high-altitude…
- Fred Burr Reservoir - Exciting expansion plans are set for 2025! If a date is already booked and you wish to schedule your own tour for that day, please reach out!
Join a guided day hike covering 8 miles (4 miles each way, with a 1000 ft elevation gain) through a glacially carved canyon in the Bitterroot National Forest, leading to a high-altitude backcountry lake. At the lake, enjoy paddling in inflatable packrafts while soaking in the breathtaking views. During your paddle, your guide will prepare a backpacker-style lunch featuring options like Pad Thai, Pasta Primavera, or Beef Stroganoff. After returning to shore, you’ll learn about backcountry cooking techniques that leave no trace. Then, you’ll pack up and retrace your steps back to the trailhead.
The price includes rentals for packrafts, backpacks, trekking poles, bear spray, and safety equipment. Each adult or youth ticket includes one packraft setup (packraft, paddle, life vest). Your guide will carry two packraft setups, with the remaining setups carried by other adults.
Enjoy a snack bag filled with Shar Trail Mix, Beef and Vegan Jerky, and Lara Bars!
Your guide will also have a water filter, allowing you to enjoy refreshing mountain creek water during your breaks!
What's Included
- Sciency Nature Talks
- Packraft Rentals (4 per group limited by FS)
- Lunch
- Local Plant and Animal Identification
- Freshly Filtered Snowmelt! - Its better tasting than bottled water!
- Trekking Pole Rentals
- The unforgettable experience of floating on a calm alpine lake all to yourself!
- Hilarious Guide Jokes
- Bottled water
- Wilderness First…
- Sciency Nature Talks
- Packraft Rentals (4 per group limited by FS)
- Lunch
- Local Plant and Animal Identification
- Freshly Filtered Snowmelt! - Its better tasting than bottled water!
- Trekking Pole Rentals
- The unforgettable experience of floating on a calm alpine lake all to yourself!
- Hilarious Guide Jokes
- Bottled water
- Wilderness First Responder and Leave No Trace Certified Guide
- Guide carries GPS Communicator, First Aid Kit
- Snacks
- Backpack Rentals
- Huckleberry Picking - Mid July to Sept
What's Not Included
- Clothing / Hiking Clothing
- Sunscreen
- Hiking Shoes (closed toe shoes is a must!)
- Raincoat (always bring just in case of emergency)
- Fly Rod (rent one from a local outfitter or bring your own!)
- Bathing Suit - Recommended for July - Aug
- Transportation - Transportation services are available! Please contact us to help you get a ride!
- Warm Clothing if forecast is chilly - we have backups if you need!
- Clothing / Hiking Clothing
- Sunscreen
- Hiking Shoes (closed toe shoes is a must!)
- Raincoat (always bring just in case of emergency)
- Fly Rod (rent one from a local outfitter or bring your own!)
- Bathing Suit - Recommended for July - Aug
- Transportation - Transportation services are available! Please contact us to help you get a ride!
- Warm Clothing if forecast is chilly - we have backups if you need!
Additional Information
The Bitterroot National Forest is a place of stunning beauty and toughness, marked by striking mountains and profound glacial canyons. The trails may not always be in perfect condition, and periodic streams might discourage those unaccustomed to traversing bodies of water. Having a guide by your side will certainly prove beneficial!
An exclusive…
The Bitterroot National Forest is a place of stunning beauty and toughness, marked by striking mountains and profound glacial canyons. The trails may not always be in perfect condition, and periodic streams might discourage those unaccustomed to traversing bodies of water. Having a guide by your side will certainly prove beneficial!
An exclusive experience to Bitterroot Backpacking is the combining of hiking and packraft floating. No other guide or company offers this service! (And if they claim to, they likely drew inspiration from here!)
- Anyone in general good health can complete one of these trips. Please inquire before booking!
Location
Fred Burr Trailhead
Fred Burr Road
Most of the drive here is on solid paved roads but the last 2 mi are on dirt forest road which can be rough and dusty! Please drive carefully and slowly!
Please contact us for other trail options!!!!
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(25 Ratings)
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C6996dijamesc
Sep 26, 2026
Get out and explore! - We had an amazing experience with Luke from Bitterroot Backpacking! Luke was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating throughout our entire adventure. He made sure we felt safe and comfortable every step of the way while also sharing his knowledge of the mountains and surrounding area.
Reaching the top of the trail was an unforgettable experience, and being able to kayak on an alpine lake and take in the incredible scenery, made it even more special. Luke did a wonderful job making the entire day, enjoyable, relaxed, and memorable.
We highly recommend Luke and Bitterroot Backpacking to anyone looking for an incredible mountain adventure! We couldn’t have asked for a better guide or a more breathtaking experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
68deliat
Aug 5, 2026
Great Experience - We had a perfect day with Luke on the float and hike. He was so knowledgeable about the wildlife, plants and environment around us. He did have to make a last minute change on which trail we did because of fires in the area. We trusted him to find the right hike/float for us and he did. So great to have our own guide for all of it! He paced the hike perfectly for us. We also added the transportation with Luke. That was a great option to be picked up and dropped off at the hotel and driven right to the trail. We were only in town for a few days and weren’t renting a car.
