Just like that, our favorite summer holiday—the Fourth of July—has passed. Independence Day at Flathead Lake Lodge and in Bigfork, Montana, is one of the biggest parties you’ll ever find in Big Sky Country and we’re so grateful that all of our guests— some new, others long-time returners—were here to celebrate with us. Between rolling our firetrucks through the famous Bigfork Fourth of July Parade and ending the day with our weekly steak fry, it was a fun day for all and we already can’t wait for next year.
Here’s a little taste of the Fourth of July at Flathead Lake Lodge.
The Parade
One of our favorite Fourth of July traditions is decorating our vintage firetrucks to drive in the parade. The best part about the decorating is that our guests get in on the fun and help us deck them out with American flags and red, white and blue streamers. Once our floats are good and decorated, we load up into three firetrucks, an army truck, a tractor trailer and our Checker Aerobus and head for the parade in Bigfork.
And while we’ve always had a soft spot for this parade (our family and the lodge have been participating for years), locals and out-of-town visitors love it as well. Armed with buckets (and buckets and buckets) of candy to toss to bystanders along the route, we closed out the parade with our decorated vehicles, patriotic attire and “U-S-A” chants. And, as per tradition, Doug got in on the fun by spraying the crowd with water from his firetruck.
Steak Fry
After the parade, one of our other Fourth of July traditions is our steak fry. Guests head up to the steak fry meadow on board our firetrucks or on horseback, where we greeted them with sirloin steaks cooked over the fire, homemade potato salad, my mom’s famous baked beans (you probably know here as Maureen) and cowboy music from our friend, Gene.
The Grand Finale: Fireworks
Every year, we end Independence Day with our own fireworks show at Flathead Lake Lodge. Guests lay out blankets and cozy up next to campfires as we celebrate America with a fireworks show over Flathead Lake. While we’ve been doing it for years, it’s one of those traditions that means the most to our staff, our guests and our family.
The Fourth of July week is one of our favorite weeks at the lodge and we love celebrating it with our guests. If you’re interested in joining us for future celebrations, visit us here or call us at 406-837-4391.
Happy Trails,
-Chase