Bad Rock

At Bad Rock Canyon, the Flathead River passes through a narrow gap between the mountains before entering the Flathead Valley. The gorge formed part of a route across the Rockies to the bison grounds of the Great Plains. Salish and Kootenai peoples travelled east along this trail to hunt, while Blackfeet from the plains also crossed the mountains. Oral traditions remember encounters and fighting in the canyon, a meeting place between peoples whose homelands lay on opposite sides of the range.