Floating was just incredible! Now if I could just figure out how to have some float time at home every day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Larry_fri
Oct 7, 2025
Guided hike in Lolo National Forest in the Bitteroot Mountains - This was one of the highligths of our trip though Western Montana. We scheduled a 1/2 day with rafting trip 5 months ago with Luke and from the first contact to the day before he kept in touch with us and offered seveal options as out hiking plans changed. We took a 4-5 hour hike up to Diamond and Cliff Lakes in the Lolo National Forest. Great secluded trail with fantastic views and scenery. Getting up to Cliff Lakes and being able to raft on the most serene alpine lake was amazing.
Luke was super knowledgeable and passionate about his love for hiking and the environment and it showed. Brewed us some coffee/tea and provided from tasty snacks for my wife and myself and catered to everythiig we may have needed on the hike. He is very flexible and on point with designing a trip that satisfies and meets all the needs for any type of hike that one would like to do, which makes him unique as a guide. If you are thinking at all about doing a guided hike in the Bitterroot Mountains area, be it a 1/2 day trip or something longer or overnight, you will find no one better to plan and take you non the adventure of a lifetime. Thanks again Luke for a memorable experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alexandraba2018zp
Sep 30, 2025
A lovely day in the Bitterroot Mountains - I am not a hiking person, but I had a free day in Missoula and decided to spend some time in nature. Luke created a perfect experience for me: he was attentive, communicated well, was helpful, and shared many interesting stories about the area and the many plants and wild life we encountered along the way. He is very bright, sincere, sociable, and very service-oriented. When we were floating on the lake, he made sure I enjoyed myself and even brought me snacks when I was hungry so that I didn't have to get out of the water. It was a lovely day. I can't recommend him and his company enough. He truly creates memories for people
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Russell
Sep 17, 2025
Fantastic experience. Informative, enjoyable and worthwhile. - Our original hike and float plan needed a last minute change but the tour operator (Luke) was able to quickly accommodate our needs with an acceptable hiking alternative. The outcome was fantastic. Luke lead us up a spectacular 8 mile trek (to/back), taking a short stop to boil/filter water for a “tea” and snack break. Luke regularly shared his broad knowledge of the surrounding terrain and wildlife as appropriate. He was professional, friendly and well equipped for wilderness traveling. Great tour! Thank you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Texastravel59
Jul 26, 2025
Immersion in the Bitterroot Experience - We had high expectations for our day with Luke after reading the reviews from others who have used Bitterroot Backpacking. Our high expectations were exceeded, The evening before our hike, we had observed smoke and firefighting aircraft converging on what appeared to be our appointed meeting place for the next morning with Luke. As luck would have it, a forest fire had indeed broken out near that meeting place forcing a last minute change of plans. After a phone conversation with Luke, he suggested a Plan B for the next day that did not disappoint! Our day included learning about the flora and fauna of the Bitterroot from Luke, along with history of the area as we made our way to a placid alpine lake surrounded by cathedral spires of rock pointing to the stars. I have enjoyed a large number of hikes to alpine lakes and reservoirs but I have never had the pleasure of being able to float and paddle on their surface while looking up and soaking in the sun from an inflatable raft...until this experience. It was unforgettable and I highly recommend it! The snacks that Luke assembled left nothing to be desired. Sweet, salty, protein, and carbs, in just the right quality and quantity. An unexpected treat was getting to sample wild huckleberries and other wild berries on the trek back to our car. A trek with Luke is an experience that I want every member of my family to enjoy. I cannot recommend this highly enough!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pioneer28692590819
Jul 21, 2025
Just Book It! - We had a great day in the Bitterroot National Forest with Luke! Our family of 4 with young kids (5,7) really enjoyed this experience! Lots of great views and information during the hike. Luke has a cool story and has invented an awesome product! Unfortunately it was a very windy day and we didn’t get to float in the pack rafts but the lake was gorgeous and we enjoyed taking a break and having forest brewed tea and coffee. The hike is not strenuous and Luke adapted to our pace, taking advantage of our breaks to show us the best huckleberries and thimbleberries.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sarahl898
Jun 28, 2025
Come to the Bitterroot Mtns and see and learn the region - We are experience hikers from the East who had 1 day to get an immersion experience of the Bitterrroot Mtns.
Luke was fantastic. He is a seasoned guide, knowledgeable of the geography, geology, flora and historic background of the region.
He was funny and patient with our questions and interested also in our backgrounds.
I would highly recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kernans_f
Jun 2, 2025
Adventurous day hike & float - Advanced hike but with a great view & wonderful pay off at the end-Fred Burr reservoir. We hiked about 5 miles each way & then used our pack rafts to float the reservoir. Was a great full day adventure, experiencing the best of Montana. Our guide, Luke was wonderful & very knowledgeable.
Review provided by Viator
Anthonysj7318qx
May 19, 2025
Great Hiking and Rafting with Luke - The hike and tour was a blast. Luke was a great source of knowledge and showed us a fantastic area. He gave us all the information we needed ahead of time and was both fun and professional throughout the day of the hike. The sights throughout the hike, and especially at the lake, were incredible. While it was too cold to really swim on the lake, the rafting was still a great time as it wasn't that cold sitting in the raft. I would highly recommend this activity to anyone looking for a nice day in the mountains.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
