Harrison Lake

Harrison Lake is a great hike I’ve done a few times. It’s unique in that the most common way to get to the hike is to ford the Middle Fork of the Flathead at the Moccasin Creek put-in. This early in the season requires that you go across in a boat (usually forded in later August). We did just that and hiked the 6 miles to the head of the lake enjoying the birds, flowers and views. You spend a lot of time enjoying the 3 mile long lake.

A little bonus of the trip is an old cabin right where the Harrison Lake trail breaks off from the South Boundary trail. This cabin was the old home of a wild woman named Josephine Doody. According to stories, she murdered a man in Colorado, moved to a town called McCarthyville where she was kidnapped by a park ranger named Dan Doody who ended up marrying her. The two lived there running and illegal moonshine business. This is just a small part of the story that you can read about in “Wild River Pioneers” by John Fraley.

All in all, a great trip with a harrowing float trip on the way out as the water was running really high, but our captain, Brad Butler of Montana Elements brought us to safety.

Harrison Lake
Oxeye Daisy

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One response to “Harrison Lake”

  1. We are coming up on July 1st to Glacier for the first time ever and can’t wait! Kelli Tronell referred me to your site! We have 8 and 9 year old boys who like to hike, but not sure what’s best for them. They are pretty good hikers, but usually we stay under 5-6 miles. We have 8 days and are planning on hiking most days!

    Are there folks who will take you across the river for this hike?

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