Fort Peck Lake in northeastern Montana is the fifth-largest artificial lake in the United States.
We needed a stopping place between Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Glacier National Park where we could hunker down and get some work done for a few days. This means we need wide open spaces for lots of solar and clear skies for Starlink internet.
Oh, and free is good too. And waterfront would be nice. We freeloaders sure are needy.
The Flat Lake Army Corp of Engineers (COE) Recreation Area on the northern corner of the lake fits the bill for all of these, one of 27 recreation areas scattered around the lake’s 1,520 miles of shoreline (almost double the California coastline).
When we arrived mid-week this boondocking spot was pretty open with only a few other campers spread around, then as Friday rolled around the noisy generator-runners and music-players showed up for the weekend. Still better than overnighting in a Walmart parking lot, and we didn’t feel the least bit bad about firing up the Jeep’s noisy diesel engine early Saturday morning when we rolled out.
The lake was created in the 1930’s by building the Fort Peck Dam and first filled to capacity in 1947.
The Fort Peck Dam itself is an impressive chunk of engineering itself, at almost 4 miles in length and over 250 feet tall. The road across the top is so long and straight you wouldn’t even realize you’re driving on a dam.
The dam was so amazing at the time that it and the town of New Deal which was constructed to support the dam workers became the first ever LIFE magazine cover story!
Not many photos in this post since we’ve been busy working and there’s not much around here, but we’ll have a bunch once we start posting from Glacier.
Free Camping
Our amazing free spot at the Flat Lake COE recreation area on Fort Peck Lake.
Fort Peck Colors
The yellow and blue at Fort Peck Lake really light up towards sunset.
