Beaverhead River

The River itself: The Beaverhead River is located in Southwest Montana along I-15. It is about a six hour drive from Salt Lake City and the directions are of course, just take I-15 North from Salt Lake until you reach the river. Dillon, Montana is the nearest small town after you reach the river and the river runs right by it. The Beaverhead is a tail-water fishery below Clark Canyon Reservoir. It is a medium sized river and you can wade across it most places. It runs about 300 cfs on average, compared with the Weber at around 100 cfs and the South Fork of the Snake at around 2,000 cfs.

Accommodations: There are some camping spots right below the dam. Dillon has quite a few hotels at reasonable prices. I stayed at The Sundowner Motel the two weeks I went last spring and was quite happy with the accommodations, price and location. Of course, I also just needed a place to sleep and shower, not worrying about entertaining a family. I already mentioned restaurants in my “Sparky’s Garage” post.

Fly Shop: Frontier Anglers is right in Dillon and near the exit to I-15 to head to the river. They have all the latest information about the river, including flow rate and flies to use. They even have their own custom flies for the Beaverhead. These flies worked great for me and even worked well for my home rivers. Frontier Anglers can also line up the shuttle for you.