Meriwether Picnic Area reopens as Gates of the Mountains access point

Meriwether Picnic Area is the main public doorway into Gates of the Mountains, with 10 picnic tables, a picnic shelter, a boat dock, water, toilets and garbage containers packed into one Forest Service site adjacent to the Missouri River. The agency said the site was closed for a construction project on May 18 and projected a reopening by the end of May, and it listed the area as day use only, open sunrise to sunset, with no fees required.

That makes Meriwether the best fit for families, day-trippers and boat-tour riders who want an easy stop instead of a backcountry setup. When open, the site generally runs from Memorial Day to mid-September, weather permitting, and the Forest Service says it supports picnicking, fishing, boating and swimming, plus commercial boat tours and access to the Gates of the Mountains. The district also directs visitors to a dedicated Gates of the Mountains Wilderness and Recreation Area map, a reminder that this is a managed access corridor, not a casual river pullout.

Coulter Campground serves a different visitor. It has five boat-in campsites on the east side of Upper Holter Lake, adjacent to the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, and boat access comes only from the Gates of the Mountains Boat Club or the Holter Dam area. A scenic river trail links Coulter and Meriwether, and the Forest Service lists vault toilets, no potable water and no fees required here, with current conditions open and water available starting May 18. That setup makes Coulter the better overnight choice for boaters and anglers who can carry their own water.

The setting carries major historical layers in the same canyon. The National Park Service calls Gates of the Mountains a High Potential Historic Site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and says Meriwether Lewis entered the cliffs on July 19, 1805, writing that they rose about 1,200 feet above the water. The Gates tour operator says commercial boat tours began in 1886, and the park service identifies the current boats as the Canyon Voyager and the Sacajawea. The corridor also includes Mann Gulch, where the fire was spotted at 12:25 p.m. on August 5, 1949, as Helena reached 97 degrees, and where the Mann Gulch Wildfire Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1999. Along with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest's nearly 2.8 million acres across 17 counties, that puts Meriwether and Coulter inside one of the most heavily managed recreation landscapes in central Montana.