Ten Lakes Scenic Area

Located in the Kootenai National Forest in Montana.

Ten Lakes Scenic Area encompasses 15,700 acres. With an additional 19,000 acres surrounding it, the Ten Lakes Scenic Area is one of the original nine areas designated for special wilderness evaluation under the Montana Wilderness Study Act. Located along the northeastern edge of the Forest with the Canadian border as one of its boundaries, the Ten Lakes Area is dominated by a high ridge of the Whitefish Mountains. Alpine glaciers shaped much of the present rugged scenery. As the glaciers grew they carved deep scallops, or cirques, and high, rim-rocked basins sheltering the many lakes of the area. The area is named for the Ten Lakes basin along the Canadian border. Other alpine lakes, often bordered on one side by subalpine vegetation and on the other by a headwall or rook harboring old snowdrifts, hide in nearly every high basin and cirque. Offering spectacular beauty are the Therriault Lakes and Bluebird Basin areas. Poorman Mountain reaching 7,832 feet is the highest peak with Ksanksa, Stahl and Independence Peaks ranging from 7,505 to 7,416 feet scattered throughout the range. Forested areas contain Englemann spruce, subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, white bark pine, and the uncommon alpine larch. Wildflowers are abundant in spring and summer and a variety of forbs and shrubs, including huckleberry, grow under and around the trees. Several trails crisscross the Ten Lakes Scenic Area and are accessed from Highway 93 via various Forest roads.

For further information contact:
Kootenai National Forest
506 US Highway 2 West
Libby, MT 59923
(406) 293-6211