The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately 153 miles (246 km) long, in southwestern Montana in the United States. Its source is Skinner Lake in the Beaverhead National Forest in the Beaverhead Mountains of the Bitterroot Range at the continental divide along the Montana-Idaho border in western Beaverhead County. It flows northwest and north, past Wisdom and between the Anaconda Range to the northwest and the Pioneer Mountains to the east. It flows around the north end of the Pioneers, then southeast, past the town of Wise River, Montana, where it is joined by the Wise River. Near Glen, Montana it turns northeast and joins the Beaverhead River near Twin Bridges to form the Jefferson.
The river is an historically popular destination for fly fishing, especially for trout. It is the last habitat in the contiguous United States for native Fluvial Arctic Grayling. Historic conflicts exist between ranchers in the valley who use the river for irrigation and recreationalists. The river is a Class I water from the Fishtrap fishing access site downstream from Wisdom to its confluence with the Jefferson River. This status affects the level of public access for recreational purposes.
Read more about Big Hole River: History, Angling The Big Hole, Grayling
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—Barré Lyndon (1896–1972)
“The more supple vagabond, too, is sure to appear on the least rumor of such a gathering, and the next day to disappear, and go into his hole like the seventeen-year locust, in an ever-shabby coat, though finer than the farmer’s best, yet never dressed.... He especially is the creature of the occasion. He empties both his pockets and his character into the stream, and swims in such a day. He dearly loves the social slush. There is no reserve of soberness in him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A reaction: a boat which is going against the current but which does not prevent the river from flowing on.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)