RV rental Painted Rocks State Park, MT: Motorhome rentals, camper van rentals and more

Although Painted Rocks State Park is a smaller state park, with only 23 acres to its name, the neighboring lake, Painted Rocks Lake, is about 565 acres, and national forests also surround this state park. Fishing and boating on the lake against the backdrop of the rugged mountains is an idyllic experience. Boats ranging from small jet ski boats to foot-powered boats trundle up and down the length of the lake. Fishermen duck into quieter coves to cast flies into the water, seeking trophy-sized rainbow, bull, and cutthroat trout. There are a handful of national forests that ring Painted Rocks State Park, and the two closest are Bitterroot National Forest and Salmon-Challis National Forest. Bitterroot National Forest is a sprawling 1.6 million acres of pristine wilderness. There are hundreds of miles of hiking trails, and with so many options for adventurers to explore, it’s quite easy to achieve true quiet and solitude, particularly as one moves away from the more popular areas. It’s not uncommon to share the trails with a wide variety of wildlife, including elk, deer, black bear, and moose. Once virtually extinct from Montana, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and peregrine falcons were reintroduced in the 1980s and now sustain healthy populations. Look skyward. The falcons share the vast blue sky with bald eagles, ospreys, and other migratory birds and waterfowl. When winter descends upon the region, bringing bitter cold and deep snow, the fun doesn’t stop. The trails are opened to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and even dogsledding. There are a few ski areas nearby. Lost Trail Ski Area (aka Lost Trail Powder Mountain) features 69 runs, eight lifts, and a snowboarding area. With an average annual snowfall of 325 inches, it’s a rare year that Lost Trail needs to supplement the snowpack with artificially made snow.