Wayfarrow

Swan River

Ghost town · Flathead County, Montana

Bigfork quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1962, 1:24,000)
Bigfork quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1962, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Swan River is a ghost town in Flathead County, Montana. It is one of 15 former communities in Flathead County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 8th among the 55 Montana counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Swan River as a historical populated place on the Bigfork topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 48.0955° N, 114.0287° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleBigfork
Elevation3,059 ft
Nearest living townBigfork, MT
Distance to it1.4 miles
GNIS feature ID1796158
Coordinates48.09551, -114.02872

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Swan River is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Bigfork, MT (population 5,249), about 1.4 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 3,059 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Swan River?

Swan River is in Flathead County, Montana, at 48.0955, -114.0287.

How many ghost towns are in Flathead County?

Flathead County, Montana has 15 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.