Hungry Horse Dam - Martin City, MT

Wayne

Administrator
Staff member
When we visited Glacier NP we heard from a local that there is a dam near Hungry Horse within a short drive from from the RV park where we stayed. I didn't think much of it because I'd never heard of the Hungry Horse Dam. We had time one day so we decided to take the 4 mile drive up to see what the dam was about.

This is not a quaint little dam. It's the 10th tallest dam in the United States and we didn't even know it was there. It's located about 4 miles south of Hungry Horse off of US-2. The dam is on the south fork of the Flathead River. There is a nice visitor center, but it was closed due to covid.

If you go to the Glacier NP area and have any interest in seeing it, the dam is a 4 minute drive from US-2, the main road between Kalispell and Glacier NP. It was a real treat to see!

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Note the size of the forklift parked near the water discharge.

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Largest glory hole I've ever seen

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I've stood on top of several large dams and have always thought it is cool and almost intimidating to see the difference in the water level on either side of the dam. The current water level at this dam makes it the fullest concrete arch dam I've ever seen. I think it's full every year, as there is so much snowmelt in this region.
 
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