About this place
Twelve miles of the Lower Blackfoot River run through public land, 20 minutes east of Missoula.
In the heat of summer this is an excellent place to cool off, alongside a good part of the Missoula population.
The crowds vanish for the other nine months. Then it is a fine place for fishing, whitewater boating and watching wildlife.
The corridor has a campground, a boat ramp, restrooms and day use sites. There is a trail along an old railroad grade, for anyone not using a motor.
Some sites are accessible.
The route runs parallel to the river, 17 miles east of Missoula, and it starts at the Johnsrud Park turnoff on Highway 200. It is heavily used.
Johnsrud Road was resurfaced through the summer and fall of 2022. The recreation and fishing access sites along that stretch were shut while the work went on.
Those sites are the Darrell Sall Memorial, Daigles Eddy, Sheep Flats and Thibodeau Rapids, along with Thibodeau Campground.
Johnsrud Park and the Whitaker Bridge boat launch stayed open throughout.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Toilet
- Yes, restrooms in the corridor
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
The way into the Blackfoot River Recreation Corridor is twelve miles east of Bonner on Highway 200. A dirt road then follows the river for twenty miles. It rejoins Highway 200 near Mile Marker 28, six miles east of the Highway 83 junction. That dirt road is no place for an RV.
Coordinates 46.91975, -113.672457
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
There is another spot of ours within reach, and some better-known places further out.
- Mount Jumbo Directions
- Garnet Back Country Byway Directions
- Mount Sentinel Directions
- Lolo Peak Directions
- McDonald Peak Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Twin Creeks, MT Directions
- Clinton, MT Directions
Clinton is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026; opened and read by a person on 2026-08-27.