Vacation Montana!
~ Welcome! ~
To your Montana Vacation
Home
A beautiful home
On a beautiful lake
In a beautiful area
In a wonderful state...
It doesn't get any better than this!
~ "Now this is
Montana!" - View from your
Montana vacation home ~
Through broken grays, white light
from a half-dressed sun
Floats softly over snow drenched mountains
--
Oh what wonders thrive
Beyond this simple window pane
--
And you need not venture
But just take some moments
...To stop...and wonder...
Miracles of Nature come to you here
--Resident poet--
About your vacation home...
Grandma's Feather Bed
John Denver
-- Home Away From Home --
"Click just once"
Playtime 2:25
Spacious, two-level, 2400 square
foot home sleeping 8 persons. Located right on Echo Lake with 100 feet of private lake
frontage.
Huge picture windows frame
breathtaking views of Echo Lake, islands dotting the lake, and the towering Swan Mountain
Range. Lake, tree, island, mountain views at their best! As one visitor commented,
awe-struck with mouth agape, "Now this is Montana!"
Fully and comfortably furnished,
beautifully appointed
Beautiful window treatments and
gallery-quality wall prints throughout
Complete
entertainment center, including DirecTV satellite with HBO channels, VCR, stereo,
cassette tape, and CD player
Private dock right in front of
the home for your boats, jet skis, and other watercraft (rentals available at nearby
marina); sitting and lounging out on the lake; and diving in for a swim
~
Master bedroom with a private
full bath on main floor
Two bedrooms and a full bath on
the lower level
Main floor includes large living
room with fireplace, dining area, kitchen, master bedroom, bath, and utility room. Huge
windows in living room frame breathtaking views.
Kitchen is fully equipped and
accessorized to meet all of your cooking, snacking, refreshment, and coffee or cappuccino
in the morning needs
All rooms on main floor,
including the master bedroom and bath, are oriented toward the spectacular outside views
Lower level includes large family
room with wood stove, two bedrooms, and bath
Family room includes large
windows for viewing the views
Two-level arrangement allows
privacy for adults on main floor while children play and sleep on the lower level
Attached two-car garage, as well
as additional parking and storage areas
~
Large wrap-around deck and lower
level patio, for outside lounging, barbecuing, eating, and soaking in the surrounding
views
Located on over half an acre of
private wooded land, frequented by deer and other wildlife
Year-round access over paved roads that are
regularly maintained and plowed
Maid service available
Headlights in the sky
Piercing through the pines
Hypnotize me in my tracks
God looks down at me
Shockingly
with the brightest of eyes
--Montana Night -- Resident
poet--
~
Country
Boy
John Denver
-- Amongst the Rockies --
"Click just once"
Playtime 3:42
An island-dotted coved and lobed warm-water lake extending across 725
acres, Echo Lake is truly wonderful, special in important ways
It is the warmest lake in the Flathead
Valley. That's important because it is no fun to want to swim in a lake but you can't
because it is just too darn cold. This is a difficulty for many lakes in the Flathead
Valley which are often very deep and receive cold mountain runoff from large rivers coming
out of the surrounding mountains. The best you can do in these lakes is jump in wearing a
wetsuit, or asserting your claim as a member of the Polar Bear Club, but this is not
exactly the image you had when you first thought of enjoying a swim in a Montana lake. And
your children will make you very aware that "the water's too cold!".
But dive right into Echo Lake. About June the lake is plenty warm for
carefree swimming and frolicking about. This is because Echo Lake is a relatively shallow
lake (maximum depth of 78 feet) and its fed only by rain and two small creeks coming out
of the Swan Mountain Range. The rest of the lake's water comes from warm artesian springs
leaking into the lake from underground through its lakebed. So Echo Lake is warm, its
water temperature getting well into the 70's by mid-July. Refreshing, but not shocking!
So don't dip your toe, jump right in! Now you and your family can
really have fun swimming!
Artesian Spring Clean
And Echo Lake is an extremely clean lake.
All of the lakes in the Flathead Valley are clean but some are cleaner than others. An
important factor accounting for these differences is that some lakes are fed by major
rivers running right by large towns. Pollution is more apt to enter these rivers which
then goes into the lakes they feed. But not so for Echo Lake. Only two small creeks feed
the lake, coming directly out of the nearby Swan Mountain Range. So the water from these
creeks remains extremely clean and fresh as it feeds into Echo Lake. And the rest of the
lake's water comes from rain and underground artesian springs feeding the lake through its
lakebed. The water feeding into Echo Lake is about as natural, pure, and clean as water
can get!
If swimming in a warm and extremely clean lake is
important to you, for the comfort and enjoyment of yourself, family members, and
companions, then Echo Lake deserves serious consideration as your lake of choice for your Montana vacation
Echo Lake is arguably the best lake for fishing
largemouth bass in the Flathead Valley. And productive fly-fishing
in spectacular surroundings for wild rainbows and cutthroats is found on the Flathead and
Swan Rivers, about five minutes from Echo Lake. If you like fishing for bass, pike, or
trout, be sure to check out the fishing page,
which describes the great variety of fishing experiences on and around Echo Lake.
