Big Timber
Boulder River
Big Timber
Boulder River |
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Boulder River view from front window of Motorhome (Note) |
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Trying to exercise |
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Boulder River |
Boulder Canyon |
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Lunch on the river |
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Mike, Lisa, Lois |
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Water falling into the tunnels |
Boulder River |
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Water flowing out of tunnel |
Water flowing out of tunnel |
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Water back into the ground |
Walking the trail |
The Boulder River flows from way up in the mountains, through Boulder Canyon and then joins the Yellowstone River in the town of Big Timber. The river meanders through the canyon, through meadows of hay fields with thousands of places to fish. There are several access points along the highway, but like most fishing rivers, it seems to look more fishable along the banks of privately owned property. We first fished about 30 miles up the canyon in national forest land where access was very easy and the fishing presented lots of different water, slow flowing ripples mixed with short flows of white water. What was amazing was the many shallow places that you might first skip over, but if you fished them, you would find trout everywhere. Most of what we caught were rainbows and brown trout; they all seemed to be hungry. (Back to Picture)
The Natural Bridge Falls Recreation Area is a very unique park. This park is built around a deep canyon that becomes the banks of the Boulder River, solid limestone for over a 100 feet deep in some places. Until 1988, there was a "natural bridge" that spanned the canyon, but due to natural erosion, it fell into the canyon. About where the bridge used to be, there are deep crevices in the bottom of the river and during summer and fall, the river just disappears into tunnels that flow underground. These tunnels were formed by nature dissolving holes into the river bottom. About 1/4 mile down the riverbed, the river reappears as a gushing torrent out of the tunnel. When the water flow is high, during spring run-off, the river is especially full and the river actually forms a spectacular water fall in this area. (Back to Picture)