Little Bitterroot Lake, MT

Little Bitterroot Lake is a Flathead County census-designated place beside the lake that gives it its name, where the 2020 census counted 154 residents. The water sits about two miles southwest of Marion at roughly 3,907 feet, and the name comes from the bitterroot wildflower, Montana’s state flower. The community’s map is shoreline, dam, access road, and the broad western Flathead landscape.

An earthen dam completed in 1918 raised the lake’s level and made it part of the Flathead irrigation system. Water from the reservoir supports domestic use, irrigation, fishing, and recreation, while boat ramps, docks, and picnic areas give the shoreline practical points of access. Little Bitterroot Lake is not a conventional town center; it is a small settlement organized around a body of water whose level, roads, and working infrastructure shape daily life. Marion and the nearby Flathead Valley supply the roads, shops, and services that sit beyond the shoreline. The lake’s name carries both the plant and the older water story.