Oh, and yes, Echo Lake truly does echo,
just shout and find out (your voice will bounce right off the nearby Swan Mountain Range
and come back into your ears)
And about Bigfork...
Dances With Wolves
Theme from Movie of Same Name
-- Nature's Waltz --
"Click just once"
Playtime 3:33
Within minutes of your Echo Lake vacation home is the village of
Bigfork. You are in for a treat. Bigfork is a highly regarded and much enjoyed art town
and artists colony situated where the Swan River tumbles into Flathead Lake. The Village
charms all those who behold it, enchanting, relaxing, and arousing a playful spirit.
Bigfork is chock full of sidewalk cafes, fine and casual restaurants and hangouts,
speciality shops and boutiques, art galleries and exhibits featuring internationally known
artists, colors, aromas, and decorations of all sorts. Everyone has their favorite
speciality shops in Bigfork. A couple of favorites include a bird feeder shop replete with
wild birds descending on the shop from all sides and a shop full of jam preserves that no
one needs directions to find within a hundred feet of the shop, your nose just takes
control and leads you there! And, yes, those are French crepes being offered from a
sidewalk booth, cooked on the spot and freshly prepared for your eating pleasure.
Acclaimed Broadway musicals are featured regularly at the Bigfork
Center for the Performing Arts, the Northwest's finest and downright famous repertory
theatre. Whenever you are in the vicinity of the Center, you'll always know when a play is
being performed as the music and dialogue are piped outside onto the main street for
everyone to hear! And if while you are outside you ask any of the ushers about the play
being staged, don't expect them to just tell you something quickly about the play.
Instead, the usher will probably whisk you and your companions into the production booth,
where you can watch the play for awhile while seeing how the lighting and stage
technicians do their jobs. No better answer to your question than to actually have you
watch part of the play, from the production booth no less! Oh,
and by the way, when you go see a play at the Center, if you are a shy person forgo
sitting in the very first row. Just a suggestion, that's all. You see, one of the
traditions at the Center is to make sure that people who get seated in the very first row
are made conspicuously present. Of course, if you like being the center of attention, then
by all means DO get seated in the very first row. You won't be disappointed! The Center
also presents concerts and dance performances, including ballet.
Bigfork is regularly "taken over" by street festivals, fairs,
and outdoor concerts. Among these various celebrations, August is host to the Annual
Festival of the Arts, where established artisans and musicians from throughout Northwest
Montana display, perform, and discuss their works; the Tamarack Festival in October
celebrates the Fall harvest in an old fashioned tasty kind of way; children are delighted
by the Annual Children's Christmas Party just before Christmas day; and the annual Spring
ritual of the Whitewater Festival occurs in May. For each of the seasons, in many
different ways, you'll find fun and celebration going on in Bigfork!
Bigfork is the perfect complement to your stay in
your Echo Lake vacation home. When you and your companions want to go into town,
for entertainment, shopping, meals, to browse and hang out, or to take in the sights and
aromas of a village scene, Bigfork is the place to go! And it is only minutes away. It is
no wonder that Bigfork has been designated "one of the 50 great
towns in the West" and "one of the 100 best art
towns in the West". Bigfork is a must see and the perfect village to have
nearby.
Bigfork is most active and busy
during the Summer and less so during the Winter, though it is during the Winter that elves
transform this charming art town into a magical
Christmas Village. But through all the seasons, in different forms and ways, there are
always special things happening in this very special place.
Throughout
the year, your Echo Lake vacation home and nearby Bigfork are the perfect pair!
Getting to Montana...
Is Easy!
By air, Glacier Park International Airport
(FCA) offers many convenient daily flights, including non-stop jet
service from Spokane, Minneapolis,
and Salt Lake City. Delta, Northwest, Horizon Air, and
Skywest all provide regular flights into Glacier Park International. The airport is about
20 minutes from your vacation home.
By train, Amtrak's Empire Builder route
offers service from Chicago, Portland,
and Seattle several days a week to their depot in Whitefish
(WFH), about 30 minutes from your vacation home. Amtrak puts the Flathead Valley right in the backyard of these cities, and several other cities
along this route (for example, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Spokane), being
only a one to two day train trip away (and a beautiful trip
at that!).
Car rentals are available at Glacier Park International Airport and in
Whitefish
By car, interstate highways I-15, I-90, and I-94
make getting to Montana and the Flathead Valley a snap. Call us at Vacation
Montana! and we will map you
right into your vacation home.
Back Home Again
John Denver
-- Mountains' Beckon --
"Click just once"
Playtime 4:40
Now you know...
About Montana
About the Flathead Valley
About Echo Lake and Bigfork
About your vacation home
And how to get there
So let's GO!
It's about time that you had a wonderful vacation!
Vacation Montana! Home Page
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Last revised: March 09, 2003
LE
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