Placid Lake State Park

A small public recreation site tucked away on a Swan Valley lake

Placid Lake State Park is a small public day use recreation site on Placid Lake, featuring picnic tables and a fishing dock.

Features: Picnic tables and a dock.

Accessibility info and site description: To find Placid Lake State Park, travel on Hwy 83 north of Missoula or south of Seeley Lake, and turn west at the signs. Go straight past the Placid Lake State Park campground and follow the small picnic table sign ahead. Drive 1.6 miles through a residential area, and on the left you'll find the small day use area. The main parking lot can hold around 5 cars, and there is a narrow van-accessible spot with a paved path that connects to the accessible restroom. There's a small wooded area with a few picnic tables scattered around, and a short paved path that goes down to the fishing dock.

Placid Lake State Park Day Use Area

The parking area is to the left

Heading toward the accessible parking spot

The narrow van-accessible parking space

There is a paved path to the accessible restroom

There is one picnic table at the center of the looped road

A small wooded area with a couple of picnic tables

View from the picnic site

The road wraps around

There is a paved path down to the fishing dock

The fishing dock

View of the dock from the parking lot

My experience: The most important thing to know about this state park is that all the information listed online (including FWP, Visit MT, and stateparks.com) is actually for the campground. The campground does not have a day use area. I visited the campground by mistake, and as we drove around looking for the day use area, we stumbled on two accessible campsites that I thought was worth mentioning! Both sites were close to the water, with paved paths to a picnic table, fire ring, and barbecue. There's also a paved path down to the boat docks, and up to the restrooms and shower facilities. I included a few photos of the campground in a separate slideshow below.

The actual state park day use area is almost two miles from the campground, and is very small. I do not know how busy this state park gets on a typical day, but I imagine if there are more than a couple of cars parked here you may not be able to pull in or out of a parking space. The van accessible spot is also very narrow and may prove to be a challenge as well. On the bright side, the good thing about a small state park is that it requires much less walking! It's a beautiful lake with mountain views, and there are opportunities for picnicking or fishing from the dock. It's tucked away from busy roads and crowds, and it's the only public day use area on Placid Lake. As long as you adjust your expectations before visiting and know this is not a large or fancy location, I think it can be a very enjoyable spot.

Overall, Placid Lake State Park is small but has beautiful views. It's a great place to sit by the lake or fish from the dock away from the big crowds, as long as you can fit into one of the few parking spaces!

 

The location labeled “Placid Lake State Park” on Google Maps is actually the location of the campground. I pinned the actual location for the day use site on the map above.

One of two accessible campsites

There is a accessible parking space at the restroom and shower facilities

Map of the campground

Map of the campsites

There is a path from the facilities down to the accessible campsites

This path goes over a bridge, across a road, then to the accessible sites

Path to the covered picnic shelter of one of the accessible campsites

Accessible picnic shelter, fire ring, and barbecue

View from the accessible campsite parking spot

The other accessible campsite

There are paths to the docks

Heading toward the lake

View from the docks

For more information on the campground, visit: https://fwp.mt.gov/placid-lake