Bigfork Whitewater Festival
About this race
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, MAY 22-24, 2026
The Bigfork Whitewater Festival will be celebrating its 51st year! We welcome you to join us for this historic, local event as either a competitor or spectator this Memorial Day Weekend in Downtown Bigfork.
Bigfork, Montana is located on the north end of Flathead Lake, where the Swan River spills into Bigfork Bay. The last mile of the Swan River, known as the "Wild Mile", is a class IV section of whitewater. This beautiful and challenging whitewater venue has a scenic nature trail paralleling the north side, giving spectators front row seats for some of the best whitewater action in the area.
The Wild Mile also flows through downtown Bigfork, which offers an eclectic variety of restaurants, shops and galleries. For more information and updates about the festival, keep checking back on our Facebook page and Instagram.
Pick your distance
Paddle sports
Boater Cross
Maximum of 16 participants. 3 Elimination rounds.
Lower/Beginner Slalom
StandUp Paddleboard Flat Water Race
Raft Downriver Time Trials/Head To Head
Rafters will seed by completing a top to bottom timed run on Saturday at 11 am. The top 8 fastest times will advance to head-to-head elimination on Sunday at 9 am.
Expert Slalom
Down River
Giant Slalom
Typical race-day weather
Based on 5 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Bigfork, plus the 3 days either side.
The sun rises at 5:48 AM and sets at 9:17 PM local time (MDT) in Bigfork on May 22, 2026 — 15h 28m of daylight.
Course
No course map published yet.
The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.
Reviews
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2026 results — Bigfork Whitewater Festival
68 finishers across 3 distances · leading places in the Lower/Beginner Slalom
| Place | Name | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garrett Klemish | — | — |
| 2 | Jordan Doyle | — | — |
| 3 | Kevin Talley | — | — |
| 4 | Bryan Petersen | — | — |
Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.
All results by year
Other races near Bigfork
Different organizers, within 40 miles, in the next three months
Blacktail Climb
October Cider Run
Glow Run: Superhero Edition
West Valley School Boo Dash Fun Run
Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.
- Entries, prices, waves and inclusions — the event's official registration page
- Temperature and humidity — Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
- Elevation and terrain relief — Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
- Comparisons and counts — Race Discovery calendar, 3 Bigfork events
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